Application Engineer, Software/Firmware (OEM Integrations)

Responsibilities

• Partner directly with OEM software and firmware teams to assess partner platforms and define the software integration points required to embed Karman
• Develop and adapt OS-level and firmware components (e.g., Linux BSP, drivers, embedded services) to fit each OEM partner's platform
• Use the embedded development toolchain, including debuggers, tracing and profiling tools, and tuning utilities, to diagnose and resolve integration issues
• Lead OEM-facing technical calls, design reviews, and on-site visits to gather software and firmware integration requirements
• Own end-to-end technical execution for OEM software integrations, from kickoff through design, validation, release, and deployment
• Create and maintain integration artifacts, including software validation checklists, test plans, configuration guides, KPI trackers, and after-action reports
• Track software integration KPIs and risks across OEM engagements; escalate and coordinate resolution across engineering teams
• Take an AI-first approach to automating test frameworks, configuration checkers, and deployment documentation
• Participate in roadmap meetings, engineering design reviews, and sprint planning to maintain a current understanding of the Karman platform
• Serve as the feedback loop between OEM integrations and core engineering, translating learnings into platform improvements
• Build repeatable processes, templates, and best practices to scale the Application Engineering function across OEM partners

Requirements

• 6+ years of hands-on embedded OS and firmware development experience, including direct customer- or partner-facing work
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a similar field, or equivalent training and on-the-job experience
• Strong experience with embedded Linux, including BSP bring-up, driver development, and kernel-level debugging
• Fluency with the embedded software development toolchain, including debuggers (e.g., JTAG, GDB), tracing and profiling tools, and system tuning utilities
• Proficiency in C or C++ for embedded development, and Python or Rust for tooling and automation
• Demonstrated ability to design and implement integration validation tools, configuration checks, or test automation for embedded software environments
• Experience integrating software across multiple OEM or vendor hardware platforms
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to lead technical discussions directly with OEM/partner engineering teams
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and own complex technical problems end-to-end
• High learning agility across diverse OEM software and firmware environments

Qualifications

• Experience with Yocto-based OS customization or embedded BSP development at scale
• Familiarity with on-device messaging and serialization patterns (e.g., gRPC, Protobuf, REST APIs)
• Experience with real-time operating systems (RTOS)
• Familiarity with observability and monitoring tooling common in data center environments (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana)
• Prior experience in a customer-facing technical role, such as Field Application Engineer or solutions engineer, in an embedded software context