Sr Manager Device Software, Connected Products

Fortune Brands•Deerfield, IL

13h

About The Position

Fortune Brands are hiring for a Senior Manager of Device Software, Connected Products to provide technical leadership and people management for our embedded software team. You will drive architectural decisions, maintain engineering quality standards, and develop a team of firmware engineers working across both embedded Linux and RTOS-based product lines. This is a hands-on leadership role requiring deep technical credibility combined with strong people management skills.

Requirements

BS in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent relevant experience
7+ years of industry experience in a technical role
2+ years People management experience: performance management, career development, and building a high-functioning team
Proven track record leading and developing embedded software or firmware engineering teams
Deep understanding of embedded Linux (Yocto/buildroot or equivalent); able to guide architecture, evaluate trade-offs, and support engineers across the full development lifecycle
Strong working knowledge of RTOS concepts and architectures (FreeRTOS, Zephyr, or equivalent): task scheduling, memory management, inter-task communication, synchronization primitives
Experience with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) as used in IoT embedded software
Experience with OTA update systems and production device fleet management
Understanding of firmware document control and configuration management in hardware product organizations
Strong system design and architecture skills; comfort making and communicating technical decisions under uncertainty
Excellent cross-functional communication skills; able to represent the firmware team clearly to product, hardware, data science, compliance, and manufacturing stakeholders

Nice To Haves

Experience with IoT or connected consumer electronics at scale
Hands-on experience with OTA and fleet observability platforms (Mender, Memfault, or equivalent)
Proficiency in embedded debugging tools and techniques
Understanding of communication protocols: BLE, Wi-Fi, SPI, I2C, UART, Zigbee, Z-Wave
Experience with ARM Cortex-M, RISC-V, or similar microcontroller architectures
Knowledge of power management techniques for battery-operated devices
Track record managing compliance processes for radio, safety, and cybersecurity certifications (FCC, CE-RED, IC, UKCA, ANATEL)
Experience managing mixed teams of FTEs and contractors
Background working across both embedded Linux and RTOS-based firmware disciplines simultaneously
Track record of successful product launches in consumer electronics or IoT hardware

Responsibilities

Directly manage, mentor, and develop a team of embedded software engineers; conduct regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and career development planning
Maintain honest, timely feedback with each direct report; invest most heavily in developing top performers and hold clear accountability across the team
Know each engineer’s motivations, strengths, and career aspirations; build an environment where people can grow toward what they’re naturally excellent at
Build knowledge redundancy across the team; eliminate single points of failure through deliberate documentation and cross-training
Define and own embedded software architecture across both Linux-based and RTOS-based firmware disciplines; guide technical direction and ensure critical decisions are well-documented
Lead new hardware bring-up efforts and platform convergence initiatives; maintain the firmware-cloud interface contract in collaboration with backend and platform teams
Own CI/CD pipeline health, release processes, and OTA fleet management for production device populations
Drive adoption of development best practices, code review standards, and AI-assisted development tooling
Own the firmware technical roadmap and delivery commitments; balance new feature development against platform stability and intentional technical debt reduction
Partner with Product Management to assess and prioritize firmware feature requests across multiple product lines
Coordinate with Hardware Engineering on new product bring-up and establish clear HW↔FW interface processes
Coordinate with Data Science on algorithm and model integration into embedded firmware
Collaborate with QA on firmware testing strategies, manufacturing test plans, and production readiness criteria
Work with compliance teams to support radio, safety, and cybersecurity certification processes for connected devices
Coordinate with contract manufacturers on firmware document control, ECO processes, and OTA deployment to production fleets
Manage team capacity planning and work allocation across concurrent product programs