Software Engineer - Embedded Systems

Swoop
Minneapolis-St. Paul +1 more
Hybrid

Who this role is best for

Strong fit for experienced embedded systems engineers who develop firmware and work on distributed OS integration, with a focus on hardware abstraction and security.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with a deep understanding of heterogeneous hardware and security-first design principles
    — “OS has to work across heterogeneous instruction sets, support a new generation of distributed system abstractions, treat security as a first principle”
  • Individuals with a track record of cross-functional collaboration and debugging complex system boundaries
    — “Collaborate cross-functionally with other engineering teams to debug complex issues spanning firmware, operating system, and application boundaries”

Things to consider

  • In-office work required for 3+ days per week, limiting remote flexibility
    — “who can work in-office 3+ days per week”
  • Active US Security clearance is a strict requirement or a need for sponsorship
    — “Active US Security clearance or ability and willingness to be sponsored for a US Security clearance”

How to stand out

  • Highlight firmware development and OS integration experience in your resume and interviews
    — “Develop and maintain embedded system firmware including low-level drivers, bootloaders, and other OS-critical functions”
  • Emphasize your work with heterogeneous hardware and distributed systems in your application materials
    — “OS has to work across heterogeneous instruction sets, support a new generation of distributed system abstractions”
  • Showcase your knowledge of low-level hardware systems and C/Rust development in your application
    — “Software development experience in C and Rust”
  • Include experience with serial protocols like I2C, SPI, or UART in your resume if applicable
    — “Familiarity with serial protocols such as I2C, SPI, UART, USB”
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · HighAutonomy · MediumDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • developed and maintained embedded system firmware
  • contributed to OS integration and kernel-level modules
  • designed and implemented application-layer features
Typical background
degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering4+ years of experience in embedded systems

Skills & requirements

Required

Embedded SystemsFirmware DevelopmentRTOSBare Metal DevelopmentCRustLow-level Hardware Systems

Preferred

SecurityDistributed SystemsAutonomous SystemsAI

Stack & domain

CRustOperating System/kernel DevelopmentRTOSEmbedded Systems/firmware DesignMicrokernel DevelopmentBare Metal DevelopmentI2CSPIUARTUSBLeadershipCollaborationSoftware EngineeringEmbedded SystemsFirmwareOperating Systems

About the role

Original posting from Swoop via Ashby

About Swoop:

Swoop Technologies has a mission to organize and make accessible the world’s military and critical infrastructure. We are building a distributed operating system, SwoopOS, that decomposes the world’s equipment into a distributed robotic embodiment upon which a new generation of distributed systems, autonomous systems, and agentic AI can be built and deployed using our SDK, Valhalla, and operated via our browser, Surf. Imagine the world’s equipment - consisting of the electrical grid, communications architectures, manufacturing facilities, and militaries as a trapped supply of inputs possessing the potential to ensure Western military advantage, sovereign control of economically competitive manufacturing capacity, or the creation of a grid that fosters energy dominance. Swoop is liberating these trapped assets, allowing them to contribute to the world’s future as a series of building blocks to be combined at the speed of software, limited by only the hard constraints of physics and the soft constraints of safety. That is what Swoop is building. Not in the data center or cloud or edge on-premise computing node. In the physical world. This is a hybrid position that requires someone based in Minneapolis/St. Paul OR Washington, DC who can work in-office 3+ days per week

Impact:

Joining our Edge Team means you will get to work on building an operating system. Not an abstraction, virtualization, or data layer. A legitimate distributed operating system. This OS has to work across heterogeneous instruction sets, support a new generation of distributed system abstractions, treat security as a first principle, and work at the scale of power grids and entire militaries. You will influence the intersection of artificial intelligence, robotics, and the physical world - building a compute model the OS schedules and executes across the most geopolitically relevant problem sets. It is a bad-ass problem where every member of the team contributes tangibly on a daily basis. Come join us in either our Minneapolis or Washington, DC offices.

Responsibilities:

  • Develop and maintain embedded system firmware including low-level drivers, bootloaders, and other OS-critical functions to enable reliable OS initialization and hardware interaction.
  • Contribute to OS integration and kernel-level modules, ensuring efficient communication between hardware abstraction layers and higher-level system software.
  • Design and implement application-layer features and system services that leverage firmware interfaces, optimizing for performance, resource use, and robustness.
  • Collaborate cross-functionally with other engineering teams to debug complex issues spanning firmware, operating system, and application boundaries.
  • Collaborate closely with the deployment engineering team, solving technical challenges for various customer requirements

You Should Have:

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering or related technical field, or equivalent technical experience
  • 4+ years of experience in one or more of the following: Operating System/Kernel development, RTOS, Embedded Systems/Firmware design, Microkernel development, Bare Metal development
  • Software development experience in C and Rust
  • Understanding of low level hardware systems
  • Travel Requirement - 5-20%
  • Active US Security clearance or ability and willingness to be sponsored for a US Security clearance

Bonus if you have:

  • Knowledge of one or more of the following: Microcontrollers, SoC, device drivers, hardware bring-up, power management, ARM processors, performance optimization, file systems, bootloading, firmware, x86 assembly, system BIOS, FPGAs or hardware/software integration
  • Understanding of clocks and timing as it pertains to processor instructions
  • Familiarity with serial protocols such as I2C, SPI, UART, USB
  • Demonstrated knowledge of systems engineering and distributed systems

Swoop Technologies is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, gender identity or any other factor protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws.

Source: Swoop careers (Ashby)

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