Senior Engineer - Firmware

Vector Atomic•Pleasanton, CA

8d•Onsite

About The Position

Vector Atomic, an IonQ company, is seeking a Senior Firmware Engineer to join a cross-functional team developing next-generation quantum sensing instruments. The role focuses on designing, implementing, and verifying embedded software for ST microcontrollers, including commercial off-the-shelf devices and MCUs on custom ASICs, and developing low-level control algorithms for precision measurement. The engineer will collaborate with hardware engineers across the product development cycle, from schematic review through board bring-up and production. The position is based onsite at the company's Pleasanton, California office. The successful candidate will provide technical leadership and architectural direction for Rust-based quantum control systems, develop production-quality C/C++ code, design ARM SoC system controllers, and lead development of user-space drivers, data acquisition pipelines, and reliable control loops. The role also includes defining control algorithms, building reusable control libraries and frameworks, guiding hardware testing and bring-up, mentoring engineers, improving development processes and tools, and representing the team in technical and strategic discussions. Candidates need a relevant engineering or computer science degree and substantial related experience, along with expertise in production Rust systems, embedded-system architecture, hardware-software interfaces, and technical leadership. Employees must meet specified U.S. export-control eligibility requirements and be comfortable working in a laboratory environment.

Requirements

Bachelor's or master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Computer Science and 8 or more years of related work experience, or a PhD and 5 or more years of experience.
Must meet U.S. export-control eligibility requirements: U.S. citizenship, lawful U.S. permanent residency, or qualifying refugee or asylee status.
Must be comfortable working in a laboratory environment.
Proven ability to lead technical initiatives and influence engineering decisions across teams.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.
Demonstrated expertise in architecture and design of complex embedded systems.
Extensive experience developing production Rust systems, including async runtimes, concurrency patterns, and performance optimization.
Deep understanding of hardware-software interfaces, including TCP, UART, MMAP, and low-level system programming.
Proven ability to architect and design complex software systems from the ground up.
Strong debugging and troubleshooting skills using tools such as debuggers, profilers, and simulation.
Experience mentoring and leading other engineers in their technical growth.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Rust on bare-metal systems or embedded Linux.
Experience with Python, common scientific libraries, and developer-tool development.
Expert-level understanding of control algorithms such as PID, state-space controllers, and adaptive control.
Training or expertise in fixed-point algorithms, DSP, and digital filters.
Extensive experience interfacing with external devices through protocols such as TCP, UART, SPI, and I2C.
Experience in C/C++ and systems programming across multiple languages.
Strong background with SoC/FPGA devices and hardware-software co-design.
Experience with Linux kernel development and device drivers.
Comfort using test and measurement equipment, including oscilloscopes, function generators, and voltmeters.
Experience with CI/CD pipelines, automated testing frameworks, and development infrastructure.

Responsibilities

Provide technical leadership and architectural direction for Rust-based quantum control systems across multiple projects.
Write production-quality code in C/C++ and establish coding standards and team best practices.
Collaborate with physicists, electronics engineers, and firmware engineers to create next-generation quantum instruments.
Design and architect system controllers on ARM SoC.
Lead development of user-space drivers, data acquisition pipelines, and robust control loops with reliable error handling.
Define and implement control algorithms for precision sensing instruments.
Architect reusable libraries and frameworks for control of quantum systems.
Lead technical discussions with hardware engineers and drive board testing and hardware bring-up strategies.
Mentor engineers through code reviews, pair programming, and technical guidance.
Improve development processes, tooling, and infrastructure.
Represent the team in cross-functional technical reviews, architecture discussions, and strategic planning sessions.