Our client, a premier federal defense contractor, is seeking a Senior Firmware Engineer to take a hands-on leadership role supporting an existing embedded firmware program. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced firmware engineer who can hit the ground running, take ownership of an established firmware codebase, and drive the technical decisions needed to move the program forward.

The program has a mature existing firmware foundation. The selected engineer will evaluate the current architecture and codebase, determine whether it can be effectively maintained and enhanced, or recommend and help drive a more significant redesign or complete rewrite when necessary.

The ideal candidate is not simply a strong programmer. We are looking for an engineer who understands the relationship between firmware and hardware, can troubleshoot and validate embedded systems at the bench, and is comfortable making technical recommendations and decisions with limited direction.

Key Responsibilities:

- Take ownership of an existing embedded firmware codebase and quickly become proficient in the architecture, implementation, and overall system.
- Evaluate the existing firmware and determine whether the current codebase should be maintained, refactored, enhanced, or completely rewritten.
- Drive and influence technical decisions related to firmware architecture, implementation, and development approach.
- Design, develop, debug, and implement embedded firmware using C/C++.
- Develop and modify firmware for ARM Cortex-M series microcontrollers and other embedded microcontroller platforms.
- Develop and troubleshoot low-level interfaces and peripheral drivers.
- Work with embedded communication and hardware interfaces including SPI, I2C, UART, GPIO, ADC, PWM, and timers.
- Develop and support firmware running in an RTOS environment.
- Work closely with hardware engineers and other technical team members to ensure proper hardware/firmware integration.
- Perform hands-on bench testing to validate that firmware is operating correctly on the target hardware.
- Use oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, handheld meters, and debugging tools to troubleshoot and validate embedded systems.
- Perform system-level troubleshooting and root cause analysis of firmware and hardware/firmware integration issues.
- Optimize firmware for the requirements of ultra-low-power embedded systems, including memory, processing performance, and power consumption.
- Participate in requirements analysis, design reviews, integration, verification, and technical decision-making.
- Provide technical direction and recommendations to help ensure the program meets its objectives.
- Work within established engineering processes while identifying opportunities to improve the existing firmware development approach.

Required Skills

- Active DoD Secret Security Clearance is required.
- U.S. Citizenship is required due to government security clearance requirements.
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related STEM discipline with 8+ years of relevant experience, or Master's degree with 6+ years of relevant experience.
- Strong hands-on programming experience in C/C++.
- Extensive experience developing embedded firmware for ARM Cortex-M series microcontrollers.
- Experience working with embedded communication protocols and peripherals, including: SPI, I2C, UART, GPIO, ADC, PWM, Timers
- Experience with Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS).
- Demonstrated ability to work independently and drive technical decisions.
- Experience working with an existing firmware codebase and determining how best to maintain, improve, refactor, or replace it.
- Strong understanding of embedded systems and the interaction between firmware and hardware.

Preferred Qualifications:
- Hands-on experience performing bench-level testing and debugging of embedded systems.
- Proficiency using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, handheld digital multimeters, and other electronic test equipment.
- Ability to perform basic hardware troubleshooting and isolate firmware versus hardware-related issues.
- Experience with embedded debugging tools and interfaces such as JTAG or SWD.
- Experience developing firmware for ultra-low-power microcontrollers and systems.
- Experience in defense, aerospace, autonomous systems, maritime, medical devices, industrial controls, or other mission-critical embedded applications.
- Experience taking ownership of an established firmware platform and making recommendations regarding continued development versus architectural redesign/rewrite.