Founding Embedded Software Engineer (AI)

Founding Engineer (embedded/device software)

Company overview

Unimatch Lab is an AI-driven venture studio from Silicon Valley.

We are building our own AI technology stack and a portfolio of AI-driven assets: from consumer AI products and smart devices to on-prem LLM clusters and foundational layers (memory layer, RAM/VRAM optimization, orchestration, AI software for infrastructure and compute).

This includes R&D in local, distributed, and orbital data centers and distributed computing.

Goal: join the world's top 50 AI companies with a combined asset valuation of $10B+ by 2032.

We are an OKR-driven company: measurable outcomes, speed, transparency, and ownership.

We hire A-players: autonomous, fast, strong execution, high accountability.

Learn more: Unimatch Lab Career

Position summary

You own all software on the device: firmware, drivers, power behavior, and how the product feels in daily use. You build the full on-device experience - including interactive games and play modes - and become the software backbone the product team can extend after launch.

Full-time, permanent role on the core team. You work end-to-end with hardware, product, and AI - from bring-up on dev boards through production units and factory test support.

• Design and implement device firmware: drivers, boot flow, power modes, sleep/wake, and runtime behavior.
• Integrate software from multiple hardware modules into one coherent architecture (SoC, radios, audio, sensors, storage - as present in the device).
• Build and maintain on-device interactive experiences (games and play modes) shipped with the product.
• Use AI-assisted development for tests, docs, and boilerplate where it speeds delivery without sacrificing reliability on device.
• Support hardware validation: flashing production images, factory test hooks, debug tooling, and issue triage with the HW team.
• Own the software release path: build system, versioning, OTA or update workflow, and documentation for manufacturing and future developers.

Required qualifications

• 10+ years in embedded or device software; at least 2 shipped consumer or IoT products where you owned firmware end-to-end.
• Strong C/C++ on resource-constrained targets; comfortable reading schematics and datasheets with hardware engineers.
• Hands-on driver and BSP work: GPIO, I2C/SPI/UART, storage, audio or display subsystems - not application-only mobile development.
• Power management: sleep modes, wake sources, battery-aware behavior, stable boot and recovery paths.
• Production readiness: built and supported images for factory flashing, production test procedures, and field debugging on real hardware.
• System architecture across multiple firmware domains: you can map subsystems (connectivity stack, media, input, game runtime) into one maintainable structure with clear boundaries.
• RTOS or embedded Linux in production: FreeRTOS, Zephyr, Embedded Linux, or equivalent - with real-time and stability trade-offs you can explain.
• Build and CI for firmware: reproducible builds, artifact versioning, and a path to ship updates after launch.
• Portfolio required: repos, binaries, or case studies showing device software you built - role, stack, and what shipped.
• English B2+: code, docs, vendor communication, and team sync.

Nice to have

• Smart toys, voice companions, wearables, or kids consumer devices.
• WiFi/BLE bring-up, pairing, and reconnect behavior on constrained hardware.
• Audio pipeline on device: capture, playback, latency-sensitive interaction.
• OTA updates with rollback and A/B or safe-fail behavior.
• Coordination with cloud or mobile apps over defined device APIs.
• Startup, venture studio, or 0-to-1 hardware product experience.
• AI on edge: on-device inference, wake word, or streaming to cloud agents.

Technology stack

• Languages: C, C++, Python (tooling and test automation).
• Embedded: FreeRTOS, Zephyr, or Embedded Linux; CMake/Make build systems.
• Interfaces: I2C, SPI, UART, GPIO; common SoC vendor SDKs.
• Practices: Git, firmware CI, JTAG/SWD debug, logic analyzer and scope workflows with HW.
• Tooling: AI-assisted IDE (Cursor or similar) for docs, tests, and codegen under your review.

Success metrics

• Drivers, firmware, power modes, and device behavior implemented and stable on target hardware.
• Production-grade image delivered with support for hardware test and manufacturing flows.
• All component software mapped into a single documented device architecture the team can extend.

Employment terms

Format: Full-time, remote; sync windows by agreement (CET and other zones as needed)

Location: Europe: European Union, Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, United Kingdom, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey. LATAM: Mexico, Panama, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela.

Compensation: Up to $10,000 total (base fix + shipment bonuses)

Equity: Option or equity in products you create and lead

Venture studio: Option to launch your own startup inside the venture studio - with our infrastructure, team, funding, and network

Network: Work with top venture funds from Silicon Valley and a strong professional team

AI exposure: Portfolio of AI products in production; regular exposure to leading AI solutions shipped to production