Firmware Lead - AED

Role Summary

PRAD builds safety-critical embedded products across industrial safety and medical device lines. We need a Firmware Lead who can both write safety-critical embedded code and run the firmware function as a team - architecture decisions, code review discipline, documentation, and delivery against certification milestones. This is not a research role. The output is a certifiable, manufacturable product.

Responsibilities

Technical

• Own firmware architecture across the AED's multi-MCU system: main application MCU, dedicated ECG/arrhythmia analysis MCU, and low-power supervisor MCU.
• Lead development of ECG signal acquisition, filtering, and rhythm analysis (shockable/non-shockable detection) firmware.
• Own HV charging control firmware — PWM generation, capacitor voltage monitoring, charge-complete detection, safety interlocks, biphasic waveform sequencing via H-bridge control.
• Define and enforce firmware safety architecture: fault detection, isolation between safety-critical and non-critical functions, watchdogs, self-test routines (weekly automatic self-test, battery/electrode/pad monitoring).
• Own communication protocol design between HV board and main control board (UART), and between subsystems (SPI/I2C for display, touch, SD card).
• Oversee event recording, data logging (ECG + shock events + diagnostics), and firmware update mechanisms.
• Make build-vs-reuse calls on RTOS vs bare-metal, driver abstraction, and platform commonality between i3-equivalent (simpler UI) and i5-equivalent (TFT + touch) variants — reuse of a common firmware core across variants is a design requirement, not optional.

Compliance & Process

• Ensure firmware development lifecycle complies with IEC 62304 (software safety classification, verification, traceability).
• Own firmware-side risk analysis inputs to ISO 14971.
• Maintain requirements traceability from PRD → firmware requirements → test cases → verification records.
• Produce documentation that survives audits and doesn't live only in Slack/head — this is a certification deliverable, not paperwork overhead.

Leadership

• Lead a small firmware team (current + hires): assign work, review code, resolve technical decisions that are blocking the team.
• Run design reviews for firmware architecture and safety-critical modules.
• Interface directly with hardware, systems, and regulatory functions — firmware decisions here have direct certification consequences, so this is not a role that works in isolation.

Requirements

Must-have

• 8+ years embedded firmware development, with at least 4+ years in safety-critical or regulated hardware (medical, automotive, industrial safety).
• Proven experience owning firmware architecture end-to-end (not just feature contribution) — has shipped a product, not just prototyped one.
• Strong C, RTOS or bare-metal real-time firmware on ARM Cortex-M (STM32/GD32 or equivalent).
• Experience with signal acquisition and processing on embedded targets (ADC pipelines, filtering, real-time analysis) — ECG specifically is a strong plus, general biosignal or industrial sensor signal processing is acceptable.
• Experience with multi-MCU or multi-core systems and inter-processor communication (UART/SPI/I2C).
• Demonstrated ability to lead 2+ engineers — code review, technical mentoring, delivery accountability.
• Comfort working under a formal QMS (ISO 13485) and software lifecycle standard (IEC 62304) — even if not previously certified under it, must show the discipline (documentation, traceability, verification-mindset) that these standards require.

Strong plus

• Direct prior experience on an AED, patient monitor, or other Class III/IIb cardiac device.
• Experience with high-voltage switching control firmware (flyback/boost charging, H-bridge control, capacitor charge/discharge safety logic).
• Experience with battery management firmware for primary (non-rechargeable) medical battery chemistries.
• Familiarity with IEC 60601-1 / -1-2 / -2-4 firmware-relevant clauses.
• Experience shipping a product through actual regulatory certification (not just "aware of" the standards).
• Show us what you built and what you owned.

Please share your CV to [email protected] or connect us on Linkedin