The Reality Labs Research Software Team is looking for an Embedded Software Engineer to help bring all-day wearable AI research platforms to life through collaboration and commitment. Our prototype devices enable breakthrough research in contextualized AI - your firmware captures real-world sensor data, manages on-device compute pipelines, and provides the reliable hardware abstraction that makes research breakthroughs possible. This role requires a firmware engineer comfortable working across the entire embedded systems spectrum - from low-level MCU peripheral bring-up to SoC-level system integration - rather than specializing in a single domain. You will work across a rich technology stack including Zephyr RTOS on MCUs, AOSP/Linux on Qualcomm SoCs, multi-camera systems (SLAM, RGB, eye tracking), wireless communications (WiFi, BLE, Sub-GHz), IMU-based sensor fusion, and power-optimized embedded architectures for all-day wearable use. We are looking for someone who sees ambiguity as opportunity, nurtures a sense of ownership in themselves and others, and thrives in an honest and considerate environment. We embrace AI-native ways of working - using AI tools as force multipliers to accelerate development, testing, and iteration. We have many exciting problems to solve, and we depend on people who are comfortable with embracing a creative, thoughtful approach to short-term and long-term problem-solving to drive our innovation.

Responsibilities

Own the design, development, and debugging of firmware, and embedded software, including sensing and imaging systems
• Understand and implement firmware on microcontrollers and SoCs, leverage peripherals, manage power consumption, support boot loaders, and schedule real-time tasks (RTOS)
• Collaborate in a team environment across multiple, research-focused, and engineering disciplines, making the architectural trade-offs required to rapidly deliver firmware solutions, communicating decisions and rationale clearly to a wide range of stakeholders
• Drive firmware architecture and system bring-up across all phases of custom hardware development, including early requirement definition, firmware and embedded system design, proof-of-concept implementation, selection of MCUs and tools, and board bring-up
• Define and champion embedded software development practices across teams and projects, including setting expectations, defining the backlog, and tracking progress of contingent staff
• Provide architectural input in design reviews, influence technical direction across the firmware stack, and serve as a technical expert for the team on complex cross-domain problems for assigned subsystems
• Leverage AI tools and workflows to accelerate firmware development, code generation, testing, and documentation - applying engineering judgment to determine when AI augmentation improves quality, speed, and team efficiency

Minimum Qualifications
• B.S. degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field
• 7+ years of software development experience in embedded systems, firmware, or a related field, or a PhD with 4+ years of experience in embedded systems, firmware, or a related field
• 3+ years of embedded software development experience in industry settings
• Experience with embedded software design and programming in C and C++
• Experience with building drivers for custom hardware systems
• Hands-on experience with hardware debugging tools (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, protocol decoders) and register-level system debugging
• Experience designing firmware solutions from hardware data sheets, including serial protocol (synchronous/asynchronous) interface implementation
• Experience with real-time operating systems (e.g., Zephyr, FreeRTOS, or an equivalent real-time OS)
• Experience in independently architecting embedded systems spanning multiple processors or subsystems (e.g., MCU and SoC integration, multi-core designs)

Preferred Qualifications
• Familiarity with wireless protocol stacks (BLE, Wi-Fi, or proprietary RF)
• Experience adhering to and implementing responsible, ethical AI practices (e.g., risk assessment, bias mitigation, quality and accuracy reviews)
• Demonstrated ability to integrate AI tools to optimize/redesign workflows and drive measurable impact (e.g., efficiency gains, quality improvements)
• Demonstrated ongoing AI skill development (e.g., prompt/context engineering, agent orchestration) and staying current with emerging AI technologies
• Experience working with international manufacturing partners
• AOSP experience outside of apps and in the native environment
• M.S. degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field
• Experience in research or prototyping environments where requirements evolve rapidly
• Experience with camera or imaging subsystems (ISP, MIPI CSI/DSI)
• Experience using AI-assisted development tools (code generation, automated testing, AI-powered debugging) to accelerate embedded software workflows
• Experience with SoC bring-up (ARM Cortex-A/M, Qualcomm, NXP, or similar)