Freelance Embedded Systems Engineer Jobs in Alabama

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Leidos' Defense Systems Electrical Systems department is seeking a talented Embedded Firmware Developer to join our team. The Electrical Systems Department is a design-focused group of engineers specializing in advanced hardware-based products. The individual selected for this position will be an embedded design engineer with varied technical interests and demonstrated engineering and leadership skills. The individual must be a self- starter with experience working with inter-disciplinary teams to solve challenging technical problems. The engineer will lead efforts on and develop architectures for embedded systems integrated into a diverse range of aerospace and military systems including manned/unmanned ground/air vehicles, missiles, defensive radars, and space systems.
The selected candidate will be a key technical leader in a fast-paced, environment through all phases of the product life cycle from concept development and detailed design through manufacturing, qualification testing, and post-delivery support. The candidate will be responsible for architecting, implementing, and testing embedded firmware and software on a variety of platforms, including FPGAs, microcontrollers, microprocessors, and mixed signal designs. Additional skills such as communications data-link design, digital-signal processing (DSP) design, system design, experience with technical trade studies, and evaluation of technology improvements are a plus.
With a product focus, the individual is also expected to actively partner with other engineers, project managers, technicians, and the customer to develop solutions that adhere to a diverse set of requirements. This includes architecture decisions from requirements that help inform and drive hardware implementations and working closely with hardware engineers. Additionally, the engineer will support resolution of technical issues that are discovered during the manufacture and test of deliverable products. This will include troubleshooting board-level issues, assessing failures for root cause, and identifying corrective actions. The ideal candidate will thrive in a learning environment that encourages leadership and technical growth.
If this sounds like the kind of environment where you can thrive, keep reading!
Leidos Defense Systems Sector provides a diverse portfolio of systems, solutions, and services covering land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace for customers worldwide. Solutions for Defense include enterprise and mission IT, large-scale intelligence systems, command and control, geospatial and data analytics, cybersecurity, logistics, training, and intelligence analysis and operations support. Our team is solving the world's toughest security challenges for customers with "can't fail" missions. To explore and learn more, click here!
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Primary Responsibilities

• Key technical leader in a fast-paced, environment.
• Responsible for all phases of the product life cycle from concept development and detailed design through manufacturing, qualification testing, and post-delivery support.
• Responsible for architecting, implementing, and testing embedded firmware and software on a variety of platforms, including FPGAs, microcontrollers, microprocessors, and mixed signal designs.
• Additional skills such as communications data-link design, digital-signal processing (DSP) design, system design, experience with technical trade studies, and evaluation of technology improvements are a plus.
• Support resolution of technical issues that are discovered during the manufacture and test of deliverable products.
• Troubleshooting board-level issues, assessing failures for root cause, and identifying corrective actions.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or equivalent degree from an ABET-accredited institution.
• Candidate must have at least 4+ years of experience in embedded system design and test or 2+ years with MS degree.
• Understand trade-offs of embedded system targets (such as FPGA, SoC, microcontroller, RTOS, bare-metal) for developing best cost/option architectures
• Proven experience with programming and/or hardware description languages such as: C, C++, assembly
• Experience with programming and/or hardware description languages such as: VHDL, Verilog.
• Experience with common communication protocols such as: UART, Ethernet, SPI, I2C, CAN bus, etc.
• Hands-on laboratory experience with instrumentation, test equipment, and debug/test methods
• Position requires candidates to be capable of performing in a collaborative engineering environment working closely with multi-disciplinary teams
• Candidate must be a resident of the North Alabama area or willing to relocate to the Huntsville - North Alabama, AL area
• Candidate must be a US Citizen and possess (and be able to maintain) a Final Secret Clearance or meet the eligibility to obtain (and maintain) a Secret Clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Developing overall firmware/software architecture for embedded systems, including FPGAs and SoCs
• Utilizing modern Xilinx FPGA and SoC families and design tools (Xilinx IP Cores, AXI4, AXI-Stream)
• Firmware testing and verification (unit testing, testbenching, HWIL)
• RISC microprocessors architectures (ARM Cortex, Microblaze, PowerPC, RISC-V)
• Memory architectures, types, and caching
• GNU/Linux and development of kernel drivers
• Embedded operating systems (Linux, VxWorks, Integrity, FreeRTOS, uC/OS-II)
• Electronics and PCBA design
• Experience implementing high speed interfaces (PCIe, Aurora, 100GbE, JESD204B)

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Original Posting:
July 14, 2026
For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.
Pay Range:
Pay Range $87,100.00 - $157,450.00
The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.