Zenblen is looking for a passionate, and entrepreneurial Lead Embedded Systems Engineer to join our team full-time.
As our Lead Embedded Systems Engineer, you will own the architecture, development, and delivery of embedded firmware and electrical systems that power our robotic kiosks. You'll be responsible for creating production-grade firmware, owning the development of the electrical systems, improving reliability and diagnostics, and guiding the design of our next-generation control systems.
You’ll work closely with mechanical, software, and manufacturing teams to create a robust and scalable system—and ensure our kiosks are safe, compliant, and maintainable in the field.
Key Responsibilities:
Architecture & Development
- Lead the architecture and development of embedded firmware across multiple subsystems (e.g., motors, sensors, cameras, actuators).
- Develop modular, production-grade firmware that supports field updates, diagnostics, and structured error handling.
- Design and implement communication protocols (CAN, UART, I2C, SPI) across a distributed system.
Electrical System Design & Integration
- Oversee schematic reviews and PCB design decisions in collaboration with internal and external teams.
- Ensure all electrical subsystems are designed with compliance (UL, NSF) and manufacturability in mind.
- Define test plans and support fixture development for board bring-up and system integration.
System Reliability & Safety
- Develop safety-critical firmware features (e.g., interlocks, watchdog timers, emergency stops).
- Support HALT testing, root cause analysis, and reliability growth through firmware instrumentation and data logging.
- Drive improvements to error classification and system diagnostics to support field service and remote triage.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Work closely with our Lead Software Engineer to align embedded logic with cloud systems and dashboards.
- Partner with the mechanical team to define control strategies and safety logic for moving parts.
- Collaborate with manufacturing to develop production test firmware, calibration tools, and revision management processes.
This is an opportunity to join an early-stage, venture backed startup and see the immediate tangible impact of your work. In this close-knit team environment, you will have ownership in valuable workstreams, while still receiving mentorship from our experienced engineering team. Furthermore, this position will open a vast professional network in the Chicago tech community and provide you with knowledge of startup acumen.
What we are looking for
- Someone looking for an opportunity to run with things and take ownership of their work
- Great communication & organization skills, and high degree of logical thinking
- A desire to work in a fast-paced startup environment and excel with limited direction
- An excellent work ethic and “get things done” attitude
- A love for nutrition, wellness, and healthy living – extra points for being a smoothie person!
Key Qualifications
- 6+ years of experience in embedded systems development, ideally in a robotics, automation, or an electro-mechanical company.
- Proficient in C/C++ for embedded systems, with strong understanding of RTOS concepts or bare-metal programming.
- Experience designing and integrating hardware platforms using microcontrollers (e.g., STM32).
- Hands-on experience with hardware debugging tools (e.g., oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, JTAG).
- Strong understanding of electrical systems: power distribution, safety circuits, sensors, and actuator control.
- Experience with production-level embedded features: OTA updates, bootloaders, diagnostics, logging, etc.
- Ability to own projects end-to-end and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams.
- Ability to work on-site in Chicago.
What We Offer
- A chance to own core systems at a high-growth startup
- Hands-on, real-world problems in robotics, automation, and foodtech
- Close collaboration with a top-tier, mission-driven team
- Competitive compensation and equity
- Assist with the development of an on-site, hardware-rich environment (lab, prototyping, testing)
About Zenblen:
Zenblen offers freshly blended smoothies via a robotic smoothie bar. Our smoothie kiosk dispenses and blends ingredients right in front of the consumer, fresh to order.
We are a fast-paced, high-momentum startup that graduated from Chicago Booth’s New Venture Challenge, one of the top-ranked accelerators in the nation. Our company has also been featured in the Chicago Venture Summit as a leading innovator in the food tech space. We are proud to have brought on expert investors and world-class advisors to join us on this journey.
Our mission is to make healthy eating more accessible for everyone. We believe how someone fuels their body has a tremendous impact on all aspects of their life and therefore democratizing nutritionist curated smoothies will positively impact countless people across the globe. Just like how Starbucks fo