Freelance Contract Embedded Software Engineer Jobs in Raleigh, NC

Eaton’s Corporate Sector division is currently seeking an Engineering Manager – Embedded RTOS Platforms.

Salary: $130,000 – $190,000 per year (general guideline only). Salaries are based upon candidate skills, experience, and qualifications, as well as market and business considerations.

The Engineering Manager, Embedded RTOS Platforms, is responsible for leading the execution and delivery of embedded real‑time operating system (RTOS)–based platform capabilities supporting Eaton’s product portfolio. This role ensures high‑quality, timely delivery aligned with new product introduction (NPI) and sustaining engineering programs. The position provides day‑to‑day leadership across globally distributed engineering teams, driving execution against defined scope, schedule, and quality targets while supporting platform stability, scalability, and reuse.

• Lead execution and delivery of embedded RTOS platform commitments across NPI and sustaining programs, ensuring performance against schedule, cost, quality, and risk targets.
• Drive day‑to‑day team activities including sprint planning, backlog management, milestone tracking, and issue resolution.
• Collaborate with product engineering, program management, and systems teams to ensure alignment of RTOS platform capabilities with program needs.
• Apply and reinforce disciplined engineering processes, including Agile methodologies, release planning, and defect management.
• Ensure effective integration, validation, and release of RTOS platform software across hardware and application layers.
• Support development and optimization of RTOS‑based systems, ensuring predictable real‑time performance, efficient resource utilization, and system reliability.
• Track and communicate key execution metrics such as velocity, defect trends, system performance metrics, and milestone progress to support data‑driven decisions.
• Identify and address execution challenges and bottlenecks, improving team throughput and delivery predictability.
• Coordinate dependencies within the RTOS platform and with adjacent teams (applications, hardware, infrastructure) as needed.
• Support development infrastructure including CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and release processes.
• Work with leadership to support capacity planning and resource prioritization aligned with program needs.
• Escalate risks and issues appropriately, ensuring timely resolution and stakeholder visibility.
• Promote a culture of accountability, teamwork, and continuous improvement within the team.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Software Engineering.
• 5 years of experience in embedded software development or delivery.
• 3 years of experience leading or coordinating engineering teams.
• 2 years of experience delivering software using Agile development methodologies.
• 3 years of experience with embedded RTOS‑based systems (e.g., Zephyr, FreeRTOS, or similar).
• 1 year of experience with CI/CD processes, version control systems, and release practices.
• No relocation is offered; candidates must reside within 50 miles of Beachwood, OH, Moon Township, PA, or Raleigh, NC.
• Candidate must be authorized to work in the United States on a continuous basis without company sponsorship.

• Experience delivering reusable RTOS‑based platform solutions.
• Experience working with globally distributed engineering teams.
• Experience with real‑time systems design, scheduling, and resource‑constrained environments.
• Familiarity with RTOS kernels, drivers, and board support packages (BSPs).
• Experience supporting NPI programs in industrial or IoT domains.
• Experience improving engineering execution through metrics and process optimization.
• Experience managing cross‑functional dependencies.

• Teamwork, communication, and strong interpersonal skills across cultural and organizational boundaries.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to effectively explain complex technical concepts to a wide variety of audiences, high learning agility, and great follow‑through in meeting commitments.
• Ability to communicate and influence multiple groups including marketing, product management, quality, and executive leadership.
• Strong problem‑solving and reasoning ability, exhibiting technical innovation and creative solutions.
• Sharp analytical abilities and proven design skills.
• Good judgment, time management, and decision‑making skills.

• Typically includes 5–7 direct reports with an overall team scope of approximately 10–15 engineers, including global contributors.
• Supports delivery responsibilities across embedded Linux platform programs contributing to Eaton product lines.
• Contributes to execution within a broader organizational budget (not full budget ownership).

Eaton provides various Health and Welfare benefits as well as Retirement benefits, and several programs that provide for paid and unpaid time away from work.

We are committed to ensuring equal employment opportunities for all job applicants and employees. Employment decisions are based upon job‑related reasons regardless of an applicant’s race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, marital status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other status protected by law.

Eaton believes in second‑chance employment. Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction history will be considered regardless of their arrest or conviction history, consistent with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, the California Fair Chance Act and other local laws. You do not need to disclose your conviction history or participate in a background check until a conditional job offer is made to you.