Senior Firmware Engineer

Company Description XCath, founded in 2017, is a fast-growing medical robotics company dedicated to advancing endovascular surgery through innovative robotic technologies. The company develops next-generation robotic systems and steerable guidewires to help treat serious conditions such as cerebrovascular disorders. With campuses in Houston, Texas—home to the world's largest medical center—and Pangyo, South Korea, a leading technology hub, XCath is driving innovation in minimally invasive robotic surgery.

The XCath endovascular robotic system is currently under development and has not yet received regulatory clearance for commercial distribution in any country, offering team members a unique opportunity to contribute to groundbreaking medical technology at an early stage of product development.

Role Description The Senior Firmware Engineer is a full-time, on-site position based in Seoul. This role is responsible for developing embedded firmware and robot control software for advanced medical robotic systems in compliance with medical device development processes, quality standards, and regulatory requirements. The engineer will collaborate closely with world-class physicians and cross-functional engineering teams to develop innovative robotic technologies that improve patient outcomes and advance the future of minimally invasive surgery.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain embedded firmware for ARM-based medical robotic systems.
• Develop and optimize firmware for basic peripherals including I2C, SPI, CAN, GPIO, UART, and PWM.
• Design and implement motor control algorithms for BLDC, DC, and Stepper motors.
• Develop Secure Boot functionality and implement secure firmware architecture.
• Configure and maintain communication protocols, including encryption, authentication, and data integrity mechanisms.
• Design and integrate sensor interfaces and signal processing functions.
• Develop and maintain OTA (Over-the-Air) firmware update mechanisms.
• Design and implement I/O diagnostic and self-test functions for system reliability.
• Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, and software engineering teams to integrate firmware with hardware.
• Perform low-level debugging, troubleshoot complex system issues, and support verification, validation, and regulatory compliance activities.
• Participate in design reviews and document technical decisions throughout the product development lifecycle.

Mandatory Qualifications

• Bare-metal firmware development experience (Arduino-only experience excluded)
• 32-bit MCU firmware development experience (ST, Renesas, NXP, etc.)
• Direct design of motor driver control logic (excluding DC motor only)
• Multi-motor motion control development experience
• Mass production experience (1,000+ units)
• Currently engaged in hands-on firmware development (not primarily a management role)

Preferred Qualifications

• Encoder protocols (BiSS, EnDat)
• CAN / CANopen / Ethernet communication
• Bootloader / Secure Boot / Secure Memory / Encryption
• Diagnostics algorithms, system logging, real-time monitoring
• Test jig design, functional test framework, monitoring tools
• RTOS, LCD, Open Source / 3rd Party Porting
• Experience with medical device software development, software validation, and risk management in accordance with IEC 62304 and ISO 14971.
• Experience with Git/SVN version control systems and AI-assisted software development tools