Sr. Sustaining Firmware Engineer

At Serve Robotics, we’re reimagining how things move in cities. Our personable sidewalk robot is our vision for the future. It’s designed to take deliveries away from congested streets, make deliveries available to more people, and benefit local businesses.

The Serve fleet has been delighting merchants, customers, and pedestrians along the way in Los Angeles while doing commercial deliveries. We’re looking for talented individuals who will grow robotic deliveries from surprising novelty to efficient ubiquity.

Who We Are

We are tech industry veterans in software, hardware, and design who are pooling our skills to build the future we want to live in. We are solving real-world problems leveraging robotics, machine learning and computer vision, among other disciplines, with a mindful eye towards the end-to-end user experience. Our team is agile, diverse, and driven. We believe that the best way to solve complicated dynamic problems is collaboratively and respectfully.

We are looking for a Senior Sustaining Firmware Engineer to lead the support and enhancement of embedded firmware in our robotic platforms. This role is focused on Failure Analysis (FA), debugging, and design improvements—ensuring robust firmware behavior across production and field-deployed systems. You’ll collaborate closely with electrical, mechanical, systems, and manufacturing teams to root-cause complex system issues, implement firmware-level fixes, and drive long-term improvements in reliability and maintainability. This position is ideal for someone who thrives in fast-paced, cross-functional environments and takes ownership of critical system behaviors.

Responsibilities

• Lead structured firmware-level Failure Analysis (FA) and root-cause investigations across production and field environments.

• Serve as a technical lead for resolving complex embedded issues involving sensors, actuators, safety systems, and power management.

• Author and present detailed FA reports that drive alignment and inform long-term corrective actions.

• Implement and validate firmware changes (bug fixes, improvements, hardware adaptation) through formal change processes.

• Support and improve 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 newly built 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 methodology and structured problem-solving.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Robotics, or 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 working 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, documentation, and technical leadership skills.

What Makes You Standout

• You are a go-to expert for embedded debugging and system-level triage.

• You approach problems methodically and bring structure to high-ambiguity issues.

• You’ve resolved elusive bugs across complex hardware/firmware/software stacks.

• You bridge gaps between hardware and software teams to drive clear root cause and resolution.

• You take ownership of sustaining challenges and follow through from triage to long-term fix.

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