Robotics Firmware Engineer

Zenblen is looking for a curious and passionate Robotics Firmware Engineer to join our team full-time.

In this role, you will develop and test the embedded firmware that controls our robotic smoothie kiosks. You will work on real machines that combine motors, sensors, actuators, safety systems, and electrical hardware operating in the field. Your focus will be writing reliable firmware, validating system behavior through testing, and supporting electrical bring-up and integration.

You will collaborate closely with mechanical, software, and manufacturing teams to ensure our systems are robust, safe, and maintainable as we scale production.

Firmware Development

• Develop and maintain embedded firmware for robotic subsystems including motors, sensors, actuators, and safety devices
• Implement state machines, fault handling, and recovery logic for real-world operation
• Write production-ready firmware with diagnostics, logging, and structured error reporting
• Support firmware updates and configuration changes across deployed machines

Testing and Validation

• Develop and execute firmware test plans during board bring-up, system integration, and field validation
• Build test hooks, debug tools, and instrumentation to validate system behavior
• Support root cause analysis of field issues through logs, testing, and hardware interaction
• Participate in reliability testing and iterative improvement cycles

Electrical Support and Integration

• Support electrical bring-up and debugging in collaboration with internal and external electrical engineers
• Review schematics and PCB designs with a firmware and testability perspective
• Assist with defining production test firmware and manufacturing validation procedures

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with mechanical engineers to understand system behavior, constraints, and failure modes
• Partner with software engineers to align firmware behavior with cloud systems and dashboards
• Collaborate with manufacturing to support production testing, calibration, and revision changes
  

• Not a controls theory or simulation-focused role
• Not a purely software or cloud position
• Not a large-team, highly siloed environment

This role is hands-on, hardware-forward, and focused on making real robotic systems work reliably in the field.

• Someone who takes ownership and follows problems through to resolution
• Strong debugging instincts and comfort working with real hardware
• Clear communication and structured thinking
• Comfort working in a fast-paced startup environment with evolving requirements
• Interest in robotics, physical systems, and real-world engineering problems
  

• 2 to 5 years of experience in embedded firmware development
• Proficiency in C or C++ for embedded systems
• Experience working with microcontrollers such as STM32 or similar platforms
• Familiarity with RTOS concepts or bare-metal firmware development
• Hands-on experience debugging hardware using tools like oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, or JTAG
• Exposure to electro-mechanical systems involving motors, sensors, and actuators
• Experience with firmware testing, diagnostics, or production support is a strong plus
• Ability to work on-site in Chicago
  

This is an opportunity to work on real robotic systems that operate in public spaces and interact directly with customers. You will see the immediate impact of your work on deployed machines, contribute across firmware, testing, and system integration, and grow alongside an experienced multidisciplinary engineering team in a close-knit startup environment.

About Zenblen:

Zenblen offers freshly blended smoothies via a robotic smoothie bar. Our smoothie kiosk dispenses and blends ingredients right in front of the consumer, fresh to order.

We are a fast-paced, high-momentum startup that graduated from Chicago Booth’s New Venture Challenge, one of the top-ranked accelerators in the nation. Our company has also been featured in the Chicago Venture Summit as a leading innovator in the food tech space. We are proud to have brought on expert investors and world-class advisors to join us on this journey.

Our mission is to make healthy eating more accessible for everyone. We believe how someone fuels their body has a tremendous impact on all aspects of their life and therefore democratizing nutritionist curated smoothies will positively impact countless people across the globe. Just like how Starbucks forever changed coffee culture, we look to revolutionize how the world experiences smoothies!

About our culture:

The beauty of an early stage startup is that every member of the team has an imprint on the culture. We take pride in empowering each member on our team with a high level of ownership and the ability to run with their ideas. The speed at which our team executes and the organization grows makes it a haven for those looking for opportunities to accelerate their own career trajectory.

We invest in the growth of our team and encourage each member to explore personally meaningful pursuits. Do you want to spearhead campus engagement and recruiting at your alma mater? How about engaging in meetups supporting diversity in the Chicago tech ecosystem? Or championing health & wellness at local events to share the benefits of smoothies? If we have the resources, Zenblen will throw its support behind you each step of the way!

Most importantly, we promise an environment of highly motivated individuals who are aligned on our team's mission and who will run through walls on each other's behalf. We are all motivated to do the best we can and produce the highest achieving results possible, while also taking the time to truly get to know each other and laugh with one another. We hold ourselves to high expectations, but know the importance of slowing down to enjoy the happy moments of being a close-knit team who love to drink smoothies together!