Embedded Engineer

Company Overview

Second Order Effects started in 2016 as a services firm, taking on other companies’ hardest engineering problems from first principles. We grew into a solutions firm that designs and ships complete custom electronics and systems, including power electronics, RF, and control systems. We’ve completed over 250 projects for more than 100 clients. Our designs control rocket engines, manage satellite communications, instrument fusion reactors, and are enjoyed by consumers around the world.

We approach problems from first principles. We break challenges down to their most fundamental components, which is how we find solutions that hold up across industries, use cases, and engineering functions. We focus on solving the right problems and building the teams to take them on. Because we believe that training and empowering others yields a greater impact than focusing on developing any specific technology, we expect every single member of our team to participate in building up those around them.

In the past year, we’ve started taking our own concepts and spinning them out into separate companies that we believe will meet the emerging needs of our clients and the industry  work is concentrating in frontier technology, including space, fusion and fission energy, and advanced vehicles. We currently have two spinout companies in stealth that we’re working on.

Information about SOE’s mission, vision, and values can be found here. Examples of the projects SOE has worked on can be found here.

As an Embedded Engineer, you will support the design, architecture, and implementation of high performance embedded systems across a diverse range of projects. You will work alongside a collaborative team of engineers to find and develop the right solutions for the problems at hand and client use case. If you’re passionate about tackling mission‑critical challenges and working across multiple industries, this is your chance to make a lasting impact and grow in a dynamic environment.

• Own the architecture, design, and development of complex embedded firmware for a wide variety of applications
• Interact with customers to lead the definition of firmware project requirements and to ensure customer satisfaction and engagement
• Develop firmware in C/C++ for microcontrollers, or digital design in Verilog HDL for FPGAs
• Write and execute test plans for validation and performance characterization
• Take ownership of the design, development, testing, and end‑to‑end technical support for projects
• Assess design risks and develop mitigation strategies
• Create documentation for hardware, software and systems
• Interface with internal teams and external clients to conduct design reviews for hardware/electronic systems and code reviews for software/firmware/HDL

• Able to work 40 hours a week on-site in El Segundo, California, or Redmond, Washington
• Eligible to work on ITAR projects
• Bachelor's Degree (Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Math, or related field) or equivalent experience
• 3+ years of applied experience with a demonstrated passion for engineering and technology development
• Excellent written and verbal technical communication skills; ability to explain technical concepts and their implications to non-technical audiences
• Experience with C/C++ firmware development or Verilog HDL development

• Experience in team-based design and build projects (e.g., Formula SAE, Solar Car, Cube Sat, Rover Challenge, etc.)
• End-to-end electronics design experience: taking designs from requirements generation through schematic, layout, fabrication, and hardware bring‑up
• Experience with analog small‑signal circuit design (filters, op‑amp circuits, signal conditioning) and/or power electronics designs: regulators, load drivers, supply filters, protection circuitry
• Knowledge of PCB fabrication and assembly process, design for manufacture and design for assembly (DFM / DFA), familiarity with IPC and/or JEDEC standards
• Expertise with Altium Designer or Ki Cad
• Familiarity with Python and/or MATLAB for data parsing and signal analysis
• Familiarity with LTSpice for circuit simulation
• Experie…