Firmware Integration & Test Systems Engineer

Prowinch LLC•Brownsville, FL

About The Position

The Firmware Integration & Test Systems Engineer is a systems-focused engineer responsible for ensuring the correct integration of various software and firmware components within the MilaY system. This role is not primarily focused on firmware development or traditional Quality Assurance. The engineer will be tasked with building automated test infrastructure, simulators, diagnostic tools, and integration environments to rigorously test system behavior across different component boundaries. MilaY comprises multiple independently developed systems, including the machine and its firmware, a mobile application, a relational backend, and a telemetry backend. The machine firmware is developed externally and communicates with ProWinch systems via defined interfaces. As the project expands to support multiple firmware versions, hardware configurations, and ProWinch equipment platforms, manual verification becomes increasingly challenging and poses a significant regression risk. The core responsibility is to establish a repeatable Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testing capability. The objective is to enable automated testing of firmware and other MilaY components under realistic operating conditions, reducing the need for manual testing on physical machines. This involves creating firmware simulators, test harnesses, protocol tests, fault-injection capabilities, compatibility tests, and automated integration scenarios that can be integrated into CI/CD pipelines. A strong candidate will possess experience in both embedded software and software test infrastructure, with expertise in areas such as C/C++, Python automation, firmware debugging, automated integration testing, SIL testing, binary protocol testing, Linux, fault injection, and CI/CD. Experience with HIL testing, simulator development, CAN/CANopen, protocol analysis, and device communication testing is highly valued. Specific MilaY technologies like BLE, MQTT, USB CDC, X.509/TLS, and industrial automation are considered advantageous. This engineer will also play a crucial role in cross-team integration, using the test environment to identify incompatibilities when the mobile application, firmware, or backend deviates from documented interfaces. By testing against agreed-upon protocol and system contracts, the role moves beyond relying on a single team's implementation as the benchmark for correct behavior. The importance of this role grows with MilaY's support for more hardware platforms and firmware versions. Without a dedicated integration test system, compatibility testing often relies on developers manually connecting applications to physical boards and replicating specific conditions, a process that becomes slower and less reliable with increasing complexity. A dedicated integration test system ensures repeatable regression testing, early detection of interface issues, controlled fault testing, and provides validation evidence for specific combinations of firmware and MilaY software. Ultimately, this candidate will build the infrastructure enabling ProWinch to answer critical questions regarding firmware compatibility, protocol adherence, system recovery from failures, telemetry accuracy, and the scalability of testing across various configurations.

Requirements

Experience spanning embedded software and software test infrastructure.
Proficiency in C/C++.
Proficiency in Python automation.
Experience with automated integration testing.
Experience with firmware debugging.
Experience with Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) testing.
Experience with test harness development.
Experience with binary protocol testing.
Experience with Linux.
Experience with fault injection.
Experience with CI/CD.
Fluent English (written and spoken).

Nice To Haves

Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testing.
Simulator development.
CAN/CANopen experience.
Protocol analysis.
Hardware/software debugging.
Docker/reproducible test environments.
Firmware compatibility testing.
Device communication testing.
BLE experience.
MQTT experience.
USB CDC experience.
Azure DevOps experience.
X.509/TLS experience.
Industrial automation experience.
Experience with hoists, cranes, or motor controls.

Responsibilities

Build automated test infrastructure, simulators, diagnostic tools, and integration environments.
Develop repeatable Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testing capabilities.
Create firmware simulators, test harnesses, protocol tests, and fault-injection capabilities.
Develop automated integration scenarios for CI/CD pipelines.
Serve as a cross-team integration point to identify and resolve incompatibilities between system components.
Build tests against agreed-upon protocol and system contracts.
Ensure repeatable regression testing, early detection of interface problems, and controlled fault testing.
Validate combinations of application, firmware, protocol, and hardware configurations.