Senior Firmware Engineer

Fellow•San Francisco, CA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Fellow is looking for a Senior Firmware Engineer to design, develop, and maintain robust, scalable UX and communication firmware for our IoT platform. You'll build the embedded systems that let customers interact with Fellow's connected products, making sure our hardware devices, mobile app, and cloud backend work together seamlessly. A successful candidate will have deep experience with real-time operating systems, have shipped connected consumer products, and care as much about how a device feels to use as how efficiently it runs. This is a rare opportunity to shape the on-device experience of beautifully designed products used by coffee lovers around the world, as part of a small, agile team that owns the connected experience across on-device firmware, backend systems, and mobile apps. Reporting to the Director of Firmware and Software, you'll serve as the connective tissue between product design, hardware engineering, and app development. You'll turn new product ideas into reliable, high-performance firmware. You bring strong technical judgment, a high bar for quality, and the instincts to ship on time in resource-constrained environments. This is a hands-on engineering role. You'll help shape firmware architecture, and you'll also be the one writing, testing, and debugging the code.

Requirements

6+ years of experience in embedded firmware development, focused on real-time operating systems (RTOS) and connected consumer products
Deep expertise in FreeRTOS or other RTOS environments, with a strong understanding of multitasking, scheduling, and system performance optimization
Strong knowledge of microcontroller platforms (ARM Cortex, STM32, etc.) and peripheral interfaces (I2C, SPI, UART)
Proficiency in C/C++ for embedded systems development
Experience working with on-device GUIs and integrating firmware with mobile applications
Strong debugging skills and experience with tools such as JTAG, oscilloscopes, and logic analyzers
Familiarity with embedded development tools (version control, CI/CD) and OTA firmware update processes
Excellent communicator and collaborator who works well across hardware, software, and design teams
Scrappy and agile, able to deliver on big expectations with limited resources

Nice To Haves

Experience with MQTT or other IoT communication protocols
Familiarity with wireless communication protocols (BLE, Wi-Fi) for IoT devices
Experience with GUI development frameworks for embedded devices
Experience with control systems and sensor integration (a plus, not required)
Familiarity with testing and validation for IoT hardware devices
Experience with mobile app deployment, managing updates, and mapping compatibility between on-device firmware and new mobile app capabilities
Knowledge of security practices for IoT devices and systems, including encryption, secure boot, and TLS/SSL protocols

Responsibilities

Develop embedded firmware using FreeRTOS that powers on-device GUIs, control systems, and connectivity to mobile applications
Architect and optimize firmware for resource-constrained environments, with a focus on efficiency, low power use, and stability
Lead firmware development that brings new product experiences to life, delivering high performance and reliability
Partner closely with product designers, hardware engineers, and app developers to imagine new product experiences and make sure on-device interfaces work smoothly in real time
Drive system optimization for real-time responsiveness, efficient memory use, and low power consumption
Set and uphold a high bar for reliability by testing and debugging firmware thoroughly with industry-standard tools and meeting performance benchmarks
Maintain and improve the connectivity between hardware devices, the mobile app, and the cloud backend
Champion AI, automation, and new ways of working to make firmware development, testing, and release more effective