Staff Embedded Firmware Engineer - NEO

1X•San Carlos, CA

About The Position

1X is building humanoid robots designed to work in homes, handling chores and tasks to give people their time back. This requires solving complex problems in robotics, AI, and manufacturing simultaneously, at scale, and in a safe form factor for family living. The company has been developing these robots since 2014 and is now focused on shipping its flagship product, NEO, a home robot designed to move, learn, and operate alongside people in the real world. 1X is scaling and hiring intentionally, seeking individuals inspired by the mission to change how humans spend their time by safely creating abundance. The Firmware team is responsible for the embedded software layer that powers all hardware subsystems of the humanoid robot, including communication bus architecture, power management, and actuator/motor control. This team operates at the intersection of hardware and software, playing a critical role in product milestones as reliable firmware is essential for the robot's movement, charging, and safe operation. This is an opportunity to build foundational software for a new category of physical AI.

Requirements

5+ years of embedded firmware development in C/C++ on real hardware, with direct experience managing interrupts, DMA, and timing-critical execution (7+ years for senior/staff-level positions).
Hands-on experience with microcontrollers and embedded communication interfaces, at minimum CAN plus one or more of SPI, I²C, UART.
Demonstrated ability to debug firmware on real hardware using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, or equivalent tools, comfortable diagnosing problems that span firmware behavior and electrical signaling.

Nice To Haves

Domain depth in one or more areas relevant to humanoid robot subsystems: distributed real-time communication bus firmware, switched-mode power conversion and lithium-ion battery charge management, or motor drive and actuator control firmware.
Experience with safety-critical or fault-tolerant embedded systems; familiarity with safety integrity standards such as IEC 61508 or ISO 26262.
Familiarity with real-time operating systems (FreeRTOS, SafeRTOS, or similar).
Background in robotics, autonomous systems, or complex electromechanical products.

Responsibilities

Own the firmware layer across one or more of the robot’s core hardware subsystems, ensuring embedded software is robust, safe, and maintainable across prototype and production platforms.
Deliver production-quality firmware for assigned domains (communication bus, battery charging, or actuator drives) that meets reliability and safety requirements on both prototype and production hardware.
Reduce integration risk across subsystems by owning the firmware-to-hardware interface, defining requirements with hardware architects, surfacing trade-offs early, and resolving issues before they block downstream teams.
Establish diagnostic and telemetry infrastructure that measurably accelerates end-of-line validation and enables long-term field reliability tracking.
Contribute to a firmware codebase that is well-structured, documented, and maintainable, enabling the team to scale safely as the robot adds nodes, subsystems, and production volume.