Embedded Firmware Engineer

Design and build C++ firmware for a distributed system of aircraft microcontrollers.

Develop reliable Ethernet, serial, and other microcontroller communication interfaces.

Define platform-level interfaces and reusable firmware components that support multiple aircraft subsystems.

Own the predictable and reliable performance of our microcontroller systems and the communication buses that connect them, across startup, real-time operation, fault handling, and recovery.

Optimize real-time behavior, including CPU utilization, memory usage, scheduling latency, timing jitter, and resource contention

Develop metrics, monitoring and troubleshooting capabilities to prepare the system for field deployment at scale

Develop Rust-based tooling and software-in-the-loop simulations to test and validate firmware behavior.

Strong software engineering skills and production experience writing C++ for embedded or resource-constrained systems.

Experience with embedded communications, such as Ethernet, serial interfaces, or other hardware communication protocols.

Experience designing and debugging real-time firmware, including task scheduling, interrupts, concurrency, synchronization, and memory constraints.

Experience building and maintaining real-world deployed embedded systems, and handling the long tail of edge cases to ensure consistent safety, reliability, and high performance

A systems mindset and intuition for debugging; when anything could be wrong, you know how to narrow down the possibilities.

Fluency in implementing peripheral drivers based on electrical schematics and datasheets, and debugging at this boundary in order to support prototype hardware evaluation

Our team uses a hybrid in-office and distributed work environment, centered around our headquarters in South San Francisco, CA. You must be able to work from the office on a regular basis.

Zipline is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws or our own sensibilities.

We value diversity at Zipline and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech. If you like the sound of this position but are not sure if you are the perfect fit, please apply!

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As set forth in Zipline ’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.