Embedded Software Engineer

About the Company

General Matter enriches uranium.

We are designing, building, and operating the world’s lowest-cost enrichment services, here in the US.  

In the process, we are restoring America’s ability to produce nuclear fuel to power AI, advanced manufacturing and critical industries our country relies on to remain competitive. 

Fuel drives the cost of advanced reactor electricity production, and enrichment drives the cost of the fuel that advanced reactors consume.  Reliable, low-cost enrichment is the catalyst for the nuclear Renaissance now under way.

Our mission is to make nuclear not only the cleanest and safest source of baseload power, but also the most affordable.  We believe abundant nuclear energy will lead to a post-scarcity society. 

We were incubated inside Founders Fund, like Anduril and Palantir before us, and are backed by over a dozen of the world's top venture capital firms.  

Our lean, world-class team of engineers and operators is applying a first-principles approach to solving the problem of nuclear fuel production.  

We are a mission-driven company with a culture of urgency, accountability, and transparency. 

Help us build a high-energy society by making the cleanest, safest form of baseload energy the most affordable. 

About This Role

We are seeking an Embedded Software Engineer to develop the low-level control software, real-time runtimes, and device drivers that directly command test stands and production systems. This role sits at the intersection of real-time embedded engineering and distributed control systems, and is responsible for building performant, deterministic, and fault-tolerant software that drives fieldbus networks, commands actuators, and acquires high-speed signals from scientific instrumentation where safety and accuracy are exceedingly important. The successful candidate will play a central role in defining the real-time architecture, driver standards, and hardware interfaces of mission-critical embedded systems across R&D, manufacturing/test, and plant operations. 

Responsibilities

• Architect and develop deterministic, safety-critical control software on Linux-based real-time operating systems (e.g., PREEMPT_RT), including scheduling, timing, and fault-tolerant control logic. 
• Build and maintain industrial fieldbus masters and stacks (e.g., EtherCAT, CAN/CANopen, EtherNet/IP) for hard real-time, high-rate closed-loop control of distributed actuators, drives, and I/O. 
• Write drivers and interfaces for scientific instrumentation, sensors, and data acquisition hardware for high-speed, kHz-class acquisition across low-level protocols and buses (e.g., SPI, I2C, serial, USB, PCIe, Ethernet). 
• Own software from development through deployment by building automated build, test, and validation infrastructure. 
• Perform safety analyses and validate control logic to ensure deterministic behavior and functional safety under both normal and fault conditions. 
• Work closely with hardware, electrical, and controls engineering teams to bring up new systems and integrate firmware with hardware. 
• Lead debugging, root cause analysis, and reliability improvements across the full software-to-hardware stack, using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, protocol analyzers, and other laboratory instrumentation. 
• Contribute to integrated system testing, commissioning, and continuous improvement of embedded software running on production equipment

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related STEM field. 
• 5+ years of experience developing embedded, real-time, or low-level systems software. 
• Strong, production-level experience in C, C++, or Rust. 
• Hands-on experience with real-time systems and hardware/software integration, with a strong understanding of deterministic timing, concurrency, and device driver development. 
• Ability to perform trade studies and make clear recommendations from first principles even with partial information. 

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Experience implementing or integrating industrial fieldbus protocols and masters (e.g., EtherCAT, CANopen, EtherNet/IP, Modbus). 
• Experience with real-time Linux (PREEMPT_RT, Xenomai) or other RTOS for motion and process control. 
• Driver and kernel development experience, including bring-up of new sensors, instrumentation, and data acquisition hardware. 
• Low-level communication protocol debugging and electrical hardware troubleshooting, including assistance in PCBA bring-up. 
• Experience designing fault-tolerant, observable, and testable distributed control systems. 
• Experience with automated testing, simulation, or hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test frameworks. 
• Background in safety-critical, high-reliability, or regulated industrial environments (e.g., chemical, energy, aerospace, robotics, semiconductor). 
• Demonstrated technical leadership in setting engineering standards and building and mentoring high-performance engineering teams. 
• Experience in a fast-paced, startup-like engineering environment requiring a resourceful, entrepreneurial approach to complete tasks within tight timeframes or budget constraints. 

Additional Requirements

• Ability to work extended hours and weekends as necessary.

Equal Opportunity Employer

General Matter is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with General Matter is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

Compensation and Benefits

The base salary range for this role is $125,000-$250,000 annually. 

Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. Please note that the stated salary range is an estimate and may be adjusted based on market conditions, business needs, or other factors. In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision & dental coverage as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.