Microcontroller Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Aerospace is at a turning point — costs are rising, supply chains are strained, and old ways of building can't keep up. At Neon Aero, we're breaking that mold. We move fast, think big, and combine start-up agility with aerospace expertise to design, build, and scale aircraft in ways the industry has never seen. Our team leverages automation, AI-driven tools, and a fully connected digital backbone to accelerate innovation and reduce barriers to production.

Here, you won't just take a job — you'll help reinvent how the world flies. If you're ready to solve complex problems, push technology further, and work alongside some of the brightest minds in aerospace, this is your chance to make a real impact.

We're seeking a Senior Platform/Real-Time Embedded Firmware Engineer with strong low-level embedded software expertise and a passion for building robust, deterministic firmware for safety-critical control systems. This role focuses on the real-time firmware foundation that enables actuators, motor drives, BMS, sensors, and vehicle-level systems to operate reliably.

You will architect, implement, and maintain firmware across real-time microcontroller platforms, owning BSPs, drivers, RTOS/bare-metal execution, timing, peripheral interfaces, diagnostics hooks, and hardware bring-up. This role works closely with embedded systems, motor control, BMS, and vehicle control software engineers to ensure the platform layer is reliable, reusable, and deterministic.

• Design and maintain real-time firmware architecture for safety-critical embedded control platforms.
• Own timing-sensitive firmware layers, interrupt structure, task scheduling, execution order, and deterministic data flow between hardware, drivers, middleware, and application software.
• Develop firmware frameworks that support reusable control execution, communication, diagnostics, monitoring, and system integration across multiple projects.

• Develop and maintain embedded software in C/C++ on real-time microcontroller platforms such as TI C2000, NXP, or comparable safety-oriented MCUs.
• Own board support packages, peripheral initialization, device configuration, and low-level hardware abstraction layers.
• Develop and debug drivers for peripherals and interfaces such as CAN, SPI, Ethernet, ADC, PWM, GPIO, timers, watchdogs, and other MCU peripherals.

• Support hardware bring-up, board validation, and low-level debugging across software and hardware boundaries.
• Diagnose issues involving MCU configuration, clocks, interrupts, peripherals, sensors, motor drive interfaces, BMS interfaces, and communication links.
• Work closely with electrical, controls, and systems teams to ensure the embedded firmware correctly supports actuator control, power electronics, sensors, and vehicle-level hardware.

• Implement robust embedded communication infrastructure for protocols such as CAN, CAN derivatives, SPI, Ethernet, ARINC 825, and other aerospace or automotive buses.
• Support reliable data exchange, message timing, arbitration, diagnostics, fault detection, and recovery behavior at the firmware/platform level.

• Support integration with motor control, BMS, sensors, and vehicle control software.
• Develop test hooks, debug interfaces, logging mechanisms, automation support, and data collection tools for lab validation, HIL testing, and system debugging.
• Support SIL/HIL environments where firmware interfaces, drivers, and platform behavior need to be validated.

• Support safety-critical embedded software development by following disciplined software development processes.
• Contribute to requirements, traceability, verification planning, configuration control, and certification readiness activities aligned with standards such as DO-178C, ARP4754/4761, ISO 26262 concepts, or equivalent safety frameworks.

• 5+ years of experience developing embedded firmware for complex real-time systems
• Strong proficiency in embedded C/C++ and real-time firmware architecture
• Experience with real-time microcontroller platforms such as TI C2000, NXP, or comparable safety-oriented MCUs
• Strong understanding of MCU peripherals, interrupts, timers, watchdogs, memory, clocks, ADC, PWM, GPIO, and communication interfaces
• Hands-on experience with communication protocols such as CAN, CAN derivatives, SPI, Ethernet, or ARINC 825
• Proven ability to integrate and debug software across hardware, firmware, and system boundaries
• Experience supporting hardware bring-up, lab validation, and HIL testing
• Strong analytical skills and low-level debugging ability

Preferred / Bonus Experience

• Experience with TI C2000, NXP, or similar real-time control microcontrollers
• Prior work on safety-critical or regulated systems: aerospace, automotive, industrial
• Exposure to certification-oriented development processes: DO-178C, ARP4754/4761, ISO 26262 concepts
• Experience developing reusable BSPs, drivers, middleware, and embedded software frameworks
• Background supporting motor drives, BMS, power electronics, sensors, or vehicle control systems
• Experience supporting production launch, field issues, and long-term platform maintainability

This role provides the real-time firmware foundation that every higher-level control function depends on. Your work ensures that MCUs, peripherals, drivers, communication links, timing, diagnostics, and hardware interfaces behave predictably under all conditions.

This is the expected compensation range for this role. Final compensation will be based on role scope, experience, skills, internal equity and location. This role may also be eligible for bonus/equity/benefits, if applicable.

$150,000 - $250,000 USD

Neon Aero, Inc is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable law.

We believe that diverse perspectives drive innovation, and we welcome candidates from all backgrounds to apply.

All final candidates must successfully complete a background check and drug screening as a condition of employment.