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Rainmaker is seeking a Senior Embedded Software Engineer to own the complete firmware stack for their vehicle platform. You will take full technical ownership of embedded firmware across flight controllers, power distribution, sensor and payload controllers, and their integration with onboard Linux software and ground control systems. This is a hands-on role with significant autonomy to shape firmware architecture and drive it from concept through field deployment.
Key responsibilities include:
- Architecting, implementing, and maintaining all embedded firmware across the vehicle platform
- Managing firmware priorities, identifying reliability risks, and driving projects from ambiguous requirements to validated releases
- Collaborating with electrical engineers on board bring-up: reading schematics, validating interfaces, writing drivers, and debugging hardware-software boundaries
- Developing robust device communication over CAN, UART, SPI, and I2C with clear contracts for telemetry, timing, and fault behavior
- Integrating firmware with vehicle software to ensure consistent command handling, device state, and telemetry from microcontroller to operator
- Designing and validating safe startup states, watchdogs, interlocks, and recovery behavior for resets, communication loss, sensor faults, and interrupted updates
- Owning firmware builds, versioning, flashing, over-the-air updates, and recovery workflows
- Building automated tests, simulation, and hardware-in-the-loop coverage to catch regressions before fleet deployment
- Partnering with manufacturing and flight operations on provisioning, calibration, diagnostics, and servicing
- Investigating bench and field failures using logs, telemetry, and lab instruments; resolving root causes and improving software and tests accordingly
The role requires high agency: you identify what needs to happen, turn incomplete requirements into clear plans, and follow through until hardware works reliably in real operating conditions. You will work closely with hardware engineers and operators, explaining tradeoffs and documenting decisions for maintainability.
In the first 90 days, you will map the vehicle's firmware, hardware interfaces, build and update paths, and key reliability risks; independently build, flash, instrument, and debug embedded systems; deliver a meaningful firmware improvement through testing into an operational release; and improve recurring friction points in testing, provisioning, updates, or diagnostics.
REQUIREMENTS:
- 3+ years of hands-on embedded software or firmware development for microcontroller-based systems, including board bring-up, hardware integration, and production/field deployment
- Demonstrated ownership of an embedded subsystem from design through release and ongoing support, including independent technical decisions, hardware validation, and real-world failure resolution
- Strong systems programming in Rust and/or C/C++, with ability to work across both codebases
- Practical experience with peripheral drivers and communication buses (CAN, UART, SPI, I2C)
- Comfort reading schematics and using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and hardware debuggers
- Ability to reason about system failures and implement robust state machines, fault detection, safe outputs, and recovery paths
- Experience building maintainable firmware with version control, reproducible builds, automated testing, and disciplined release practices
- High agency: surface problems proactively, make sound decisions with incomplete information, ask for help when needed, and close the loop on results
- Clear communication and ability to work closely with hardware engineers and operators
PREFERRED:
- Experience with drones, robotics, aerospace, or systems where software controls physical equipment in demanding conditions
- Familiarity with PX4, MAVLink, flight-controller development, or flight-critical software
