ALSO. · 15 hours ago
Vehicle Lead, Firmware Engineering
Palo Alto
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level
$200K/yr - $250K/yr
5+ years expALSO is an electric mobility company focused on creating innovative small EVs to address global mobility challenges. The Vehicle Lead, Firmware Engineering will lead vehicle-level firmware integration, coordinate feature delivery, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure successful program development and user experiences.
AutomotiveElectric VehicleManufacturingTransportation
Responsibilities
Vehicle Integration Ownership: Serve as the single point of contact for all firmware integration issues on assigned vehicles, driving resolution across cross-functional teams
Feature & Release Management: Organize features and merge requests for vehicle-level integration; prepare and communicate release notes to stakeholders
Sprint Planning: Define and organize firmware integration targets for each sprint in coordination with Pod Leads and program milestones
Cross-Team Coordination: Partner with Pod Leads on firmware development priorities, ensuring alignment between module-level work and vehicle-level integration needs
Architecture & Interface Development: Contribute code to vehicle interfaces and system architecture; make informed decisions on integration patterns and cross-ECU communication
System Integration Leadership: Lead full vehicle system integration efforts including feature implementation, ECU handshaking, debugging, and root cause analysis across distributed systems
Hardware Collaboration: Collaborate with design engineering teams (Electrical, Mechanical, Test) on designing and documenting SW integration workflows across various ECUs
Quality Assurance: Oversee comprehensive test plans and validation of firmware functionality, stability, and performance under various conditions, including low power modes and safety-critical functions
CI/CD Pipeline Ownership: Drive implementation and maintenance of robust CI/CD pipelines ensuring the team has access to stable and development builds
Production support: Support pre-production and production build activities, vehicle testing, and launch readiness
Qualification
Required
5+ years of experience in embedded software/firmware development, with demonstrated experience in vehicle-level or system-level integration
MS in an engineering discipline, preferably Computer Science or Electrical Engineering
Proven leadership in coordinating firmware delivery across multiple teams or modules
Deep experience with automotive/vehicle communication protocols: CAN, CAN-FD, LIN, as well as I2C, SPI, USB-PD, and other digital protocols
Strong track record delivering software-enabled hardware products, including low-level firmware development (drivers, bootloaders, HAL layers)
Expert-level proficiency in C/C++ and debugging complex embedded systems across multiple ECUs
Experience with real-time operating systems, ideally in functional-safety critical applications (ISO 26262 familiarity a plus)
Strong understanding of hardware/software architecture selection with cost, performance, and safety tradeoffs
Experience implementing and managing CI/CD & test automation pipelines for embedded products
Excellent communication skills with demonstrated ability to coordinate across hardware, software, and program management teams
Ability to work independently as a domain expert, driving decisions without requiring detailed direction
Experience with release management processes and tooling (Git workflows, release branching strategies)
Familiarity with vehicle integration testing methodologies and tools
Prior experience in a technical lead or integration lead capacity
Experience mentoring junior and senior engineers
Benefits
Robust health coverage. Excellent health, dental and vision insurance covered up to 100% by ALSO with FSA & HSA options.
One Medical membership and dedicated insurance advocates.
Rich fertility and family building benefits with Progyny.
Flexible time off.
401(k) match.
Company
ALSO.
We’re ALSO, an electric mobility company originally conceived as a part of Rivian.
201-500 employees
H1B Sponsorship
ALSO. has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (21)
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageTotal Funding
$305MKey Investors
GreenoaksEclipse Ventures
2025-07-08Series Unknown· $200M
2025-03-26Series Unknown· $105M
Recent News
2025-12-04
2025-11-18
Company data provided by crunchbase