Embedded Systems Engineer (Senior)

Job Description The Senior Embedded Systems Engineer is the technical backbone of our robots—the person who turns physics into performance and silicon into intelligence. You will own the firmware that directly controls motion, perception, power, safety, and communication across both our rapidly evolving in-house prototypes and our production-bound robotic platforms. This is not a “desk-only” role: your code will run outdoors, in rain, dust, cold, vibration, failure, recovery, and scale. At RIVR, we build embedded systems the only way that works in reality: hardware first, theory second. No simulation, test bench, or spec sheet replaces being next to a robot in the field while it fails, recovers, and pushes its limits. That’s why our embedded engineers move fluidly between early experimentation and real-world deployment—bringing up new boards, hacking fast on prototypes, and hardening systems for long-term reliability. Our embedded development philosophy balances speed and rigor. We move fast on prototypes to unlock new capabilities, validate assumptions, and de-risk bold design choices, but we apply production-grade thinking from day one. Architecture before implementation, tight hardware–software co-design, deterministic behavior over clever shortcuts, and rapid iteration loops validated on real robots are core to how we work. Firmware is never a handoff—it is a living system, continuously shaped by mechanical constraints, electrical realities, autonomy requirements, manufacturing discipline, and operational feedback. And above all, we design for both exploration and scale: the freedom to experiment on in-house robots, combined with the responsibility to deliver systems that are robust, safe, manufacturable, securely updateable, and cost-efficient at fleet scale. Our goal is not just to build impressive machines in the lab, but to turn breakthrough prototypes into reliable robots operating every day in real urban environments.

What you’ll be doing

Own the architecture, development, and optimization of low-level C/C++ firmware for microprocessors and microcontrollers across our robotic platforms.

Lead hardware bring-up and validation for new PCBAs, sensors, compute units, and communication interfaces.

Design and implement robust drivers and firmware for peripherals such as cameras, motors, power systems, and safety-critical components.

Drive system-level debugging across hardware–software boundaries using advanced tools (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, JTAG, GDB).

Define and implement testing strategies for embedded firmware, including HIL testing, automated regression testing, and fault injection.

Collaborate closely with electrical, mechanical, autonomy, and cloud teams to define interfaces and system requirements.

Contribute to architectural decisions for compute, networking, safety, and system reliability.

Establish coding standards, documentation practices, and long-term maintainability of the embedded codebase.

Review, guide, and mentor junior and mid-level engineers through code reviews, design discussions, and technical leadership.

Act as a key contributor during field deployments, diagnostics, and performance optimization on real robots.

What you must have

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Computer Science, or a related field.

6+ years of professional experience in embedded systems development in robotics, automotive, aerospace, industrial automation, or similar domains.

Strong experience with ARM-based MCUs/MPUs.

Expert-level C/C++ for embedded systems, with deep understanding of real-time behavior, memory management, and performance optimization.

Deep understanding of communication interfaces and protocols: UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, Ethernet.

Proven ability to read schematics, debug at the board level, and reason across hardware–software interactions.

Extensive hands-on experience with embedded debugging tools (logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, JTAG, GDB).

Experience working on systems deployed in production or field environments.

Strong problem-solving skills, ownership mentality, and the ability to operate independently in a fast-moving startup environment.

Get some bonus points

Experience with ROS/ROS2 and robotic middleware.

Experience with edge computing GPUs (Jetson)

Experience with functional safety, ISO 26262, IEC 61508, or safety-critical systems.

Experience with real-time operating systems (RTOS) and embedded Linux.

Experience with bootloaders, BSPs, and secure firmware updates.

Contributions to robotics, electronics, or open-source embedded projects.

Prior experience leading or mentoring engineers in embedded teams.