Embedded Systems Manager / Senior Firmware Lead – Energy Management & EV Charging

EVHACS develops smart energy and EV charging technology for domestic and commercial customers. Our core controller, Elliot, connects EV chargers, heating systems, solar PV, batteries, meters and other energy devices to the EVHACS cloud platform.

Elliot is used as both a home energy management system and an EV charger controller. It manages device communication, load control, cloud connectivity, telemetry, scheduling and future energy optimisation features.

We are looking for an experienced Embedded Systems Manager / Senior Firmware Lead to take ownership of Elliot firmware development and support the next stage of our product roadmap.

The Embedded Systems Manager / Senior Firmware Lead will be responsible for the design, development, maintenance and continuous improvement of firmware for Elliot, our ESP32-based energy management and EV charging controller.

This is a hands-on firmware leadership role. The successful candidate will be expected to actively develop firmware while also taking ownership of the Elliot firmware roadmap, technical direction and day-to-day guidance of a less experienced firmware engineer.

The role requires strong embedded C development skills, experience with real-time systems, IoT device communication and cloud-connected products. The engineer should be comfortable working across firmware, hardware interfaces, communication protocols and backend integration.

This role is suited to someone who can understand and improve existing firmware architecture, define new product features, improve reliability and provide practical technical leadership within the firmware function.

Own and define the Elliot firmware roadmap, balancing new product features, reliability improvements, technical debt, testing, OTA updates and long-term maintainability.

Provide hands-on technical leadership within the firmware function, including firmware development, design reviews, code reviews, architecture decisions and mentoring a less experienced firmware engineer.

Develop, maintain and improve firmware for Elliot and related embedded devices.

Work with the Espressif ESP-IDF framework, currently version 4.4.6.

Design and maintain multi-task embedded applications using FreeRTOS.

Implement and maintain device communication with the EVHACS backend hosted on AWS cloud infrastructure.

Support firmware features for EV charging, home energy management, heating control, solar matching and device telemetry.

Work with state machine models for device control, charging logic, scheduling and fault handling.

Implement and maintain communication protocols such as Modbus and OCPP.

Debug firmware issues using logs, serial output, cloud telemetry and hardware testing.

Work closely with backend, app and hardware engineers to deliver end-to-end features.

Review and improve existing firmware architecture, reliability and maintainability.

Support OTA firmware update processes and secure device communication.

Assist with testing, validation and release of firmware updates.

Read schematics and support basic electronics debugging where required.

Minimum 7 years’ experience in embedded systems or firmware development.

Strong proficiency in C programming for embedded systems.

Good working knowledge of the Espressif ESP-IDF framework.

Strong understanding of FreeRTOS and multi-task embedded application design.

Good knowledge of Python for scripting, tooling, testing or automation.

Experience integrating IoT devices with backend/cloud platforms.

Experience working with AWS-connected IoT or telemetry-based systems.

Strong understanding of state machine design and event-driven firmware.

Experience debugging embedded systems in real-world hardware environments.

Experience providing technical leadership, mentoring other engineers or contributing to firmware architecture decisions.

Ability to read and understand technical documentation, protocol specifications and existing codebases.

Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work independently.

Experience with Modbus protocol.

Knowledge of OCPP 1.6.

Knowledge of OCPP 2.1.

Experience with EV charging systems or energy management systems.

Understanding of IEC 61851-1 and EV charging control principles.

Basic electronics knowledge, including reading schematics and simple PCB rework.

Experience with ESP32-based products.

Experience with OTA firmware updates.

Knowledge of secure device authentication and encrypted communication.

Experience with JavaScript and Bootstrap.

Experience working with AWS services used for device communication, telemetry or monitoring.

The ideal candidate will have a broad understanding of embedded hardware, firmware, cloud-connected devices and real-world product deployment.

We are looking for a senior-level engineer who can combine hands-on firmware development with technical leadership, roadmap ownership and mentoring of a less experienced firmware engineer.

They should be comfortable working close to the hardware while also understanding how the device communicates with backend systems and user-facing applications.

They will be able to take ownership of firmware roadmap features from design through implementation, testing, release and post-release support.

Experience in EV charging, home energy management, solar PV, batteries, heating controls or industrial IoT would be highly beneficial.

C

Python

ESP32

Espressif ESP-IDF

FreeRTOS

AWS cloud infrastructure

WebSockets / secure cloud communication

Modbus

OCPP 1.6 / OCPP 2.1

EV charging control

Home energy management

OTA firmware updates

Device telemetry

State machine design

Hardware debugging

Hybrid, office location Clane, Co. Kildare.