Senior Robotics Firmware Engineer
Nimble Robotics2 months ago
Base Salary
$180k - $230k/yr
Responsibilities
- Design and implement embedded firmware for real-time motor and actuator control, sensor integration, manipulation, and safety-critical operation.
- Own deterministic, low-latency communication between microcontrollers, peripherals, and higher-level compute systems using CAN/CAN-FD, serial buses, and Ethernet.
- Design safe-state and fault-handling behavior for safety-critical subsystems.
- Partner with electrical and hardware engineering on board bring-up and software-hardware integration for robot platforms.
- Improve actuation and control latency, precision, and reliability through measurable, data-driven iteration.
- Debug and resolve firmware issues across development, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and production environments.
- Lead technical design reviews and drive architecture decisions for core embedded systems.
- Mentor cross-functional engineers and technicians and improve firmware reliability, testing, and operational excellence.
- Triage firmware issues and help diagnose and resolve operational problems in production robots.
- Support production operations through an on-call rotation.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s, master’s, or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics, or a related engineering field.
- At least 4 years of firmware or embedded-systems engineering experience building production robotics or automation systems.
- Strong embedded-firmware experience in real-time control, motor or actuator drives, sensor interfacing, and communication protocols.
- Strong proficiency in at least one of Rust, C, or C++.
- Experience developing on microcontrollers under real-time constraints using RTOS-based or bare-metal approaches.
- Experience integrating sensors, actuators, and communication buses including CAN, SPI, I²C, and UART.
- Ability to design, implement, and maintain complex, high-reliability embedded systems.
- Familiarity with testing, documentation, code reviews, and robust architectural design.
- Strong communication, ownership, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
- Preferred exposure to warehousing, manufacturing, or logistics automation environments.
- Preferred experience with multi-DOF robotics systems such as articulated arms, humanoid robots, or autonomous vehicles.
- Preferred experience with field-oriented motor control, commutation, and encoder calibration.
- Preferred experience with functional-safety standards including IEC 60204-1, ISO 13849, or IEC 61508.
Benefits
- Unlimited flexible time off.
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance with multiple plan options.
- Paid parental leave.
- Fully paid parking through commuter benefits.
- Referral bonus for successful employee referrals.
- 401(k) retirement contributions.
- Equity program.
- Production on-call rotation is required.
- The position is based in a production robotics environment; no remote or hybrid arrangement is stated.
About Nimble Robotics
Nimble Robotics builds AI-driven warehouse robotics and operates a robotic third-party logistics (3PL) service for e-commerce and omnichannel fulfillment. Its platform includes general-purpose robots for storage, picking, packing, and sorting, offered as autonomous fulfillment services and systems for retailers and shippers. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in San Francisco, the company is privately held and has an alliance with FedEx to scale autonomous fulfillment within FedEx Fulfillment.