Manager, Firmware Engineering

About the role

Firmware Engineering Manager at FORT is responsible for the firmware group end-to-end, owning the team's development process, and contributing to the embedded stack.

Responsibilities

• Write and review production C/C++ for safety-critical embedded devices
• Implement real-time firmware for RTOS targets (Zephyr/FreeRTOS) and bare-metal environments
• Develop Embedded Linux user-space applications
• Bring up new hardware, debug hard problems with JTAG, GDB, oscilloscopes, and logic analyzers
• Tune performance on constrained targets
• Maintain and improve the firmware CI/CD pipelines (GitLab)
• Test automation behind the pipelines and hardware-in-the-loop coverage
• Pick up work that would otherwise sit unclaimed in a given sprint
• Own the Agile Scrum process end-to-end
• Assess feasibility, estimation, and risk
• Carry engineering's opinion on technical direction, sequencing, and estimation into Product and Program forums
• Surface cross-team integration risks early, particularly at the firmware boundaries with hardware, cloud, and systems

Requirements

Current embedded expertise across C and C++, RTOS, and Embedded Linux development, including hardware bring-up, low-level debugging, standard interfaces (UART, SPI, I2C, USB, CAN), IP networking, and Python for automation.

Experience owning firmware CI/CD.

Technical judgment to assess feasibility, estimation, and risk.

Management capability across performance, development, and capacity planning.

Comfort owning a team end-to-end with a broad scope and matching autonomy.

Typically 6+ years of embedded software development with at least 2 years leading or managing engineers.

B.S. in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent experience.

Nice to have: background in functional safety or another regulated industry (medical, automotive, aerospace, industrial).

Qualifications

Hands-on embedded engineering experience.

Leadership experience in managing a team.

Experience with Agile Scrum processes.

Experience with quality processes, including code review, testing standards, and a real definition of done.

Experience with workforce management, including hiring, performance, and career conversations, team structure, and workload and burnout.

Experience with technical direction, sequencing, and estimation in Product and Program forums.

Experience with cross-team integration risks, particularly at the firmware boundaries with hardware, cloud, and systems.

Skills

Embedded software development skills in C and C++, RTOS, and Embedded Linux.

Experience with hardware bring-up, low-level debugging, standard interfaces, IP networking, and Python for automation.

Technical judgment to assess feasibility, estimation, and risk.

Management capability across performance, development, and capacity planning.

Comfort owning a team end-to-end with a broad scope and matching autonomy.

Benefits

Hybrid schedule with a minimum of three days a week in the office.

Pay

Details TBD.

Schedule

Hybrid schedule with a minimum of three days a week in the office.