Firmware Engineer
About The Position
As a Firmware Engineer, you will develop the embedded systems that power the control, diagnostics, and protection layers of our fusion machines. You'll write and maintain firmware that runs on thousands of distributed embedded devices controlling and monitoring tens of thousands of sensors, actuators, and data channels. This role bridges hardware and software - you'll work closely with electrical and software engineers to design reliable, scalable, and high-performance control and data acquisition systems. You'll help define communication protocols, improve time synchronization across embedded networks, and automate hardware bring-up and testing. This position is ideal for an engineer who enjoys working close to the metal, debugging complex systems, and rapidly iterating on real-world hardware to make fusion power a practical reality. This role requires onsite presence, and you will report directly to our Senior Manager of Electrical Engineering at our Everett, WA, office.
Requirements
- BS or higher in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Computer Science.
- 2-5 years of experience developing embedded systems in C, C++, and/or Rust.
- Experience with real-time MCU development (bare metal or RTOS-based).
- Strong understanding of digital communication protocols (UART, SPI, I²C).
- Familiarity with mixed-signal circuit design and debugging using oscilloscopes, DMMs, and logic analyzers.
- Experience with version control systems (Git).
- Scripting experience in Python for automation, hardware bring-up, or testing.
- Solid grasp of embedded systems fundamentals: power, timing, data, and memory budgets.
- Experience developing and debugging on Linux-based systems.
Nice To Haves
- Experience with Ethernet, EtherCAT, CAN, or other real-time industrial communication protocols.
- Familiarity with FPGAs, Verilog/VHDL, or soft-core processor design.
- Experience with time synchronization protocols (PTP/IEEE 1588, White Rabbit, etc).
- Knowledge of SCADA or PLC systems for large-scale control architectures.
- Familiarity with test automation frameworks or CI/CD pipelines for firmware.
- Background in precision sensing, power electronics, or distributed control systems.
Responsibilities
- Develop, test, and maintain firmware for real-time embedded systems used in machine control and diagnostics.
- Work closely with hardware and software engineers to translate system requirements into embedded designs.
- Bring up new boards, sensors, and actuators - debugging with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and JTAG interfaces.
- Implement and maintain low-level communication protocols (UART, SPI, I²C, CAN, EtherCAT, etc.).
- Design and refine embedded command interfaces, configuration utilities, and automated test frameworks.
- Optimize performance, reliability, and timing synchronization across distributed embedded systems.
- Contribute to continuous improvement of embedded toolchains, build systems, and test automation.
- Rapidly prototype novel control and measurement concepts to support new machine architectures.
- Collaborate across disciplines to ensure firmware integrates seamlessly with high-level software and data systems.
Benefits
- Medical, Dental, and Vision plans for employees and their families
- 31 Days of PTO (21 vacation days and 10 sick days)
- 10 Paid holidays, plus company-wide winter break
- Up to 5% employer 401(k) match
- Short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance
- Paid parental leave and support (up to 16 weeks)
- Annual wellness stipend
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
Industry
Publishing Industries
Number of Employees
251-500 employees
