Staff Firmware Engineer

"The United States Air National Guard's 131st Rescue Squadron recently relied on Somewear's ATAK integration to coordinate a civilian rescue 1,200 miles off the U.S. Pacific coast. Because our platform provided consistent communications and situational awareness across air, ground, and medical teams, the mission wrapped up in half the expected time — and lives were saved."

At Somewear Labs, that's the kind of impact our technology delivers. We support those who venture beyond the limits of cellular connectivity with a satellite-enabled platform built for the world's most demanding environments. Our customers include helicopter paramedics, backcountry explorers, wildland firefighters, and U.S. Special Forces operators.

We're looking for a Staff Firmware Engineer to define the technical vision for our embedded systems and lead us in pushing the boundaries of what's possible in off-grid communication. You'll architect critical systems at the intersection of custom hardware, satellite technology, LTE, Bluetooth, sensors, and mesh networking — building software that directly powers life-saving missions in the field while setting the technical direction for the entire firmware organization.

Why this role matters

Firmware is the beating heart of our platform. Every architectural decision you make and technical strategy you define helps ensure critical information reaches the right people at the right time, even in the harshest environments. As a staff-level technical leader at a Series A company, you'll set the technical vision, drive cross-functional initiatives, mentor senior engineers, and shape our products and engineering culture for years to come.

What you'll do

• Define technical vision and strategy for firmware architecture across our entire product portfolio

• Architect and own complex embedded systems in C, C++, and Rust targeting Zephyr RTOS, setting patterns that scale across the organization

• Drive company-wide technical decisions around system architecture, performance optimization, power management, and technology selection

• Lead cross-functional initiatives that span firmware, hardware, mobile, and backend teams—translating business goals into technical roadmaps

• Own end-to-end technical delivery of critical features from concept through production deployment on custom hardware

• Set the standard for board bring-up and hardware validation, establishing processes that electrical and firmware teams follow company-wide

• Architect robust communication protocols and device drivers for power-constrained, safety-critical environments

• Define and evolve system-level protocols in partnership with hardware, mobile, and backend engineering teams

• Champion engineering excellence by establishing standards, best practices, and tooling that elevate the entire engineering organization

• Mentor and develop senior engineers, conducting design reviews and systematically raising the technical capabilities across the team

• Evaluate emerging technologies and drive strategic build vs. buy decisions with company-level impact

• Influence product and company strategy by identifying technical opportunities, constraints, and competitive advantages

• Represent firmware engineering in executive-level technical discussions and company-wide planning

• Solve the hardest technical problems that require deep expertise and novel approaches

What we're looking for

• 10+ years of firmware development on resource-constrained embedded systems

• Proven track record of defining technical vision and strategy for embedded systems in production environments

• Expert-level proficiency architecting and shipping complex, safety-critical embedded systems at scale

• Deep expertise with wireless protocols (WiFi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Thread, LoRa, mesh networking) and proven ability to design novel protocols

• Strong understanding of cellular technologies (LTE, 5G, NB-IoT), satellite communications, and RF system design

• Mastery of RTOS internals (Zephyr, FreeRTOS, or similar) and hardware interfaces (UART, SPI, I²C, USB)

• Advanced debugging skills with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, JTAG debuggers, and power profiling tools—able to solve issues others cannot

• Demonstrated experience optimizing for power consumption, memory footprint, and real-time performance in production systems with measurable impact

• Proven track record of leading multi-team technical initiatives, driving consensus on complex architectural decisions, and delivering company-critical projects

• Strong leadership skills with experience mentoring senior engineers and elevating technical capabilities across organizations

• Exceptional collaboration skills working across hardware, mobile, backend, and product teams at all levels of the organization

• Strategic thinking with ability to balance technical excellence with business priorities and time-to-market constraints

• A passion for building technology where reliability, security, and safety are non-negotiable

• Willingness to dive deep across the stack and take ownership from concept to deployed product, while also operating at strategic altitude

• Comfort with ambiguity and ability to define technical direction when the path forward is unclear

Bonus points for

• Deep experience with secure boot, cryptographic implementations, firmware security, and threat modeling

• Background in RF systems, antenna design, or wireless system optimization

• Significant contributions to open-source embedded projects with demonstrated community impact

• Proven experience designing and implementing FOTA (firmware over-the-air) update systems for constrained devices

• Hands-on experience with regulatory compliance (FCC, CE, safety certifications) and guiding products through certification

• Experience architecting systems for defense, aerospace, or other safety-critical industries

• Published research, patents, or industry recognition in embedded systems or wireless communications

What you'll love about Somewear

• Mission-driven work: your technical vision and decisions directly impact life-saving operations worldwide

• Strategic ownership: define technical strategy and architecture with significant autonomy and company-wide impact

• Challenging problems: from ultra-low-power firmware to resilient off-grid protocols at scale—solve problems others can't

• Close-knit, ambitious team: collaborate with engineers who are motivated, curious, and fun to work with

• Technical leadership opportunity: shape engineering culture, set technical direction, mentor leaders, and influence company strategy

• Direct impact: regular access to executive leadership and meaningful influence on product roadmap and technical strategy

• Growth potential: as we scale, grow into broader technical leadership roles

What we offer:

• A competitive and equitable compensation plan. This is a full-time, salaried position that includes significant equity.

• Physical well-being including health, dental and vision benefits.

• Focus Days: No meetings every Monday to allow you to focus and operate at your best!

• Unlimited PTO

• Flexible parental leave

• Remote employee equipment stipend to create a great remote work environment.

• An authentic investment in you as a human being and your career as a professional.

Join us to make an impact

Note: U.S. Persons ONLY. Please only apply if you meet this requirement.

Work from our San Francisco HQ or Chicago office, or remotely.