Senior Firmware Engineer

San FranciscoPosted 3 weeks ago

Full-timeremote

Job Description

About Tacit

We are an early-stage, deep tech startup based in San Francisco, developing innovative hardware that rethinks human-computer interaction. We are backed by General Catalyst, Khosla Ventures, and Greylock Partners, with a founding team from Stanford, BrainGate, Oculus, and Tesla. While we can’t reveal too much just yet, our team is tackling cutting-edge engineering challenges to bring revolutionary products to life.

About the role

We’re looking for a Senior Firmware Engineer to help architect, develop, and ship next-generation neurotech and audio hardware products. As a key member of our growing firmware team, you will own major portions of the embedded software stack from early architecture through production and play a critical role in bringing complex consumer electronics to life.

You’ll work closely with electrical, mechanical, software, ML, and product teams to transition systems from prototype to robust, production-ready products while helping establish strong firmware engineering practices across the company.

What you'll do

Embedded Firmware Architecture & Product Development

Contribute to firmware architecture and embedded software development for battery-powered wearable consumer devices from concept through production.
Own critical portions of the firmware stack including realtime data acquisition, connectivity, power management, bootloaders, and production infrastructure.
Develop robust embedded systems using C/C++ and RTOS-based architectures including FreeRTOS or similar environments.
Design and implement reliable firmware abstractions across sensors, audio systems, wireless subsystems, and power domains.
Collaborate closely with electrical, mechanical, ML, mobile, and cloud teams to optimize system performance, latency, power consumption, and reliability.
Operate effectively in a startup environment where engineers own large portions of the hardware and firmware stack.

Realtime Embedded Systems & Sensor Processing

Design and optimize low-latency realtime firmware pipelines for sensor acquisition, timestamping, synchronization, and data movement.
Develop DMA-driven acquisition systems for high-throughput sensor and audio streams.
Implement deterministic scheduling and time alignment across multiple sensors and wireless subsystems.
Optimize firmware for low-power operation, including sleep states, subsystem power gating, and dynamic power management.
Debug complex concurrency, timing, and memory-related issues in deeply embedded systems.

Wireless Connectivity & Audio Systems

Develop and integrate Bluetooth LE and Classic Bluetooth audio functionality on Qualcomm Snapdragon platforms or similar wireless SoCs.
Work on wireless coexistence challenges involving Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and proprietary RF systems.
Implement and optimize OTA firmware update systems, bootloaders, and device recovery mechanisms.
Develop and optimize embedded audio pipelines including low-latency streaming, microphone processing, and synchronization.
Collaborate with ML and algorithm teams on audio features including ANC, beamforming, filtering, and related realtime audio systems.

Bring-Up, Debug & Validation

Lead firmware bring-up and debugging across embedded compute, sensors, wireless, and audio systems.
Use advanced debugging tools including JTAG/SWD debuggers, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, protocol analyzers, and lab instrumentation.
Develop automated validation, manufacturing, and regression test infrastructure.
Perform root-cause analysis and resolve complex issues discovered during development, validation, manufacturing, or field deployment.

Production Firmware & Reliability

Support EVT, DVT, and PVT builds and help ramp products to mass production.
Design firmware with strong reliability, manufacturability, and serviceability principles.
Develop factory programming, calibration, provisioning, and manufacturing test systems.
Develop and maintain automated test infrastructure including Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) systems, regression testing frameworks, and CI pipelines for embedded firmware validation.
Improve firmware robustness through telemetry, logging, automated validation systems, CI infrastructure, and field diagnostics.
Help define engineering standards, development workflows, and firmware best practices across the organization.

Requirements

5+ years of experience in embedded firmware or software engineering.
Strong proficiency in C/C++ for embedded systems.
Strong experience with RTOS-based systems including FreeRTOS or similar platforms.
Experience shipping at least one consumer electronics product, preferably wearable or audio-related devices.
Experience developing firmware for battery-powered embedded systems with strong emphasis on power optimization.
Experience with bootloaders, OTA update systems, and production firmware reliability.
Experience with realtime embedded systems involving DMA, interrupts, concurrency, and low-latency data pipelines.
Experience with Bluetooth LE and Classic Bluetooth audio systems.
Strong hands-on debugging and bring-up experience across embedded hardware and firmware systems.
Experience working closely with cross-functional hardware and software teams in fast-paced product development environments.
Familiarity with Qualcomm Snapdragon platforms or similar wireless/audio SoCs.

Strong candidates may have

Deep expertise in one or more of the following areas:
- realtime sensor acquisition and synchronization
- Bluetooth/Wi-Fi connectivity systems
- embedded audio and ANC systems
Experience with Qualcomm Snapdragon S-series platforms.
Familiarity with STM32-based embedded systems.
Experience with embedded audio interfaces such as I2S, PDM, TDM, or related protocols.
Experience with wireless coexistence optimization across Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and proprietary RF systems.
Experience building ANC, beamforming, or low-latency audio systems.
Experience with embedded Linux systems.
Experience developing manufacturing firmware, calibration systems, or automated test infrastructure.
Experience with CI systems, automated testing, and firmware deployment pipelines.
Experience with Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testing systems.
Experience with Python for tooling, automation, or instrumentation control.
Familiarity with secure boot, firmware signing, and device security.
Strong understanding of low-power embedded architecture and system-level power optimization.
Experience using lab instrumentation including oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, RF tools, and protocol analyzers.