Principal Firmware Engineer

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Principal Firmware Engineer at Axoft

• Location : Cambridge, MA
• Department : Product Development
• Reports To: Software Lead

Summary

Axoft is building the most advanced infrastructure for implantable brain-machine interfaces. Our mission is to enable long-term stable and ultra-high bandwidth communication with the brain, opening new therapies and treatments against neurological disorders and physical disabilities. We have bridged the gap between electronic and biological materials to create the softest, nanofabricated brain implants in the world.

Position Overview

We are seeking a Principal Embedded Systems Engineer to lead the architecture, development, verification, and lifecycle ownership of safety critical firmware for an implantable device. You will be the technical authority for low-power, resource-constrained embedded software, driving system performance, safety, and reliability from concept through clinical-grade product release. This is a senior integrated circuit engineering role where you’ll set technical direction, mentor peers, and collaborate across hardware, systems, quality, and regulatory.

Key Responsibilities

• Own firmware architecture & implementation.
• Define system interfaces for embedded hardware components (e.g., data storage and transmission).
• Design for safety & reliability.
• Establish and execute on verification strategy.
• System bring‑up & debugging.
• Real‑time data handling.
• Cybersecurity by design.
• Regulatory-grade documentation.
• Cross-functional leadership: collaborate with hardware, systems, clinical, QA/RA to make risk-informed tradeoffs, plan experiments, and unblock program milestones.

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field (PhD preferred).

Experience

• 5+ years of firmware engineering experience, including work on safety-critical or similarly regulated systems (e.g. medical devices, aerospace).
• Proven ability to architect, design, implement, and maintain firmware across the full product lifecycle.
• Experience setting up and maintaining embedded toolchains, build systems, CI, and debugging environments (JTAG/SWD).
• Demonstrated expertise developing compliant firmware aligned with regulatory and quality requirements.
• Familiarity with IEC 62304, ISO 14971, ISO 13485, and design controls supporting FDA and CE submissions.
• Experience with complex SoCs and Applications processors such as Xilinx Zynq, NXP i.MX, or similar heterogeneous platforms.
• Strong track record producing clear, auditable documentation (requirements, design, tests, risk mitigations).
• Technical leadership experience; able to mentor and influence teams without direct line management.

Skills

• Expert proficiency in C/C++ and modern firmware development practices.
• Embedded Linux development experience in C/C++; HDL experience (e.g., Verilog) a plus.
• Strong understanding of real-time systems, concurrency, and resource-constrained design.
• Excellent communication and problem-solving skills; able to drive cross-functional technical decisions.

What we offer

• An opportunity to work with a team of experts on one of the most exciting problems in the world and change lives.
• Career growth opportunities that fit your potential.
• Comprehensive benefits plan including health and dental insurance; parental leave.
• Flexible paid time off.

Axoft’s ideal team members are people who seek fast-paced, evolving work with bright, thoughtful, and dedicated teammates. We seek and embrace challenges, and we are ultimately focused on improving the health and well-being of people. We believe in producing the highest quality work, and we hold ourselves and each other to high standards of integrity, accountability, growth, and trust.

Axoft provides equal opportunity in all our employment practices to all qualified employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital status, military status, genetic information or any other category protected by federal, state and local laws. This policy applies to all aspects of the employment relationship, including recruitment, hiring, compensation, promotion, transfer, disciplinary action, layoff, return from layoff, training and social, and recreational programs. All such employment decisions will be made without unlawfully discriminating on any prohibited basis.