Embedded Software Engineer II

About the company

FORT Robotics provides a control platform fusing functional safety and cybersecurity to enable secure real-time communication and dynamic safety controls for collaborative autonomous industrial robots in warehousing and manufacturing.

About this role

<div class="content-intro"><p></p> <p></p> <p>In today's dynamic worksites, seamless collaboration between people and machines is essential. FORT's platform ensures safe, secure, and dynamic control that surpasses legacy systems and next-generation AI capabilities.</p> <p>While autonomous machines offer significant advantages, they also introduce new safety challenges. FORT addresses these concerns by providing solutions such as the Wireless E-Stop, which allows operators to instantly stop any machine from a safe distance, enhancing safety during emergencies.</p> <p>Additionally, FORT's Safe Remote Control enables operators to manage heavy machinery remotely, reducing the risk of accidents and improving visibility.</p> <p>By ensuring communications integrity across any network, FORT empowers customers to protect their most valuable assets—people, data, and machines—ensuring they remain safe and secure.</p> <p></p> <p></p></div><p>As an Embedded Software Engineer II, you will own specific components of our embedded stack, working close to the hardware on the real-time firmware that our safety devices depend on. Most of your time will be spent in RTOS environments (Zephyr and FreeRTOS) and on bare-metal targets, architecting safety-critical systems where reliability is a hard requirement. You will also work with our Embedded Linux platforms where the two worlds meet, so you will be comfortable moving between constrained real-time targets and richer application environments.</p> <p><strong>What You'll Do</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>Build the Core:</strong> Design and implement robust C/C++ firmware for safety-critical embedded devices.</li> <li><strong>Real-Time Architecture:</strong> Architect and implement RTOS-based firmware on Zephyr and FreeRTOS, including task and scheduling design, ISR handling, inter-task communication, memory and stack budgeting, and deterministic timing analysis.</li> <li><strong>Bare-Metal and Drivers:</strong> Write low-level peripheral drivers and board support code, and bring up new silicon from reset vector through to a running application.</li> <li><strong>Platform Integration:</strong> Interface RTOS devices with our Embedded Linux user-space applications, ensuring reliable communication and consistent behavior across the product.</li> <li><strong>Pipeline &amp; Quality:</strong> Maintain and improve CI/CD pipelines (GitLab) to automate testing, including on-target and hardware-in-the-loop test execution.</li> <li><strong>Hardware Integration:</strong> Bring up new hardware, debug complex issues using JTAG/GDB, and optimize for latency, power, and memory footprint.</li> <li><strong>Safety Compliance:</strong> Collaborate with the safety team to ensure code adheres to rigorous standards (IEC 61508) while maintaining development velocity.</li> </ul> <p><strong>What You Bring</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>Experience:</strong> 3-5 years of hands-on embedded software development, with a substantial portion on RTOS or bare-metal targets.</li> <li><strong>Core Languages:</strong> Strong proficiency in C, along with working proficiency in C++.</li> <li><strong>RTOS Knowledge:</strong> Solid production experience with an RTOS such as Zephyr, FreeRTOS, ThreadX, or similar, including scheduling, synchronization primitives, and interrupt-driven design.</li> <li><strong>Microcontroller Fluency:</strong> Comfort working directly with MCU peripherals, datasheets, reference manuals, linker scripts, and startup code.</li> <li><strong>Linux Exposure:</strong> Familiarity with Embedded Linux user-space development, sufficient to integrate and debug across the RTOS and Linux boundary.</li> <li><strong>Connectivity:</strong> Familiarity with IP networking protocols and standard interfaces (UART, SPI, I2C, USB, CAN).</li> <li><strong>Tooling:</strong> Experience with Python for scripting/automation and familiarity with CI/CD workflows.</li> <li><strong>Debugging:</strong> Comfort using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, JTAG, and GDB to troubleshoot hard-to-find bugs.</li> <li><strong>Education:</strong> B.S. in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent experience.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Bonus Points</strong></p> <ul> <li>Experience with Zephyr specifically, including devicetree, Kconfig, and west-based workflows.</li> <li>Experience with wireless stacks (BLE, ISM, Wi-Fi) on constrained devices.</li> <li>Background in Functional Safety (FuSa) or working in regulated industries (Medical, Automotive, Aerospace).</li> <li>Low-level Linux knowledge of Board Support Packages (BSP) and device drivers.</li> <li>Familiarity with static analysis, MISRA C, or other coding standards used in safety-critical development.</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Base Compensation can range from $125,000 to $150,000 based on experience &amp; location.&nbsp;</p>