- Robot type
- Marine and Space
- Location
- AlamedaCaliforniaUSA
- Job type
- Software
- Posted
- Mar 24, 2026
- Salary
- $215,000–$260,000 a year
Full-time
Staff Embedded Software Engineer
Job description
This role is required to be onsite in Alameda, CA in the Bay Area 3 days per week - this is our hybrid model. This is not a remote position.
The Firmware team is responsible for the architecture, development, and sustainment of the embedded software and real-time control systems that power Saildrone’s Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs). We engineer the resilient, high-performance devices that form the mission-critical foundation of our fleet, delivering dependable and persistent operations in some of the most extreme environments in the world.
Saildrone is a maritime defense company and the global leader in autonomous unmanned surface vehicles (USVs).
Saildrone’s manufacturing and R&D…
Job responsibilities
- Embedded Architecture: Lead the design, implementation, and validation of embedded software systems to meet stringent performance and safety requirements for reliable and successful long-duration missions.
- Technical Ownership: Own the strategic direction for device architecture, hardware abstraction layers, and embedded computing subsystems, ensuring a robust backbone for all autonomous platforms.
- Firmware Delivery: Drive the end-to-end development of mission-critical firmware targeting RTOS-based or bare-metal applications, balancing real-time constraints with system-level reliability.
- Validation Strategy: Define and execute comprehensive test and quality assurance strategies, including hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing, to ensure every system meets maritime, defense, and regulatory standards.
- Cross-Functional Integration: Partner with Mechanical, Electrical, and Software teams to resolve sensor integration, communication protocols, and system-level dependencies for seamless vehicle integration.
- Fleet Reliability: Act as the guiding source of root-cause analysis and diagnosis of complex firmware failures within R&D and across deployed global fleets of drones.
- Design Standards: Establish and institutionalize embedded design standards, coding guidelines, and CI/CD workflows to ensure technical rigor and team scalability.
- Technical Mentorship: Provide high-level technical leadership and mentorship across programs, building the technical depth of the engineering team and ensuring design excellence.
Job requirements
- Master’s degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
- 8+ years of experience designing embedded systems and firmware for complex, high-reliability products.
- Deep expertise in developing C/C++ for both real-time operating systems (such as FreeRTOS or Zephyr) and bare-metal applications.
- Significant experience working with embedded microcontrollers (such as Cortex-M) and their corresponding toolchains, programming models, and resource constraints.
- Proven proficiency in low-level driver development (such as SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, or Ethernet) and board bring-up.
- Working knowledge of sensors, actuators, and control systems as they apply to industrial robotics or vehicle applications.
- Practical experience in secure boot mechanisms, OTA update architectures, and embedded system design for modern cybersecurity requirements.
- Demonstrated ability to solve complex technical problems in fast-paced and high-reliability environments.