Senior Embedded Firmware Engineer - Contract (1099)

Very LLC•City of New Rochelle, NY

3d•$100•Remote

About The Position

Very is a fully distributed technology firm that creates efficient, scalable solutions for commercial, industrial, and consumer products. They focus on working closely with clients to bring products from pilot to production. The company culture is collaborative and thrives in remote settings, with a focus on innovation and delivering business-critical outcomes. Very works with well-known brands to help them leverage connected devices and AI. This role is for a senior firmware engineer with extensive experience in embedded development, specifically focusing on Matter protocol implementation on Espressif's ESP32 platform using ESP-IDF. The engineer will have end-to-end ownership of the device firmware stack, from initial schematic review and board bring-up through to production firmware, Over-The-Air (OTA) updates, and certification. The engineer will be dedicated to a single project at a time to ensure focus and minimize context switching. Responsibilities include developing production-grade firmware, participating in hardware debugging using tools like JTAG/SWD and logic analyzers, and collaborating with hardware engineers and cross-functional teams. A key aspect of the role involves debugging complex interoperability issues within Matter ecosystems (Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa), requiring a deep understanding of the protocol and hands-on problem-solving.

Requirements

10+ years professional embedded/firmware engineering in C/C++
Significant experience with ESP-IDF (CMake/Kconfig build system, partition tables, NVS, OTA frameworks, FreeRTOS task management, and low-level driver integration like I2C, SPI, UART, ADC, GPIO)
Direct, demonstrable work implementing Matter on ESP32-series silicon (ESP32, ESP32-C3, ESP32-S3, or ESP32-H2) using Espressif's ESP-Matter SDK or the upstream Connectedhomeip stack
Hands-on experience with at least one Matter transport at the firmware level (Wi-Fi or Thread (802.15.4))
Experience debugging commissioning flows, interop failures, and protocol-level issues across ecosystems (Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa)
Familiarity with secure boot, flash encryption, and device attestation in the Matter context
Comfortable reading specs (Matter, Thread, 802.15.4) and translating them into working firmware
Must reside in the continental US
Must be authorized to work in the US without sponsorship
Can debug complex firmware and hardware interactions under real-time constraints
Comfortable working with incomplete specifications and ambiguous device behavior
Take ownership of problems end-to-end, from root cause analysis through production resolution
Communicate clearly with both technical and non-technical stakeholders in a client-facing environment

Nice To Haves

Contributions to open-source Matter or ESP-IDF repositories
Experience taking a Matter device through CSA certification
Background in adjacent protocols (Zigbee, Z-Wave, BLE Mesh)
History of working in a consultancy or product development firm where they've shipped across multiple product lines
Comfort with hardware debug toolchains (JTAG/SWD, logic analyzers, protocol sniffers)
Experience standing up CI/CD for firmware builds and automated test harnesses

Responsibilities

Developing production-grade firmware for Matter-enabled devices from bring-up to certification.
Owning firmware development across the full device lifecycle, including schematic review, board bring-up, driver integration, OTA updates, and certification readiness.
Participating in hardware debugging and validation using tools such as JTAG/SWD, logic analyzers, and protocol sniffers to diagnose low-level issues across firmware, hardware, and network layers.
Collaborating closely with hardware engineers and cross-functional teams to deliver production-ready devices.
Debugging complex, real-world interoperability issues across Matter ecosystems (Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa), requiring deep protocol-level understanding and hands-on problem solving.