What are the responsibilities and job description for the Embedded Systems Engineer (On-Site) position at AWM?
AWM is reinventing construction / industrial supply through advanced sensing and automation. Our AWM Frictionless platform enables grab-and-go shopping, tool checkout, and inventory intelligence. We’re hiring a hands-on Embedded Systems Engineer to help us to continue building robust edge software and integrate devices cleanly into our cloud ecosystem. This is an individual contributor role with ~50% focus on embedded/edge, plus meaningful collaboration across the edge-to-cloud pipeline.
What You’ll Do
- Design & implement Linux software (C/C , Python) for real-time sensing and device control of hardware.
- Integrate hardware & firmware: bring-up boards, write/maintain device drivers, and interface with peripherals (GPIO/UART/I²C/SPI/ADC/DAC).
- Build reliable connectivity: implement and harden device communications using TCP/UDP, HTTP(S)/REST, MQTT, and/or gRPC/Protobuf.
- Harden for production: performance tuning, resource/memory optimization, and fault-tolerant behaviors for large device fleets.
- Ship with discipline: contribute to CI/CD pipelines (build, test, package), containerize services for edge deployment, and support OTA releases.
- Secure the stack: apply secure-by-default practices (TLS, certs/identity, secure boot, signed updates, key handling).
- Test & observe: author unit/integration tests, support HIL testing, add logging/metrics for remote diagnostics and telemetry.
- Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, and cloud/backend teams to deliver features end-to-end on schedule.
Minimum Qualifications
- 5 years relevant software development experience with C/C , Python. Some of this must include Linux experience as well as user space, and ideally kernel, fundamentals.
- Low-level interfacing experience: digital I/O, UART, I²C, SPI; comfort reading schematics and datasheets.
- Networking fundamentals and hands-on protocol work (TCP/IP, sockets; familiarity with HTTP(S), MQTT or similar).
- Strong CS foundations: concurrency/threading, memory management, OS concepts, data structures.
- DevOps fluency for edge: Git workflows; experience with CI systems (e.g., GitHub Actions/GitLab CI/Jenkins) to automate build & test; basic Docker/Podman usage to package edge apps.
- Effective cross-functional communication; clear technical writing.
- Will and able to work on site in Orange County, CA.
Preferred Qualifications
- B.S./M.S. in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related.
- Embedded Linux distro/tooling: Yocto/OpenEmbedded or Buildroot; cross-compilers, CMake/GNU Make, toolchains.
- Driver/kernel experience (modules, device trees) and board bring-up.
- Real-time concepts: scheduling/latency, multi-threaded design; RTOS exposure (e.g., FreeRTOS) is a plus.
- Edge orchestration exposure: k3s/microk8s or interaction with Kubernetes-managed services; container registries and image versioning.
- Testing depth: GoogleTest/CTest, fuzz/static analysis (e.g., clang-tidy), HIL or emulator-based CI.
- Security depth: secure boot chains, firmware signing/rollback protection, certificate provisioning/rotation, secrets handling.
- Telemetry/observability: device logging, metrics, and remote diagnostics; familiarity with cloud monitoring/alerting patterns.
- Scripting for automation and data handling (Python/Bash).
- Agile delivery and tracking (Jira), code review culture, and documentation habits.
Nice to Have
- Experience with ARM and x86 edge platforms; performance profiling on constrained devices.
- OTA frameworks/workflows and staged/blue-green rollouts for device fleets.
- Basic device-side persistence (e.g., SQLite, log rotation) and efficient serialization (Protobuf/CBOR).
- Familiarity with cloud services
- Lab skills: oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, in-circuit debuggers; light rework/soldering for bring-up.
What We Offer
- High-impact work shaping the future of construction and industrial supply.
- Competitive compensation with health benefits, paid vacation & sick time, 401(k), and growth opportunities.
- Potential employee stock option participation.
**PLEASE APPLY TO BE CONSIDERED**