{"id":818562,"url":"https://alion.io/job/vatnsystems-embedded-firmware-engineer","title":"Embedded Firmware Engineer","company":{"id":720699,"name":"Vatn","domain":"vatn.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/vatn-2","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":75,"open_postings":7,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":1,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":null,"computed_at":"2026-10-09T06:01:00Z"}},"role":"Hardware","role_family":"Hardware","seniority":"middle","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Bristol, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":92000,"max_usd":182000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":491},"experience_years_min":3,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Git","optional":false},{"name":"RTOS","optional":false},{"name":"CI/CD","optional":true},{"name":"CMake","optional":true},{"name":"NixOS","optional":true},{"name":"ROS","optional":true},{"name":"Rust","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-07-09T21:14:13Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-08-25","last_verified_at":"2026-10-10T00:21:19Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":92,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":92},"description":"About Vatn Systems\nVatn Systems is an innovative startup at the forefront of designing and manufacturing autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Our mission is to revolutionize underwater security, exploration, research, and operations through cutting-edge technology and unparalleled engineering. Our AUVs are defining the next generation of underwater autonomy.\nThe Role\nWe are looking for a talented and motivated Embedded Firmware Engineer to join our growing team. In this role, you will design, develop, and maintain the bare-metal and RTOS firmware that runs our AUVs on embedded microcontrollers. You'll write C and C++ close to the metal, bring up new hardware, and own the low-level software that keeps our vehicles running reliably in demanding maritime conditions. The ideal candidate is a proactive engineer who enjoys working close to the metal and thrives at the hardware/software boundary.\nWhat You'll Do\nDesign, build, and maintain efficient, reliable firmware in C and C++ for embedded microcontrollers (bare-metal and RTOS)\nBring up new hardware: board bring-up, bootloaders, device drivers, and board support packages\nImplement and debug communication between subsystems over interfaces such as UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, and Ethernet\nIntegrate sensors, actuators, and peripherals, and implement real-time control and telemetry paths\nOptimize firmware for performance, memory footprint, and power\nCollaborate with electrical, mechanical, and autonomy engineers to translate system requirements into robust embedded solutions\nWrite and maintain unit and integration tests, and support hardware-in-the-loop testing\nParticipate in code reviews, providing and receiving constructive feedback to improve our engineering practices\nTroubleshoot, debug, and upgrade existing firmware, including on-vehicle and field debugging\nWhat You'll Need\nRequired Qualifications:\nDegree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a closely related technical field\n3-5 years of professional embedded software/firmware development experience\nStrong proficiency in C and C++ for embedded microcontrollers (bare-metal and/or RTOS)\nHands-on experience developing firmware for STM32 microcontrollers (e.g., STM32CubeMX/HAL, LL drivers, or bare-metal register-level programming)\nSolid understanding of hardware/software integration: reading schematics and datasheets, and debugging with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and JTAG/SWD\nExperience with embedded communication protocols (e.g., UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, Ethernet)\nFamiliarity with real-time constraints, interrupts, DMA, and low-level memory management\nExperience writing firmware for power-constrained and/or resource-limited systems (battery power budgets, tight memory/timing footprints)\nProficiency with version control systems, specifically Git\nExcellent problem-solving skills and the ability to work effectively in a team environment\nUnited States Citizen or Permanent Resident\nAbility to gain a security clearance\nNice-to-Haves:\nExperience with cross-compilation, build systems (e.g., CMake, Make), and toolchains for embedded targets\nExperience with the Rust programming language\nExperience with the Nix ecosystem (Nix/NixOS, reproducible builds)\nExperience with digital signal processing (e.g., filtering, FFTs, sensor data conditioning)\nExperience with serialization protocols like Protobufs, DDS, etc.\nFamiliarity with robotics middleware or modern robotics frameworks (e.g., ROS 2)\nExperience with CI/CD pipelines for embedded software and automated hardware testing\nExperience with maritime sensors, underwater acoustics, or subsea systems\nFamiliarity with functional safety or safety-critical software development practices\nVatn is an equal opportunity employer, and we welcome candidates from all backgrounds to apply. We look forward to reviewing your application and potentially having you join our team in shaping the future of autonomous underwater vehicles.","description_format":"text","description_chars":3946,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":3,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Military","Marine & Ocean Engineering","Naval Systems"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-12T12:11:28Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":13,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.381,"p_room":0.35,"age_days":91,"expected_fill_days":33,"reasons":["conf:1","win:tail"],"computed_at":"2026-10-09T06:01:00Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/vatnsystems-embedded-firmware-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/vatnsystems-embedded-firmware-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-10T01:12:18Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":2063,"day_limit":5000,"remaining_today":2937,"minute_limit":60,"resets_at":"2026-10-11T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":720699},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=720699"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fvatnsystems-embedded-firmware-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fvatnsystems-embedded-firmware-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fvatnsystems-embedded-firmware-engineer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/vatnsystems-embedded-firmware-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fvatnsystems-embedded-firmware-engineer"}]}