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Principal Embedded Engineer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

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Principal Embedded Software Engineer

Sunnyvale, CA · On-site

$140K - $190K/yr

WiFi team is looking for a Principal Embedded Software Engineer with C programming and networking knowledge to join our team. This is a great opportunity to immerse yourself in all phases of the ...

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Principal Embedded Engineer information

What is a principal embedded engineer?

A Principal Embedded Engineer is a senior-level professional who designs, develops, and oversees the implementation of embedded systems, which are specialized computing systems that operate within larger devices like automobiles, medical equipment, and industrial machines. They typically lead technical teams, define system architectures, and ensure that embedded solutions meet performance, reliability, and safety requirements. Principal Embedded Engineers often mentor junior engineers and collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver complex projects from concept to production.

How does a principal embedded engineer typically balance technical leadership with hands-on development work?

As a Principal Embedded Engineer, you are expected to provide both technical direction and contribute directly to development tasks. This often involves mentoring junior engineers, performing code reviews, and setting architectural standards, while still engaging in critical coding, debugging, and system integration activities. Balancing these responsibilities requires strong time management and the ability to prioritize high-impact tasks. You'll frequently collaborate with cross-functional teams—including hardware, software, and QA—to ensure cohesive product development and delivery.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a principal embedded engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Principal Embedded Engineer, you need advanced expertise in embedded systems design, strong programming skills (often in C/C++), and a relevant engineering degree. Familiarity with RTOS, embedded development tools, hardware debugging equipment, and certifications such as Certified Embedded Systems Engineer are typical requirements. Leadership, problem-solving, and effective communication skills help you guide teams and manage complex projects. These skills ensure the reliable development of critical embedded products and successful coordination across multidisciplinary engineering teams.

What is the difference between Principal Embedded Engineer vs Embedded Software Engineer?

AspectPrincipal Embedded EngineerEmbedded Software Engineer
QualificationsBachelor's/Master's in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related; extensive experienceBachelor's or higher in relevant field; entry to mid-level experience
ResponsibilitiesLeading design, architecture, and technical strategy; mentoring teamsDeveloping, testing, and maintaining embedded software
Work EnvironmentCross-functional teams, leadership roles, project planningHands-on coding, debugging, and implementation
Industry UsageUsed in advanced product development, system architectureCommon in product development, firmware updates

The Principal Embedded Engineer typically holds a senior, strategic role with leadership and architecture responsibilities, requiring extensive experience and advanced skills. In contrast, the Embedded Software Engineer focuses on coding and implementation tasks. Both roles are vital in embedded systems development but differ in scope and seniority.

What cities in California are hiring for Principal Embedded Engineer jobs?

Cities in California with the most Principal Embedded Engineer job openings:

Principal Embedded Engineer jobs near you

Principal Embedded Firmware Engineer

Los Alamitos, CA • On-site

Hire Ventures, Inc.
Human Resources Consulting Services • 51 - 200 employees
Learn more about Hire Ventures, Inc.external

$150K - $200K/yr

Full-time

Posted 28 days ago

Job description

Principal Embedded Firmware Engineer - Rust and Connected Devices
About CI Solutions
CI Solutions develops secure identity and credentialing technology for schools and other organizations. Our products support student identification, card issuance, RFID and NFC credentials, connected readers, and integrations with the systems our clients use every day.
CR-One is our networked NFC/RFID reader platform. It supports student-ID, transportation, food service, access, attendance, and other credential-based programs. The first generation of CR-One readers is moving into customer and partner environments, and we are hiring an experienced firmware engineer to take technical ownership of the platform.
The role
We are looking for a Principal Embedded Firmware Engineer to own the CR-One firmware platform and the tools used to build, provision, release, update, and support it.
You will take ownership of an in-production system, develop a deep understanding of its architecture, keep the deployed fleet healthy, and extend it for future products and use cases. You will work closely with hardware, backend, product, manufacturing, technical services, and external engineering partners.
What you will work on
  • Embedded Rust device architecture
  • NFC RFID
  • Cellular, BLE, USB, and GNSS
  • Security and device lifecycle
  • Protocols and fleet tooling

Responsibilities
  • Take technical ownership of the CR-One firmware platform and its build, flash, provisioning, release, and update pipelines.
  • Safely extend and improve firmware running on devices in customer and partner environments.
  • Own the OTA release lifecycle, including signing, staged deployment, rollback, health validation, and incident response.
  • Diagnose firmware and hardware problems using logs, telemetry, serial traces, and controlled reproduction.
  • Improve reproducible builds, release documentation, and operational visibility.
  • Maintain backward compatibility across firmware versions, device configurations, and shared wire protocols.
  • Support factory programming, provisioning, production testing, hardware revisions, and manufacturing failure analysis.
  • Partner with backend and dashboard engineers on device configuration, telemetry, fleet health, and remote support.
  • Help define the firmware architecture for future CR-One generations.
  • Improve the system incrementally while continuing to deliver customer and partner capabilities.

Required qualifications
  • Strong professional in embedded systems, infrastructure, performance-sensitive, or similarly demanding software.
  • Substantial hands-on microcontroller firmware experience.
  • Experience with RTOS-based systems, interrupts, peripheral drivers, persistent state, and resource-constrained devices.
  • Ability to bring up and debug hardware directly from datasheets, register maps, and protocol specifications.
  • Experience supporting embedded product through production and after deployment.
  • Understanding of firmware release safety, OTA updates, device recovery, and field-failure investigation.
  • Strong bench-debugging skills.
  • Experience taking ownership of a large, evolving codebase and improving it without stopping delivery.
  • Sound engineering judgment and the ability to communicate clearly across firmware, hardware, backend, product, and operations teams.

Preferred experience
Experience in some of the following areas is valuable, but we do not expect candidates to have worked with every technology:
  • Embedded Rust or Rust on ESP-IDF.
  • ESP32, ESP-IDF, FreeRTOS, or comparable embedded platforms.
  • LTE-M, NB-IoT, Quectel, u-blox, or other cellular modem integrations.
  • MQTT, TLS, mutual TLS, PKI, X.509, and certificate enrollment.
  • NFC & RFID protocols, including ISO 14443, ISO 15693, MIFARE, DESFire, or NFC-V.
  • USB device stacks, HID, CDC, TinyUSB, BLE, and GNSS.
  • Secure boot, flash encryption, hardware provisioning, and protected key storage.
  • Differential or delta OTA systems.
  • Binary and JSON serialization formats.
  • Python, Bash, firmware release tooling, cross-compilation, and build automation.
  • MQTT-broker, or fleet-management experience.

Why Join CI Solutions
For more than 30 years, we have built our business by earning the trust of our customers, partners, and employees. We value long-term relationships, we approach our work with integrity and take pride in delivering solutions that customers rely on every day.
We are a small, agile, and fast-paced company that offers employees the opportunity to take ownership, drive improvements, work collaboratively across departments, and make a meaningful impact without layers of bureaucracy.
In this role, you will own the CR-One firmware platform and the decisions you make will directly shape how current and future devices are built, deployed and supported. This role is a strong fit for an engineer who enjoys ambitious embedded work, wants meaningful technical ownership, and is motivated by seeing hardware operate successfully in real customer environments.
* This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship *

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