Senior Firmware Engineer

Purpose of this role

The Senior Firmware Engineer is an individual technical contributor role, the primary purpose of which is to increase our skills and capacity to

• Develop firmware for application solutions that incorporate Flusso sensors, typically on ARM-based microcontrollers or ASIC cores
• Support the development of new sensing algorithms
• Port firmware to new processor variants or families.

Our products are being integrated into medical devices, so our firmware is developed to the following standards: IEC 62304, ISO 14971 and BS EN 60601-1.

Experience with development of Windows GUI applications for product evaluation kits would be an advantage in the role but is not essential.

All software and firmware development is carried out in accordance with the Flusso quality management system (QMS) and specifically the Software Development and Release Management Process.

• Collaboration with colleagues in Test and Applications Engineering, Hardware Design and Data Science to define cost-effective sensing Solution Architectures for target applications.
• Requirements capture/analysis, specification, design, implementation (with rigorous source code management), design reviews, code reviews, unit-testing and debug.
• Creation of internal releases for the Test Engineering team and investigation and resolution of issues uncovered during in-house testing
• Documentation for both internal and external use
• Contribution to continual improvement of our software development processes and quality standards

Application solutions with Flusso sensor products (semiconductor/MEMS components) require firmware that runs on a standard microcontroller (MCU) or a processor core in an ASIC.

• Design and development of code that implements functionality and interfaces of the agreed Solution Architecture.
• Participate in safety DFMEA and HAZOP processes
• Optimisation of code and creation of builds for sensor component and application circuit variants.
• Porting firmware to new target processors and/or application designs

We provide evaluation kits for prospective customers of Flusso products, typically:

• A sensor electronics module with the sensor, application circuit and firmware
• A flow or gas fixture that the sensor module is attached to
• A USB to I2C or CAN interface adapter for connecting to a host PC, with firmware running on a microcontroller that supports those interfaces
• A Windows 10 GUI application that gives the user an easy way to evaluate the Flusso product. Our current generation is written in C# using WPF.

The Senior Firmware Engineer will contribute to development of firmware for interface adapters and could work on PC-based GUIs too (depending on experience).

• When required, support Systems and Applications Engineers helping customers with firmware integration
• Assimilate feedback from customer engagement for improvement of software and firmware

A bachelor’s degree in an engineering or science subject is a prerequisite.

Essential knowledge, skills and experience:

• Development of real-time firmware – in C – for ARM-based microcontrollers or ASICs, typically using ADCs, DACs and interfaces such as I2C, SPI and CAN.
• One or more of the main microcontroller families such as STM
  32 and EFM
  32
• Use of source code management systems (we use git)
• Use of tools such as Keil, IAR, STM
  32
  
  CubeMX and Eclipse/gnu.
• Debugging using JTAG interface adapters and test equipment such as oscilloscopes and logic analysers
• Automated testing of firmware builds for multiple targets, covering new product solutions, new features, performance enhancements and regression testing.
• Regression testing updates to existing sensing solutions on multiple targets
• Programming in Python
• Working to software lifecycle quality processes in an ISO
  9001 framework

Not essential, but would be an strong advantage:

• Development of firmware for functional‑safety applications
• Development of firmware specifically for sensing solutions or…