Principal Embedded Firmware Engineer

At Re:Build, our mission is to ensure the next generation of important products are made, at scale, in America. We are laying the foundation for a better future for our customers, employees, and communities by revitalizing America's manufacturing base and creating meaningful jobs across the country, including in historically deindustrialized regions.

We operate an advanced, end-to-end manufacturing platform that partners with industrial companies and innovators to take products from first concept to full-scale production in critical verticals including aerospace and defense, electrification, medical, energy and environment, and robotics and automation.

The way we operate is as important as the work we do. It's guided by The Re:Build Way, 16 principles that shape how we collaborate with each other, partner with our customers and vendors, and contribute to the communities where we operate. The Re:Build Way principles

Who is Fikst?

Re:Build Fikst, LLC (Fikst), a Re:Build Manufacturing, LLC (Re:Build) company is a growing product design and engineering consulting firm located in Wilmington, MA. We work with pioneering clients to develop their technology, design their products, and bring those products to production. Fikst's areas of expertise include biomedical instruments and consumables, microfluidics, specialty plastic design, optics, industrial automation, and design for manufacturing. We have extensive in-house laboratory and rapid prototyping capability including CNCs, 3D printers and laser cutters, all of which helps facilitate our ability to prototype and innovate fast.

Who we are looking for

• A player-coach who is passionate about teaching complex embedded systems concepts and product development to less experienced engineers.
• A product development engineer who enjoys the fast paced environment of consulting and is experienced with complex technical projects.
• An engaging leader who can connect scientific theory with engineering design to create novel products and define the technical roadmap for our firmware team.
• An exceptional listener and communicator able to interpret client needs, represent a sound development methodology, and articulate a clear technical vision to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• A strategic problem solver who can jump into an unfamiliar field, identify core firmware issues, and quickly contribute to solutions.
• A collaborative mentor who enjoys working with and elevating teams of scientists, engineers, manufacturing partners, and industrial designers.
• A hands-on architect and system thinker who can design robust and scalable firmware solutions, build refined prototypes, and provide high-level technical oversight.

What you'll get to do

• Firmware Development: Have direct responsibility for the implementation of embedded software solutions for client projects from ideation, through design, development, and into production.
• Lead and Mentor: Act as a player-coach for our engineering team. You will support and mentor product development teams to advance new technologies and bring new products to market. Coach engineers on essential professional skills like project management and project scoping.
• Provide Technical Leadership: Serve as a technical backstop, providing expert guidance and oversight for embedded firmware solutions, and actively mentor junior engineers to foster their growth and technical excellence.
• Pioneer Best Practices: Champion and implement cutting-edge best practices across the firmware development lifecycle, including advanced source code management, robust version control, streamlined DevOps, and comprehensive automated testing strategies.
• Solve Complex Challenges: Conduct in-depth electrical characterization and debugging using advanced test equipment (e.g., oscilloscopes, logic analyzers) to diagnose intermittent and complex hardware/firmware interactions and ensure robust system performance. Create innovative firmware solutions to solve complex and often unique problems, with few or ambiguous requirements.
• Influence Strategy: Contribute strategically to new business opportunities and project scoping, translating technical vision into actionable plans. Collaborate with team members to incorporate firmware development scoping into project proposals
• Drive Collaboration: Work closely with multi-disciplinary teams (electrical, mechanical, industrial design, manufacturing) to develop unified system methodologies and support critical hardware demonstrations.

What you bring to the Team

• Extensive Experience: 15+ years of progressive experience in embedded firmware engineering, demonstrating expertise across diverse hardware platforms, programming languages (primarily C and C++), and a wide range of microcontrollers. We value deep problem-solving skills over a rigid adherence to specific years of experience if a candidate can demonstrate exceptional capability.
• Creating Innovative Solutions: Expertise in crafting embedded software solutions which bring complex electromechanical systems to life. Demonstrated success developing firmware across diverse applications, from precision motion control to sensor integration and real-time system coordination.
• Product Development: Strong background in electromechanical systems development with 10+ years of electronic product experience from concept through manufacturing.
• Architectural Expertise: Demonstrated ability designing scalable, maintainable, and robust software architectures.
• Hardware/Firmware Mastery: 
  • Strong background in hardware/firmware interaction such as firmware control of actuators, motors, sensors, etc.  
  • Expertise in programming a variety of microcontrollers and their common peripherals such as UART, SPI, I2C, USB, GPIO, ADC, PWM, etc.  
  • Experience developing device drivers and applications in embedded Linux runtimes (Raspbian, Yocto, Ubuntu, or others) to enable communications between microcontrollers and external hardware peripherals ○ Implementation of a variety of runtime environments (FreeRTOS, Zephyr, others), as well as bare-metal programming.
• Software Development Process: Experience with source code management tools such as Git/Subversion, and Jira. Experience using firmware development tools such as IDEs, compilers, debuggers, and cross-compilers.
• Project Leadership: Proven ability to lead projects, including project scoping and task estimation. Understanding of Agile methodologies and experience as a scrum team member and scrum master.
• Bonus Qualification: 
  • Working knowledge of regulatory standards (e.g., FCC, UL) and an understanding of medical device certification (ISO 13485, IEC 62304).  
  • Implementation of control algorithms and an understanding of control theory is a plus.  
  • Experience programming in specialized runtimes like ROS and QT.
• Communication & Collaboration: Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills with a demonstrated ability to communicate complex technical concepts effectively to both technical and non-technical team members in a consulting capacity.
• Education: BS in computer science, electrical engineering, robotics, or a related field.

Additional Details

The base salary range for this position is $165,320.12 -  $247,980.18 per year. This range represents the Company’s good faith estimate of the base compensation for this role at the time of posting.  Actual compensation will be determined based on several factors, including but not limited to relevant experience, skills, qualifications, internal equity, and geographic location. In addition to base salary, this role may be eligible for annual incentive compensation and/or long-term incentives, subject to Company plans. The Company offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and other benefits. 

The BIG payoff

We are a company that is going to make a difference in the industries and the communities in which we choose to operate.

Every employee of Re:Build will share ownership in the company and share in the financial rewards of the success we achieve together, at all company levels!

We want to work with people that reflect the communities in which we operate

Re:Build Manufacturing is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, marital status, parental status, cultural background, organizational level, work styles, tenure and life experiences. Or for any other reason.

Re:Build is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at accommodations.ta@ReBuildmanufacturing.com or you may call us at 617.909.6275.