Senior Staff Systems Engineer, Embedded Safety

Boston Dynamics • Waltham, MA

7d

About The Position

Boston Dynamics is seeking a Senior Staff Systems Engineer for its Safer Robotics Team. The role contributes to the development of safe, reliable, and reactive robotic technologies that enable mobile robots to operate alongside people in complex environments. The engineer leads systems engineering methodology for MCU/MPU-based embedded systems and safety-critical firmware, including requirements generation, structured safety analysis, and architecture trade studies. The role serves as a technical bridge between hardware constraints, firmware execution, and test validation.

The engineer collaborates with Safety Firmware Engineers during board bring-up and driver development, and with Staff Firmware Test Engineers developing HIL/SIL validation frameworks. The work includes defining embedded architectures and requirements, creating requirements-to-verification traceability, translating safety goals into test plans and automated tests, and compiling evidence for safety cases. The role requires close coordination across firmware and product development teams.

Requirements

• At least 7 years of experience in systems engineering, embedded software/firmware development, or firmware validation for complex mechatronic or safety-critical robotic systems.
• Technical fluency with Git, Linux, Jira, and requirements management platforms such as Jama.
• Proficiency in C/C++ for embedded firmware and Python, including pytest ecosystems, to engage with firmware development and test automation tooling.
• Deep familiarity with safety standards such as IEC 61508, ISO 26262, or IEC 62304, and experience compiling data to support safety claims.
• Ability to read electrical schematics, datasheets, and low-level protocol payloads for SPI, I2C, CAN, UART, and Ethernet.
• Demonstrated experience serving as a technical liaison between firmware development teams and product development teams.
• Strong written and verbal communication, cross-functional collaboration, and conflict resolution skills.
• Eligibility to work in the United States; visa sponsorship is not available.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with firmware coding standards such as MISRA C/C++.
• Experience with static and dynamic analysis software tools.
• Familiarity with software and hardware testing for HIL/SIL environments.
• Experience with embedded Linux (kernel and user space), real-time operating systems (RTOS), and hardware debuggers or trace equipment such as J-Link, Lauterbach, oscilloscopes, and logic analyzers.
• Hands-on familiarity with electro-mechanical actuation subsystems, including motor controllers, encoders, and power/current sensing.

Responsibilities

• Lead cross-functional systems engineering initiatives to establish embedded system architectures, firmware requirements, and technical development plans for safe autonomous robotic platforms.
• Solicit stakeholder needs and derive, author, and parameterize system, firmware, and low-level software requirements.
• Establish and maintain end-to-end requirements-to-verification traceability pipelines across tools such as Jama, Jira, Git, and automated test frameworks.
• Partner with Safety Firmware Engineers to define requirements for functional safety features, diagnostic logic, and low-level communication protocol interfaces.
• Collaborate with Firmware Test Engineers to convert safety goals and system requirements into verifiable HIL/SIL test plans, fault-injection coverage, and CI/CD automated test suites.
• Guide cross-functional teams through HARA, FMEA, and Fault Tree Analysis to identify edge cases involving timing, communication, and fault handling.
• Compile requirements, analysis, and verification evidence to support a comprehensive safety case for autonomous robotic systems.
• Act as a technical liaison between firmware development teams and product development teams.

What This Job Offers

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