Sr. Sustaining Firmware Engineer

Position Overview

• Location Type: Remote
• Job Type: Full-Time
• Salary: $140K - $170K

Serve Robotics is revolutionizing urban mobility with its personable sidewalk robot, designed to move deliveries efficiently and make them accessible to more people. We are a team of tech industry veterans focused on solving real-world problems using robotics, machine learning, and computer vision, with a strong emphasis on user experience. We are agile, diverse, and collaborative, building the future we want to live in.

We are seeking a Senior Sustaining Firmware Engineer to lead the support and enhancement of embedded firmware for our robotic platforms. This role is critical for failure analysis, debugging, and implementing design improvements to ensure robust firmware performance in production and field systems. You will work closely with cross-functional teams to identify and resolve complex system issues, implement firmware fixes, and enhance overall reliability and maintainability. This position is perfect for a self-starter who thrives in dynamic, collaborative environments and takes ownership of critical system behaviors.

Responsibilities

• Lead structured firmware-level Failure Analysis (FA) and root-cause investigations for production and field environments.
• Act as a technical lead for resolving complex embedded issues related to sensors, actuators, safety systems, and power management.
• Author and present detailed FA reports to drive alignment and inform long-term corrective actions.
• Implement and validate firmware changes (bug fixes, improvements, hardware adaptations) through formal change processes.
• Support and enhance firmware documentation, including flowcharts, configuration maps, and debug procedures.
• Collaborate with Electrical, Mechanical, and Systems Engineering to resolve multi-disciplinary issues at the board and system level.
• Contribute to firmware bring-up, regression testing, and system validation for new or reworked robotic units.
• Develop and maintain diagnostic tools and test routines to improve issue detection and field servicing.
• Drive or contribute to cost reduction, yield improvement, and design-for-reliability initiatives.
• Mentor junior firmware or sustaining engineers in debugging methodologies and structured problem-solving.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Robotics, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience in embedded firmware development, particularly in complex hardware environments.
• Strong proficiency in C/C++ for bare-metal or RTOS-based platforms (e.g., STM32, NXP, TI).
• Deep understanding of real-time systems, embedded debugging, and firmware-hardware interaction.
• Experience with common hardware interfaces: SPI, I2C, UART, PWM, GPIO, CAN.
• Skilled with lab tools: oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, JTAG/SWD debuggers, signal generators.
• Familiarity with structured development workflows: Git, code reviews, Jira/ticketing systems.
• Comfortable interpreting electrical schematics and collaborating closely with hardware teams.
• Hands-on experience supporting firmware in robotics, automation, or field-deployed systems.
• Working knowledge of RTOS (e.g., FreeRTOS, Zephyr) and/or embedded Linux.
• Experience in motor control, sensor fusion, or safety-critical firmware is a strong plus.
• Bonus: Familiarity with ROS, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing, or simulation environments.
• Strong cross-functional communication skills.