Embedded Software Engineer Relocation Jobs in Santa Ana, CA

Founded in 2025, Odin Dynamics is a defense technology company building autonomous underwater vehicles that will define the next era of undersea warfare. We are focused on delivering capable, resilient autonomous systems that strengthen the strategic advantage of the United States and its allied navies. We move fast, build real hardware, and operate with the urgency that the mission demands.

We are building a new platform from the ground up. This is not a role where you will inherit a mature product with every architectural decision already made. You will take incomplete requirements, early hardware, and difficult technical constraints and turn them into dependable, production-ready autonomy systems.

We value rigorous engineering without unnecessary process. Decisions should be driven by physics, test data, and product outcomes—not inherited convention or documentation volume.

Odin Dynamics is hiring multiple Senior Embedded Software Engineers to serve as Responsible Engineers for critical embedded subsystems across our platform.

Each engineer will take primary technical ownership of one of three areas:

• Embedded Linux compute
• Motor-control firmware
• Battery-management-system firmware

Candidates will apply to a common requisition, and Odin Dynamics will determine the best area of focus through the interview process. We are looking for engineers with deep expertise in at least one area who are also comfortable working across hardware, firmware, embedded Linux, controls, testing, and the broader software engineering domain.

As the Responsible Engineer for your subsystem, you will own it throughout its lifecycle: requirements, architecture, detailed design, implementation, bring‑up, verification, field testing, production support, failure analysis, and continued improvement after deployment.

This is a hands‑on individual‑contributor position. You will be expected to write substantial production code, make technical decisions, mentor other engineers, and remain accountable for the performance and reliability of your subsystem. There are no organizational handoffs when a difficult problem crosses the boundary between software and hardware.

• Serve as the Responsible Engineer for a major embedded subsystem.
• Develop greenfield embedded software from initial requirements and architecture through field‑tested, production‑ready implementation.
• Write, review, test, profile, and debug production software in a low‑level systems programming language.
• Design deterministic software for systems with strict latency, jitter, timing, memory, and compute constraints.
• Bring up new embedded hardware in close collaboration with Avionics and Power Electronics engineers.
• Read schematics and component documentation, review hardware designs, and diagnose hardware/software integration issues.
• Debug low‑level problems involving interrupts, DMA, concurrency, synchronization, memory corruption, peripheral configuration, communications, timing, and performance.
• Use oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, in‑circuit debuggers, and related laboratory tools to identify root causes.
• Develop and maintain interfaces using common embedded communication protocols and bus architectures.
• Write unit tests, integration tests, and system‑level tests for:
  • HOOTL — hardware‑out‑of‑the‑loop
  • SIL — software‑in‑the‑loop
  • HIL/HITL — hardware‑in‑the‑loop
• Work with Test Engineering to validate systems in laboratory, field, and sea‑trial environments.
• Support production testing, investigate failures on deployed hardware, and own corrective improvements throughout the product lifecycle.
• Build automated development workflows using modern build systems, continuous integration, static analysis, profiling, and automated testing.
• Produce concise, functional engineering documentation that enables implementation, testing, operation, and future development.
• Use AI‑assisted development tools to accelerate implementation, testing, debugging, and documentation while independently validating outputs and maintaining a first‑principles understanding of the resulting system.
• Mentor other engineers and contribute to technical reviews without moving away from hands‑on engineering.

The Embedded Linux Responsible Engineer will own the platform software below the application and autonomy layers, including:

• Embedded Linux platform architecture and board‑support packages
• Embedded Linux build and distribution systems
• Bootloaders, system bring‑up, and low‑level platform configuration
• Kernel configuration and driver development
• Secure boot and platform security mechanisms
• Hardware I/O and peripheral integration
• Networking and time synchronization
• Real‑time Linux techniques, including scheduler configuration, CPU isolation, latency analysis, and performance tuning
• Storage and high‑speed interfaces
• Platform diagnostics, reliability, and field support

The Motor Control Responsible Engineer will own the complete embedded software stack for a microcontroller‑based motor‑control system, including:

