Senior Edge/IoT Engineer

Foundational Industries • San Francisco, CA

1d

About The Position

Foundational is building a network of AI-native, autonomous factories for modern contract manufacturing, reshoring critical supply chains and enabling companies to produce high-quality products domestically, quickly, and competitively. The Senior Edge/IoT Engineer will build the software systems that power Foundational’s AI-native manufacturing platform, from first principles through production.

This hands-on role owns the hardware-to-software abstraction layer connecting physical shop-floor machinery to modern, low-latency computing environments. The engineer will develop proprietary hardware and edge systems to interface with advanced machinery and extract, process, and act on high-frequency shop-floor intelligence. The role calls for deep experience with machine communication and edge computing, production-quality implementation, and end-to-end ownership in a fast-moving startup environment.

The engineer will work across controls, AI, hardware, and operations, designing for operational reliability and real-world factory constraints. The job emphasizes urgency, clear technical communication, rapid iteration, and responsibility for outcomes from design through deployment and ongoing operation.

Requirements

• Deep domain experience in machine communication and edge computing.
• Deep technical expertise with industrial communication protocols, including MTConnect, OPC UA, Modbus (TCP/RTU), MQTT, CAN bus, and Ethernet/IP.
• Hands-on experience connecting to legacy and modern machine controllers, such as Fanuc, Siemens Sinumerik, Haas, Heidenhain, and Mazak, through native APIs, industrial Ethernet, or hardware taps.
• Practical understanding of high-frequency machine telemetry extraction, including spindle load, vibration data, axis torque, thermal variation, feed rates, and alarm registers.
• High proficiency in modern C++ (C++17/20), Rust, or Python for efficient, low-latency data-ingestion pipelines.
• Expertise in Linux system administration, custom kernel configuration, real-time operating systems (RTOS), and Linux IPC mechanisms.
• Deep understanding of edge containerization and orchestration using tools such as Docker, Podman, K3s, MicroK8s, or Balena.
• Experience managing edge device lifecycles, including OTA firmware/software updates, secure boot, fleet management, and remote diagnostics.
• Expertise in store-and-forward architecture, local queuing, and offline-first operational resilience during network drops.
• Strong understanding of industrial network security, including air-gapped systems, VPNs, TLS/mTLS encryption, and zero-trust network access.
• Ability to take ownership, communicate precisely across functions, iterate quickly, and build systems to production standards.

Nice To Haves

• Experience processing and fusing heterogeneous data streams at the edge, including machine telemetry and visual, thermal, or acoustic inputs.
• Familiarity with lightweight edge AI/ML deployment frameworks such as ONNX Runtime, TensorRT, OpenVINO, or TFLite.
• Experience optimizing models for edge hardware acceleration, including NVIDIA Jetson, Intel OpenVINO, Coral TPUs, or dedicated NPUs.

Responsibilities

• Build software systems for Foundational’s AI-native manufacturing platform, from first principles to production.
• Own the hardware-to-software abstraction layer connecting shop-floor machinery to low-latency computing environments.
• Develop systems that interface with advanced machinery to extract, process, and act on high-frequency shop-floor intelligence.
• Build efficient, low-latency data-ingestion pipelines for edge systems.
• Design and operate edge systems with attention to production quality, reliability, and the environment in which they run.
• Manage edge device lifecycles, including updates, fleet management, and remote diagnostics.
• Design for offline-first resilience, local data queuing, and recovery during network disruptions.
• Work collaboratively across controls, AI, hardware, product, and operations, communicating technical decisions clearly.
• Take end-to-end ownership of outcomes and drive problems to resolution.

Benefits

• Base compensation, bonus, and equity reflecting impact, responsibility, and results.
• Meaningful potential upside for people who help build and scale the company.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed