Senior Embedded Firmware Engineer - Contractor

Position: Senior Embedded Firmware Engineer - Contractor )
About This Role  We are seeking a senior firmware engineer with 10+ years of professional embedded development experience who has deep expertise in Matter protocol implementation on Espressif’s ESP
32 platform using ESP-IDF. This role requires end‑to‑end ownership of the device firmware stack, from schematic review and board bring‑up through production firmware, OTA, and certification.
What You’ll Be Working On  We dedicate each engineer to a single project in order to promote focus and minimize context switching.
You will be developing production‑grade firmware for Matter‑enabled devices from bring‑up to certification.
You will own firmware development across the full device lifecycle, including schematic review, board bring‑up, driver integration, OTA updates, and certification readiness.
You will also participate in hardware debugging and validation using tools such as JTAG/SWD, logic analyzers, and protocol sniffers to diagnose low‑level issues across firmware, hardware, and network layers.
You’ll collaborate closely with hardware engineers and cross‑functional teams to deliver production‑ready devices.
This role involves debugging complex, real‑world interoperability issues across Matter ecosystems (Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa), requiring deep protocol‑level understanding and hands‑on problem solving.
Must‑Haves   10+ years professional embedded/firmware engineering in C/C++
Significant experience with ESP-IDF — not Arduino wrappers, but real ESP-IDF work: CMake/Kconfig build system, partition tables, NVS, OTA frameworks, FreeRTOS task management, and low‑level driver integration (I2C, SPI, UART, ADC, GPIO)
Direct, demonstrable work implementing Matter on ESP
32‑series silicon (ESP
32, ESP
32‑C3, ESP
32‑S3, or ESP
32‑H2) using Espressif's ESP‑Matter SDK or the upstream Connectedhomeip stack
Hands‑on with at least one Matter transport at the firmware level — Wi‑Fi or Thread (802.15.4)
Experience debugging commissioning flows, interop failures, and protocol‑level issues across ecosystems (Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa)
Familiarity with secure boot, flash encryption, and device attestation in the Matter context
Comfortable reading specs (Matter, Thread, 802.15.4) and translating them into working firmware
Location and Residency   Must reside in Canada
Cannot reside in Québec
Must be authorized to work without sponsorship on a permanent basis
Strong Signals   Contributions to open‑source Matter or ESP-IDF repositories
Experience taking a Matter device through CSA certification
Background in adjacent protocols — Zigbee, Z‑Wave, BLE Mesh — demonstrating breadth across the connected device landscape
History of working in a consultancy or product development firm where they've shipped across multiple product lines, not just one internal product
Comfort with hardware debug tool chains — JTAG/SWD, logic analyzers, protocol sniffers
Experience standing up CI/CD for firmware builds and automated test harnesses
Skills   Can debug complex firmware and hardware interactions under real‑time constraints
Are comfortable working with incomplete specifications and ambiguous device behavior
Take ownership of problems end‑to‑end, from root cause analysis through production resolution
Communicate clearly with both technical and non‑technical stakeholders in a client‑facing environment
This Role Is Likely NOT a Fit If   Your ESP
32 experience is limited to Arduino IDE or Platform

IO hobby projects
Your Matter knowledge is purely theoretical or limited to running the chip‑tool demo
You don’t have experience with real‑time debugging or protocol‑level troubleshooting
You have only worked on a single long‑lived product with no exposure to bring‑up or new platform work
Compensation  CAD $100 per hour (may be negotiable based on experience)
Contract & Scope   Independent contractor engagement
Expected commitment: 30–40 hours per week

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