About the RoleJoin the core hardware team of a
Y Combinator-backed consumer wearable startup as a
Senior Firmware Engineer, helping build the firmware powering a next-generation wearable platform. You'll play a foundational role in defining the firmware architecture and taking a category-defining device from prototype all the way through to mass production.
This role sits at the intersection of low-power embedded design, sensor integration, and production engineering - and it matters because the reliability and battery life of the product depend on the work you'll own. You'll be working in-person in
New York City alongside a small, fast-moving engineering team.
What You'll Do- Architect and develop embedded firmware for battery-powered wearable devices.
- Own core systems for low-power wireless connectivity, sensor processing, and data pipelines.
- Design and optimize Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connectivity for ultra-low-power operation.
- Build robust power management systems to maximize battery life.
- Develop multi-core embedded data pipelines for real-time sensor acquisition and processing.
- Integrate biometric and environmental sensors via SPI, I2C, UART, GPIO, DMA, and interrupts.
- Optimize firmware for performance, memory usage, latency, and reliability.
- Lead board bring-up, debugging, validation, and manufacturing support.
- Collaborate closely with hardware, algorithms, product, and industrial design teams across the full product lifecycle.
- Establish firmware best practices, testing frameworks, and CI workflows.
What We're Looking ForRequired- 6+ years of embedded firmware engineering experience, with a track record of shipping battery-powered consumer electronics or wearables to production.
- Deep expertise in Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) systems and low-power embedded architectures.
- Strong proficiency in Embedded C/C++ and RTOS-based systems (e.g., FreeRTOS, Zephyr).
- Hands-on experience with ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers and modern debugging tools.
- Experience building multi-core embedded data pipelines for real-time sensor acquisition.
- Proven power management architecture skills for always-on, low-power embedded systems.
- Sensor integration experience using SPI, I2C, UART, GPIO, DMA, and interrupt-driven designs.
- Experience with board bring-up, debugging, validation, and manufacturing support.
Nice to Have- Background in sensor fusion, signal processing, or biometric sensing.
- Experience with embedded platforms such as Nordic, Qualcomm, Ambiq, or STMicroelectronics.
- Familiarity with secure bootloaders, OTA firmware updates, and embedded security practices.
- Experience building wearable or health-tech devices.
- Comfort moving quickly in a fast-paced, collaborative startup environment.
Compensation & Benefits- Salary: $120,000 - $200,000 per year, depending on experience.
- Equity participation typical of an early-stage startup.
- Visa sponsorship: Not available at this time.
LocationThis is a
full-time, on-site role based in
New York City, NY. The team works in person together - remote or fully distributed arrangements are not available for this position.
