Sr. Software Engineer

Work Schedule

Environmental Conditions

Job Description

At Thermo Fisher Scientific, our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Join a multidisciplinary R&D team developing reliable instruments that help customers advance research, improve analytical results and solve practical laboratory and inspection challenges.

Role overview

As Senior Software Engineer, you will design, implement and verify embedded firmware for life science and chemical analysis instruments and related inspection systems. Your primary focus will be firmware that controls instrument hardware, acquires measurement data and executes reliable operating sequences. Working with electrical, mechanical, systems and host software engineers, you will bring up new hardware and deliver maintainable firmware from prototype through production and field support.

The development portfolio includes the Varioskan ALF Multimode Microplate Reader, the Power Blotter Station, EDXRF instruments, and X-ray inspection systems. Assignments will depend on project needs and relevant expertise.

Key responsibilities

· Translate instrument and subsystem requirements into firmware architecture, detailed designs, interfaces and testable acceptance criteria.

· Develop embedded C and C++ firmware for microcontrollers or embedded processors, using bare-metal or real-time operating system architectures as appropriate.

· Implement device drivers and interfaces for sensors, detectors, ADCs/DACs, actuators, motors and instrument communication links.

· Develop timing, acquisition and control sequences, including state machines, initialization, calibration routines and coordination of instrument subsystems.

· Bring up new PCBAs with electrical engineers; diagnose hardware/firmware interactions using debuggers, oscilloscopes and logic analyzers.

· Implement diagnostics, watchdog handling, parameter checks and defined fault responses in coordination with hardware and system safety requirements.

· Develop unit, integration and regression tests, including hardware-in-the-loop testing where appropriate; document results and resolve defects.

· Maintain controlled source code, code reviews, build configurations and automated checks; deliver reproducible, versioned firmware releases.

· Support production programming, firmware updates, service diagnostics and root-cause investigation of manufacturing and field issues.

· Document firmware behavior and interfaces, collaborate with global teams and contribute to technical reviews and peer development.

Required qualifications

· Degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Software Engineering or a closely related technical discipline.

· Bachelor's degree plus at least 5 years, in commercial embedded software or firmware development, or advanced degree plus at least 3 years

· Strong proficiency in embedded C and C++, including memory management, interrupts, timers, concurrency and resource-constrained implementation.

· Hands-on firmware development on microcontrollers or embedded processors, with experience in bare-metal or real-time operating system development.

· Experience with instrument control, data acquisition or comparable electromechanical products, including integration with physical hardware.

· Practical knowledge of several relevant interfaces, such as SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, USB or Ethernet, and ability to read schematics and component datasheets.

· Experience in board bring-up and firmware debugging using hardware debuggers and laboratory measurement equipment.

· Experience with Git, code review, automated testing and continuous integration; ability to develop clear, testable and maintainable firmware.

· Strong analytical problem solving, independent technical ownership and written and spoken English for cross-functional global collaboration.

· Ability to travel for collaboration with global engineering and manufacturing teams.

Preferred qualifications

· Firmware experience in life science and chemical analysis instruments, spectroscopy, optical measurement, X-ray equipment or laboratory automation.

· Experience with precision acquisition, signal processing, motor control, calibration or deterministic control of measurement sequences.

· Python or similar scripting for test automation; experience with hardware-in-the-loop test systems and automated regression testing.

· Experience with embedded Linux, bootloaders, robust firmware update/recovery mechanisms or firmware security practices, where relevant to the product.

· Familiarity with AI-assisted tools for engineering tasks such as analysis, documentation, or coding is a plus.