Specter Ai · 1 day ago
Software Engineer - Embedded Systems
San Francisco
Full-time
Onsite
Mid LevelSpecter is creating a software-defined control plane for the physical world, focusing on protecting American businesses through a connected hardware-software ecosystem. The Embedded Software Engineer will be responsible for the full on-device software stack for distributed wireless mesh sensor nodes, including firmware and software development, integration with various sensors, and collaboration with hardware engineering teams.
Responsibilities
Designing, implementing, and maintaining performant, reliable firmware and software for Specter’s current and future edge devices across a wide range of embedded platforms (embedded Linux on SoCs, RTOS, bare-metal on microcontrollers)
Owning the integration of RF modules, cameras, and multi-modal sensors (e.g., environmental, motion, acoustic) into the embedded software stack, including driver development, data pipelines, and hardware enablement
Performing board bring-up, reading datasheets/schematics, and debugging complex hardware/software interactions using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, JTAG/SWD, and other diagnostic tools
Collaborating closely with Hardware Engineering (EE, RF, ME), Product Engineering, and backend software teams to co-design interfaces, support new hardware platforms, and enable rapid prototyping and iteration from concept to production deployment
Building and maintaining reusable build, test, and deployment infrastructure for embedded targets—including CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and over-the-air (OTA) update mechanisms—to accelerate development of new products and features
Debugging and optimizing system performance in real-world deployments, focusing on power consumption, memory footprint, reliability, and edge-case fault tolerance
Contributing to foundational platform components such as bootloaders, secure boot implementation, and modular driver frameworks to support fast development of next-generation devices
Qualification
Required
Proficiency in writing software for embedded targets using C, C++, Rust, or similar languages
Experience with embedded Linux on System-on-Chips (SoCs), real-time operating systems (RTOS), or bare-metal programming for microcontrollers
Hands-on experience with kernel driver development (Linux) and/or low-level peripheral drivers on microcontrollers, integrating both on-chip and external hardware peripherals
Familiarity with a variety of communication protocols and interfaces, including low-level serial buses (e.g., SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, RS485), networking standards (e.g., Ethernet—including 10BASE-T1S, 802.11), and high-speed peripheral interfaces (e.g., MIPI CSI-2, SDIO, PCIe)
Comfortable debugging hardware using basic lab equipment including logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, etc
Preferred
Embedded Security (e.g., OTA update infrastructure, secure boot mechanisms, hardware security modules like TPM or secure elements)
Power Electronics (e.g., software control of motors, DC-DC converters, or battery management systems in embedded environments)
Connectivity (e.g., Bluetooth, Cellular, Wi-Fi, CAN, Ethernet; including integrations like OpenWRT for wireless routing, 10Base-T1S for single-pair Ethernet, or cellular modem drivers)
Camera Integration (e.g., integrating image sensors or MIPI CSI-2 devices into embedded systems, including FPGA/DSP-based processing for video pipelines or computer vision applications)
Operating Systems & Build Infrastructure (e.g., Nix/NixOS–based systems, reproducible builds, declarative system configuration, cross-compilation, and deployment pipelines for embedded Linux)
Company
Specter Ai
Revolutionising the legal industry
2-10 employeesFunding
Current Stage
Early StageCompany data provided by crunchbase