Firmware Engineer

Job Summary

Shape the future of smart home technology as a Firmware Engineer on our product team. You’ll help create next-generation connected security solutions that will be installed in millions of homes across North America. This is an opportunity to be at the forefront of connected smart locks and IoT access products.

Candidates should have at least 2 years of experience and an interest in the IoT space and smart home devices. They enjoy solving problems, are flexible, and are open to quickly learning and adapting to new challenges and opportunities. Candidates should be able to work closely with other engineers to solve problems with varying degrees of complexity and scope. This role works with cross-functional team members, including firmware and hardware engineers, mobile application and cloud developers, the software testing team, and non-technical stakeholders.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

• Work closely with lead engineers to develop firmware solutions for New Product Introductions (NPI), new features, and enhancements to existing products, including scoping, architecture, design, development, testing, validation, production release, and ongoing support.
• Work with technical and non-technical team members to translate high-level project requirements into firmware specification documents, design trade-offs, risk assessments, solutions, scope and time estimates, test plans, and execution activities.
• Map out firmware solutions for features, seek team alignment and follow through on implementation, validation, and release.
• Work with internal and external developers on solution development while continuing to optimize code size, performance, testing, and product features across all products.
• Report project progress, issues, risks, and potential solutions; test and manage defects through resolution.

Education and Experience Profile

• BS or MS degree in Computer Science or Computer Engineering.
• 2+ years of professional embedded firmware development experience required.

Required Skills

• Industry experience in embedded firmware/software development for microcontrollers.
• Design experience in C/C++ for embedded applications.
• Experience with chip-to-chip communication protocols or interfaces (I2C, SPI, UART, etc.)
• Experience with IoT connectivity protocols and interoperability standards, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Zigbee, Z-Wave, Thread, Matter, and Aliro.
• Ability to debug firmware and work with hardware, including hardware bring-up, logic probing, and voltage measurements.
• Experience developing, debugging, and maintaining embedded firmware in bare-metal and RTOS-based environments, including task scheduling, inter-task communication, timers, interrupts, and resource management.
• Familiarity with issue-tracking software such as Jira, collaboration tools such as Confluence, and version control.
• Organized, able to multitask, and able to manage multiple projects simultaneously with varying degrees of complexity, priority, and urgency.
• Keen sense of urgency, ownership, and follow-through.
• Effective communicator who is passionate, flexible, collaborative, able to work independently, able to set goals, and brings a positive “can-do” attitude.
• Excellent documentation practices.

Additional Desired Skills

• Experience writing firmware for low-power, battery-operated consumer devices.
• Bootloaders and firmware update OTA mechanisms.
• Embedded firmware security and signing.
• Production testing and provisioning.

• Familiarity with electronic hardware and schematics.

Business Environment

You will be joining the Americas Residential Electronics team within ASSA ABLOY located in Lake Forest, California. We are a leading global provider of well-known brands such as Kwikset, Baldwin, and Weiser.

With decades of mechanical door lock expertise, we began incorporating electronics and wireless solutions 15 years ago to deliver increasingly advanced security products. From our global engineering office in Lake Forest, with supporting teams in Taiwan, China, and Mexico, our passionate engineers ship products used by millions.

Work Environment:

Working conditions are normal for an office environment. Minimal travel is required. Hybrid work includes three days per week in the office.

This position will be hybrid.

The annual salary for this role is $81,810-$128,570.

The final pay rate offered to the successful candidate will depend on experience, skill level, and other qualifications for the role.  Benefits and additional compensation offered for this position are

• Paid time off, including sick and vacation days
• 12 paid holidays
• Job-protected leave benefits in accordance with applicable law
• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance

• Supplemental critical illness, hospital, accident, and indemnity available for purchase

• Health and flexible savings accounts subject to eligibility requirements
• 401(k) plan with employer contributions and matching subject to plan eligibility requirements

All benefits and additional compensation are governed by applicable Company policies and plans as they currently exist and may be amended in the future.

If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process, please contact [email protected].

We are an equal opportunity employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

We are the ASSA ABLOY Group
Our people have made us the global leader in access solutions. In return, we open doors for them wherever they go. With nearly 63,000 colleagues in more than 70 different countries, we help billions of people experience a more open world. Our innovations make all sorts of spaces – physical and virtual – safer, more secure, and easier to access. 

As an employer, we value results – not titles, or backgrounds. We empower our people to build their career around their aspirations and our ambitions – supporting them with regular feedback, training, and development opportunities. Our colleagues think broadly about where they can make the most impact, and we encourage them to grow their role locally, regionally, or even internationally.

As we welcome new people on board, it’s important to us to have diverse, inclusive teams, and we value different perspectives and experiences.