• MCU board‑support packages and low‑level firmware
• Peripheral and communications interfaces
• Real‑time scheduling, timing, interrupts, DMA, and memory management
• Control state machines, fault handling, and protection behaviour
• Closed‑loop motor‑control algorithms and system tuning
• Integration with power electronics and vehicle‑level control systems
• Verification, field testing, production support, and failure investigation

The Battery Management Responsible Engineer will own the complete embedded software stack for a microcontroller‑based battery‑management system, including:

• MCU board‑support packages and low‑level firmware
• Cell‑monitoring, communications, control, and protection interfaces
• Battery‑management state machines and fault handling
• State‑of‑charge and state‑of‑health estimation
• Sequencing, monitoring, limits, diagnostics, and recovery behaviour
• Integration with power electronics and vehicle‑level systems
• Verification, field testing, production support, and failure investigation

• Deep practical expertise in either:
  • Embedded Linux development; or
  • Bare‑metal or RTOS‑based microcontroller development.
• Sufficient familiarity with adjacent embedded environments to collaborate across subsystem boundaries.
• Strong proficiency in at least one low‑level systems programming language.
• Experience developing hard real‑time or highly deterministic systems under latency, jitter, memory, and performance constraints.
• Experience bringing up new boards and embedded platforms within your primary technical specialization.
• Experience reading schematics, reviewing hardware interfaces, and debugging integrated hardware/software systems.
• Experience with common digital communication protocols and bus architectures.
• Experience using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, in‑circuit debuggers, and other hardware‑debugging tools.
• Strong understanding of concurrency, synchronization, interrupts, DMA, timer configuration, memory allocation, scheduling, and low‑level peripheral control.
• Experience writing maintainable production code, conducting code reviews, developing automated tests, using static analysis, profiling performance, and debugging complex timing or memory failures.
• Experience with modern build systems and CI/CD workflows.
• Demonstrated ability to work from first principles, make progress with incomplete information, and rapidly iterate between design, implementation, testing, and refinement.
• Ability to work independently with minimal oversight while collaborating closely across engineering disciplines.
• Willingness to support field testing and sea trials when required.
• U.S. citizenship and eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.

Approximately five or more years of relevant embedded software experience is preferred, but demonstrated technical depth, multidisciplinary problem‑solving ability, and a record of delivering difficult systems matter more than a specific number of years. Exceptional candidates at any experience level are encouraged to apply.

• Developing safety‑critical, mission‑critical, or high‑reliability products.
• Taking an embedded system from a blank sheet through multiple design, implementation, test, and refinement cycles into production or operational deployment.
• Autonomous vehicles, underwater systems, UAVs, robotics, aerospace, automotive, industrial controls, medical devices, energy systems, or other tightly integrated electromechanical products.
• Embedded Linux build and distribution systems.
• Experience across a range of embedded compute and microcontroller platforms.
• Kernel‑driver development for Embedded Linux candidates.
• Motor‑control concepts such as advanced commutation and control techniques, feedback systems, current control, velocity control, position control, and inverter protection.
• Battery‑management concepts such as cell monitoring and balancing, state estimation, thermal monitoring, charge and discharge limits, sequencing, and fault‑state design.
• High‑speed and wireless interface integration.
• Establishing or extending HOOTL and SIL test environments.

$140,000 - $220,000 a year

At Odin Dynamics, we offer competitive salaries benchmarked against the defense and robotics industries, meaningful early‑stage equity, and benefits that cover the essentials — full covered health, dental, vision; 401(k); and paid time off.

We invest in professional development and support our people in growing their skills alongside the company. We tie compensation to the impact you have, not your title. As we grow, our compensation and benefits will grow with us. We’re building this company alongside the people who join it, and we believe everyone here should share in what we build together.

This position may require access to information protected under U.S. export control laws and regulations, including the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Please note that any offer for employment may be conditioned on authorization to receive software or technology controlled under these U.S. export control laws and regulations without sponsorship for an export license.

Odin Dynamics, Inc. participates in E‑Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I‑9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S.

Odin Dynamics is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. All qualified applicants will be treated with respect and receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, uniform service, Veteran status, age, or any other protected characteristic per federal, state, or local law, including those with a criminal history, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws.