Firmware Engineer – Smart Metering/Device Systems

Group: Kaynes Group (Publicly Listed)

Founded in 2019, GridCrest Technologies is one of the fastest-growing smart metering companies globally and part of the publicly traded Kaynes Group. We deliver end-to-end Meter-to-Cash solutions, including smart meters, communication infrastructure, software platforms, and services—impacting over 10 million people through our products, solutions, and services.

Job Description

Position: Firmware Engineer – Smart Metering/Device Systems

Location: Hyderabad, Telangana, India

Department: R&D – Embedded Systems / Smart Metering Solutions

Reporting To: Head- Embedded Systems & Software - Noida

Position Overview

We are seeking a highly competent and technically accomplished Firmware Engineer specializing in Smart Energy Metering Systems and Embedded Product Development. The ideal candidate must possess deep expertise in low-level embedded firmware development, metrology integration, communication stack implementation, and real-time embedded architectures for Class 0.2 / 0.5 / 1.0 precision smart energy meters.

This role demands hands-on proficiency in firmware architecture, hardware-near debugging, protocol integration, power-sensitive embedded design, and compliance-oriented firmware development for utility-grade metering products.

The candidate will be responsible for complete firmware lifecycle ownership including architecture definition, driver development, protocol stack integration, debugging, validation, optimization, and field issue resolution.

Role & Responsibility Areas

1. Embedded Firmware Development & Architecture

Core Responsibilities

• Design, develop, optimize, and maintain embedded firmware for advanced smart energy meters.
• Develop modular, scalable, and maintainable firmware architectures for:
• Single-phase and three-phase smart meters
• Static energy meters
• Prepaid smart metering systems
• AMI/AMR compatible metering products
• Implement firmware for:
• Energy measurement
• Load profiling
• Event logging
• Tamper detection
• RTC synchronization
• Demand calculations
• Power quality monitoring
• Develop real-time deterministic embedded applications with stringent timing requirements.
• Design state machines and interrupt-driven firmware architectures.
• Develop low-power firmware strategies for battery-backed systems and power-failure handling.

Technical Expectations

• Expertise in:
• Bare-metal firmware development
• RTOS-based systems
• ISR optimization
• Memory-constrained systems
• Bootloader implementation
• Firmware upgrade mechanisms (FOTA/OTA where applicable)

2. Metrology & Energy Measurement Systems

Responsibilities

• Implement and optimize metrology algorithms for:
• Active energy
• Reactive energy
• Apparent energy
• RMS voltage/current calculations
• Harmonic analysis
• Power factor calculations
• Integrate metrology ICs and ADC subsystems with embedded firmware.
• Ensure firmware compliance with:
• IS standards
• IEC standards
• DLMS/COSEM specifications
• Utility certification requirements
• Develop calibration logic and calibration utilities.

Required Technical Exposure

• Class 0.2 / 0.5 / 1.0 accuracy systems
• Metering ICs and DSP-assisted metrology
• Energy accumulation algorithms
• Tamper detection logic:
• Magnetic tamper
• Neutral disturbance
• Earth load tamper
• Reverse current tamper

3. Communication Stack Integration

Responsibilities

• Integrate and validate communication interfaces for smart metering applications.
• Develop and debug firmware stacks for:
• DLMS/COSEM
• MODBUS
• UART protocols
• SPI/I2C communication
• Interface and integrate communication modules:
• 2G/3G/4G/NB-IoT modems
• RF modules
• Zigbee
• BLE/Bluetooth
• Wi-SUN (preferred niche skill)
• LoRaWAN (preferred niche skill)

Advanced Requirements

• Experience in:
• TCP/IP stack integration
• MQTT/CoAP protocols
• Secure communication frameworks
• AES encryption
• TLS-based embedded communication
• Debugging serial communication using protocol analyzers.

4. Hardware–Firmware Co-Design

Responsibilities

• Collaborate closely with Hardware Design Engineers during:
• Schematic reviews
• Board bring-up
• Prototype validation
• Signal integrity troubleshooting
• Interpret:
• Schematics
• Datasheets
• Timing diagrams
• Register maps
• Develop and validate peripheral drivers for:
• UART
• SPI
• I2C
• ADC
• DMA
• EEPROM/Flash
• RTC
• GPIO
• Timers/PWM

Board-Level Debugging

• Perform hardware-near debugging using:
• Oscilloscopes
• Logic analyzers
• JTAG/SWD debuggers
• Multimeters
• Power analyzers
• Support PCB validation and EMI/EMC troubleshooting.

5. Firmware Verification, Testing & Validation

Responsibilities

• Develop unit tests and integration test procedures.
• Conduct:
• Functional testing
• Regression testing
• Stress testing
• Reliability testing
• Long-duration endurance testing
• Participate in:
• Code reviews
• Static code analysis
• Root cause analysis (RCA)
• Failure analysis
• Maintain firmware traceability and compliance documentation.

Tools & Practices

• Static analysis tools:
• PC-Lint
• Coverity
• Cppcheck
• Version control:
• Git
• GitLab/GitHub workflows
• CI/CD exposure for embedded systems preferred.

6. Production & Field Support

Responsibilities

• Support manufacturing firmware release activities.
• Diagnose and resolve:
• Field firmware defects
• Communication failures
• Metering inaccuracies
• Firmware upgrade failures
• Work with Quality and Service teams on:
• Product validation
• Customer complaints
• Failure investigations

Required Qualifications

Educational Qualification

• Bachelor’s Degree in:
• Electronics Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Electronics & Communication Engineering
• Embedded Systems
• Master’s Degree preferred for advanced architecture roles.

Required Experience

• 3–5 years of relevant experience in:
• Smart Metering
• Embedded Firmware Development
• Industrial Embedded Systems
• Utility Automation
• AMI/AMR systems

Mandatory Domain Experience

• Smart Energy Metering industry experience is essential.
• Experience in utility-grade embedded systems preferred.

Mandatory Technical Skills

Embedded Systems

• Strong Embedded C programming expertise
• Hands-on low-level register programming
• Memory optimization techniques
• Interrupt-driven programming
• Linker scripts and memory mapping

Microcontroller Platforms

Strong experience in at least one:

• MSP430
• Renesas RL78
• STM32
• NXP LPC series
• TI ARM Cortex platforms

Peripheral Interfaces

Hands-on experience with:

• UART
• SPI
• I2C/SMBus
• ADC/DAC
• DMA
• RTC
• EEPROM/Flash interfaces

Debugging

Strong debugging proficiency using:

• JTAG/SWD
• Lauterbach
• Segger J-Link
• Logic analyzers
• Oscilloscopes

Mandatory Domain Knowledge

• DLMS/COSEM protocol
• Metering standards and compliance
• Energy metrology concepts
• Smart meter communication architecture
• Embedded communication protocols
• Real-time embedded systems

Preferred / Niche Skills (Highly Desirable)

Advanced Embedded Skills

• RTOS (FreeRTOS/ThreadX/Zephyr)
• Secure boot implementation
• OTA/FOTA firmware upgrades
• Embedded Linux exposure
• BSP development

Advanced Communication Technologies

• NB-IoT integration
• LTE Cat-M1
• Wi-SUN stack implementation
• LoRaWAN stack integration
• BLE Mesh networking

Cybersecurity for Embedded Devices

• Secure firmware architecture
• PKI implementation
• Secure key storage
• Cryptographic libraries
• IEC 62443 awareness

Smart Grid & Utility Technologies

• Head-End System (HES) integration
• MDM system understanding
• AMI ecosystem exposure
• Grid communication standards

Testing & Automation

• Python scripting for embedded testing
• Hardware-in-loop (HIL) testing
• Automated regression frameworks

Competencies Required

Technical Competencies

• Strong analytical and debugging skills
• Firmware architecture thinking
• Hardware abstraction design capability
• Root cause analysis expertise
• System-level problem-solving

Behavioral Competencies

• Ownership mindset
• Engineering discipline
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Technical documentation capability
• Ability to work under tight release schedules

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Firmware quality and defect density
• On-time delivery of firmware releases
• Communication stack stability
• Metering accuracy compliance
• Reduction in field firmware issues
• Code quality metrics
• Test coverage and validation completeness

Working Environment

• R&D and embedded lab environment
• Interaction with hardware, testing, manufacturing, and field engineering teams
• Involvement in utility-grade certified product development lifecycle