Head of Firmware

Base Power Company•Austin, TX

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Base is America’s next-generation power company. We’re rebuilding the foundation of modern civilization–electricity–by deploying a vast network of distributed batteries that is transforming today’s fragile, centralized grid into a resilient and abundant system. We are engineers, operators, and creatives solving some of the most complex, interdisciplinary challenges of our time. We're hiring a Head of Firmware to own every line of code that runs on a Base battery. You'll design and build firmware systems and set the direction for the team that delivers it. You'll design the platform, hire the team, and ship the firmware. If you'd rather review RFCs than write them, this isn't the role. If you'd rather only write code, this also isn't the role. This is for someone who wants to do both, and build an organization while they do it. You'll report to the Head of Software and work most closely with the hardware, power electronics, and energy-markets teams.

Requirements

10+ years writing production firmware for high-reliability embedded systems — ideally in power electronics, energy storage, EVs, industrial controls, or other safety-critical domains.
Deep experience with C/C++ on MCUs and embedded Linux, real-time control loops, BMS or inverter firmware, and OTA systems running on installed fleets.
You've built and scaled a firmware team before, or you've been the most senior firmware IC at a company that scaled around you. Either works — but you've done this once.
A strong architectural point of view, and the humility to change it when the data says so.
Fluency with the tradeoffs between speed and rigor on a fleet that's both shipping fast and running 24/7 in someone's home.
Based in Austin, or willing to relocate. This role is in-person.

Nice To Haves

You've shipped hardware through UL certification.
Background in grid-edge systems, utility-scale energy, or ancillary-services participation.
You've built HIL infrastructure from scratch.
Prior founding-engineer or founding-director experience at a hardware-forward startup.

Responsibilities

Set the technical direction
Own firmware architecture end to end — from the MCU on the BMS, up through edge gateways, and into the telemetry pipeline in the cloud.
Choose the platform: processor and SoC selection, RTOS vs. embedded Linux, toolchains, CI, HIL, OTA, observability, and security.
Write the high-leverage code. Review the hard PRs. Own the technical bar.
Keep firmware compliant with UL 1973, 1741, 9540, and 9540A — without slowing the fleet down.
Own the systems that run the fleet
Real-time grid-balancing firmware and safe participation in ancillary services.
Sub-second telemetry from battery to cloud, in partnership with the software org.
Automated fault detection, isolation, and recovery across the fleet — because every truck roll is a loss.
Bidirectional comms: Modbus, MQTT, cellular backhaul, and a commissioning flow a field tech can run in under 10 minutes.
OTA update and rollback for a fleet that can never go dark.
Build the team
Hire the firmware org. Define levels, interview loops, and the bar.
Coach engineers — not as a full-time manager, but as the person who sets the standard.
Partner with hardware and software to staff the right problem at the right time.