Lead Firmware Engineer

Work Model:
Fully onsite (daily in-office presence required)

Location Preference:
West Michigan area preferred (relocation available for strong candidates; local candidates strongly preferred)

Employment Type:

Full-time, direct hire

Minimum Experience:

6+ years embedded software/firmware development experience

Education Requirement:
Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field

Work Authorization:
Must be authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship, or eligible candidates may be considered for sponsorship in exceptional cases

A client in the West Michigan area is seeking a Lead Firmware Engineer to serve as a hands‑on technical leader responsible for developing and delivering embedded software for complex hardware‑integrated products.

This role combines deep embedded engineering expertise with technical leadership responsibilities, including mentoring a small engineering team of 4–5 engineers. The position is a “player‑coach” role, requiring active involvement in coding, debugging, and system design while also guiding team execution and engineering practices.

The engineer will collaborate closely with hardware, product, and cross‑functional engineering teams to design, implement, test, and deliver embedded solutions across the full product lifecycle.

This is a fully onsite role requiring daily in‑office presence, with relocation support available for qualified candidates.

• Design, develop, and maintain embedded software and firmware for hardware‑integrated systems
• Lead and mentor a team of 4–5 engineers, providing technical guidance and code‑level support
• Actively contribute to hands‑on development, debugging, and system troubleshooting
• Develop software in C (primary) and C++ (preferred) for embedded systems
• Work closely with hardware teams to integrate software with sensors, cameras, processors, and other hardware components
• Develop and support systems running on Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) and/or embedded Linux
• Participate in full software development lifecycle activities, from requirements gathering through validation and release
• Ensure software quality through testing, debugging, and performance optimization
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams including hardware, product, and manufacturing engineering
• Use tools such as Git, Bitbucket, Jenkins, JIRA, or Azure Dev Ops for development and workflow management
• Contribute to system architecture discussions and technical decision‑making
• Support development of features across multimedia, camera systems, wireless (Wi‑Fi/BLE), or similar embedded domains where applicable
  
  Drive engineering best practices and continuous improvement across the team

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field
• 6+ years of experience in embedded software or firmware development
• Strong proficiency in C programming (required); C++ experience preferred
• Experience developing software that interfaces directly with hardware components
• Strong experience with embedded systems and hardware/software integration
• Experience with Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) and/or embedded Linux
• Hands‑on experience with debugging, testing, and full product lifecycle development
• Experience working with hardware components such as sensors, cameras, processors, or similar systems
• Familiarity with development tools such as Git, Bitbucket, Jenkins, JIRA, or Azure Dev Ops
• Experience mentoring or informally leading engineers
• Strong communication and collaboration skills across engineering teams
• Ability to balance hands‑on technical work with team leadership responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a team of 4–5 embedded engineers
• Provide technical coaching and code‑level guidance
• Support career development and performance growth of team members
• Foster collaboration and accountability within the engineering team
• Act as a technical escalation point for complex engineering challenges
• Help define engineering standards and development practices
• Balance 50–60% hands‑on engineering with 40–50% leadership responsibilities

• Experience in industries such as automotive, consumer electronics, medical devices, aerospace, industrial automation, robotics, or IoT
• Automotive embedded systems experience (ADAS, ECUs, sensors) is a plus
• Experience with multimedia systems, image processing, or wireless technologies (Wi‑Fi/BLE)
• Experience working in highly hardware‑integrated product environments

• Full-time direct hire position
• Fully onsite role (daily in‑office presence required)
• Relocation assistance available for qualified candidates
• Visa sponsorship may be considered for exceptional candidates
• Target commute: within ~30–40 minutes of West Michigan site
• Must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. (standard requirement; sponsorship evaluated case‑by‑case)