Firmware Engineer

Firmware Engineer

Location: Santa Clara, CA (primarily onsite)

Group: Analyzer Product Group (APG), Engineering

Picarro is seeking a Firmware Engineer with an AI-First mindset-an embedded engineer who designs, builds, and integrates production-grade firmware for advanced CRDS instrumentation while expertly directing AI agents to accelerate development, testing, and integration workflows. You will prompt, guide, and orchestrate AI coding and testing agents to generate high-quality embedded code, automate board bring-up tasks, and drive continuous validation across hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and system-level tests.

This role is ideal for engineers who thrive at the intersection of firmware engineering, AI-assisted development, embedded system architecture, and prompt engineering.

• Architect RTOS-based firmware components, device drivers, and board support packages (BSPs) using AI-accelerated design and review workflows
• Define and maintain system-level interfaces across firmware, electronics, and higher-level software (APIs, comms, and control boundaries)
• Direct AI agents to explore design alternatives, evaluate trade-offs (latency, power, memory), and propose architecture-aligned implementations
• Integrate AI-driven performance, reliability, and scalability optimizations into the embedded platform
• Create, manage, and refine AI agents for code generation (drivers, HAL), integration automation (builds, flashing), and system-level orchestration

• Develop robust, high-performance C/C++ firmware for microcontrollers (e.g., ARM Cortex-M), leveraging AI-generated scaffolding and iterative prompting
• Own device communications (SPI/IC/UART/CAN/USB), bootloaders/DFU, diagnostics, logging/telemetry, and power/performance modes
• Drive embedded API design and integration with application software and instrument control services
• Use AI agents as front-line testers to implement Test-Driven Development (TDD), generating comprehensive unit, integration, HIL/SIL, and regression tests
• Apply advanced prompt engineering to guide assistants toward clean, production-ready code and documentation
• Work confidently at software-hardware boundaries, using AI to model, simulate, or validate sensor interfaces and timing-critical paths

• Partner closely with hardware, product, test/QA, and manufacturing teams-using AI agents as shared tools to unify workflows and accelerate iteration

• Mentor peers in AI-assisted firmware practices: prompt engineering, automated testing, and agent management strategies
• Contribute as a thought partner on integrating AI into day-to-day engineering excellence

• Champion CI/CD for firmware (builds, unit/HIL tests, static analysis), enhanced via AI-agent automation
• Lead/participate in technical reviews with AI-augmented code review agents to enforce architecture and quality standards
• Establish continuous code-quality monitoring through specialized AI reviewer agents (style, safety, test coverage, security)

• BS/MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field
• 3-7 years of hands-on embedded/firmware development with proven delivery of production systems
• Demonstrated experience with agentic AI-based development tools (e.g., Git Hub Copilot, Cursor) for embedded workflows
• Proven practice of TDD, using both human-written and AI-generated tests as first-line verification
• Strong background in embedded systems and software-hardware interfaces

• C/C++ for microcontrollers (ARM Cortex-M or similar);
  Python for tooling/test automation
• RTOS experience (e.g., FreeRTOS, Zephyr, Thread
  
  X/QNX) including scheduling, ISR design, and concurrency
• Bootloaders/secure update (DFU/OTA), memory layouts, startup code, and linker scripts
• Drivers/HAL for SPI/IC/UART/CAN/USB; DMA and low-power modes; sensor/actuator control loops
• Debugging & bring-up: JTAG/SWD, oscilloscopes/logic analyzers, current probes, boundary-scan; fault analysis and reliability improvements
• Interfaces & protocols: BLE/Wi-Fi (as applicable), Modbus/RS-485, TCP/UDP; CRC/error handling; time synchronization
• Build & quality: CMake/Make, unit tests (Unity/Catch2), static/dynamic analysis, fuzzing, and coverage-orchestrated by AI-agents where applicable
• Prompt engineering proficiency to direct LLM-based agents for code generation, refactoring, and documentation
• Ability to manage multiple embedded domains concurrently (sensing, comms, safety, UX on device)

• Influences through technical credibility and cross-team alignment; excellent communication and documentation
• Strong code reviewer and advocate for engineering best practices; adapts quickly to evolving AI development tech

• Experience with analytical instrumentation or scientific/industrial systems…