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Cybersecurity, IT Services, Managed Security Services

Senior Firmware Engineer, Ground Software

Torrance, CAOnsiteFull TimeSenior$180,000–$252,000 /yrPosted 17 days agoVisa sponsorship available

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Required skills

  • firmware
  • ground control hardware
  • microcontroller
  • embedded Linux
  • operator input handling
  • communication link
  • telemetry
  • video receive
  • latency
  • reliability

Nice to have

  • Yocto
  • Buildroot
  • Linux networking
  • IP-based radio
  • datalink integration
  • Video pipelines

Role summary

Neros, a defense technology company, is seeking a Senior Firmware Engineer for its Ground Software team. This role involves designing, building, and maintaining firmware for ground control hardware used in drone operations. Responsibilities include owning operator input handling, communication links, and ensuring latency and reliability. The engineer will work with microcontroller and embedded Linux targets, debug new hardware, and write tests. The ideal candidate has strong experience in embedded C, C++, or Rust, real-time firmware development, hands-on board bring-up, and debugging with hardware tools. Experience with embedded Linux, communication interfaces, and a track record of shipping production firmware are essential.

Who we are

Neros is a defense technology company rebuilding America’s drone industrial base. We design and manufacture high-performance unmanned systems that are tested in combat, iterated at startup speed, and built at massive scale. Our team culture is fast, hands-on, and obsessed with closing the gap between design and deployment.

As drones transform the character of warfare, Neros is delivering the systems the West needs to compete on the modern battlefield and deter the adversaries of democracy. We’re hiring engineers, operators, and builders who want to move fast, take on extreme ownership, and get capability into the hands of warfighters in months, not years.

What you will be doing

Neros builds drones for the modern battlefield. As a Senior Firmware Engineer on our Ground Software team, you will build the firmware that runs on our ground control hardware - the equipment operators hold in the field to fly the aircraft and see what it sees. You'll work across microcontroller and embedded Linux targets, own the latency and reliability of the operator's control path, and take your work from the bench to the field.

Responsibilities

  • Design, build, and maintain firmware for ground control hardware across microcontroller and embedded Linux targets
  • Own operator input handling, the communication link to the aircraft, and telemetry and video receive on the ground side
  • Own latency and reliability across the operator's control path, from input to transmission
  • Define the ground side of the aircraft-to-ground interface with the flight software team, including behavior when the link degrades
  • Bring up and debug new ground hardware alongside electrical engineering
  • Write unit and integration tests for your firmware, partnering with our test organization on hardware-in-the-loop and field testing

    • You should have the following

  • Strong embedded C, C++, or Rust in resource-constrained environments — you have shipped firmware that runs on real hardware in the field
  • Real-time firmware experience: interrupts, DMA, timing budgets, and the bugs that only show up under load
  • Hands-on board bring-up and hardware debugging — oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and failures that don't reproduce in a debugger
  • Working knowledge of embedded communication interfaces — UART, SPI, I2C, USB, Ethernet
  • Track record of taking firmware from first boot to production with light direction
  • Test discipline appropriate to firmware that people depend on in the field

    • Nice to have

  • Embedded Linux — building services and device interfaces on an embedded Linux system; Yocto or Buildroot exposure
  • Linux networking and IP-based radio or datalink integration
  • Video pipelines on embedded hardware — capture, decode, display, latency
  • RC radio or ground controller firmware — ExpressLRS, EdgeTX/OpenTX, or similar
  • Experience moving a product from a microcontroller to an embedded Linux platform
  • You fly — FPV, RC, or drones generally

    • US Salary Range

    $180,000 – $252,000 USD

    The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are considered part of Neros' total compensation package.

    We’re an equal opportunity employer. We welcome all applicants without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

    Neros posts external titles (e.g., "Engineer II," "Senior I") to reflect true leveling and compensation, but internal titles never include level numbers — your internal title will be the base title only ("Engineer" or "Senior Engineer," as applicable).

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