Senior Firmware Engineer, Ground Software (Embedded Systems)

Location: Torrance, California, United States

Salary: $180,000–$252,000 USD per year; base salary only, with equity grants considered part of total compensation.

Company

hirify.global is a defense technology company designing and manufacturing high-performance unmanned systems for the modern battlefield.

What you will do

• Design, build, and maintain firmware for ground control hardware across microcontroller and embedded Linux targets.
• Own operator input handling, the aircraft communication link, and ground-side telemetry and video reception.
• Own latency and reliability across the operator control path, from input to transmission.
• Define the ground side of the aircraft-to-ground interface with the flight software team, including behavior when the link degrades.
• Bring up and debug new ground hardware in collaboration with electrical engineering.
• Write unit and integration tests and partner with the test organization on hardware-in-the-loop and field testing.

Requirements

• Strong embedded C, C++, or Rust experience in resource-constrained environments, including firmware shipped on real hardware in the field.
• Real-time firmware experience with interrupts, DMA, timing budgets, and load-related debugging.
• Hands-on board bring-up and hardware debugging using oscilloscopes and logic analyzers.
• Working knowledge of embedded communication interfaces including UART, SPI, I2C, USB, and Ethernet.
• Track record of taking firmware from first boot to production with light direction.
• Test discipline appropriate for firmware used in field operations.

Nice to have

• Experience building services and device interfaces on embedded Linux, with Yocto or Buildroot exposure.
• Linux networking and IP-based radio or datalink integration experience.
• Experience with video pipelines on embedded hardware, including capture, decoding, display, and latency.
• RC radio or ground controller firmware experience, including ExpressLRS, EdgeTX/OpenTX, or similar.
• Experience moving a product from a microcontroller to an embedded Linux platform.
• Flying experience with FPV, RC, or drones generally.

Culture & Benefits

• Fast-paced, hands-on startup environment focused on moving capabilities from design to deployment.
• Work on unmanned systems tested in combat and built at scale for warfighters.
• Highly competitive equity grants are included in the total compensation package.
• Equal opportunity employment regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or disability status.