Embedded Software Engineer - SoM

Full Job Description

About Us

Harmattan AI is a next-generation defense prime building autonomous and scalable defense systems. Following the close of a $200M Series B, valuing the company at $1.4 billion, we are expanding our teams and capabilities to deliver mission-critical systems to allied forces.

Our work is guided by clear values: building technologies with real-world impact, pursuing excellence in everything we do, setting ambitious goals, and taking on the hardest technical challenges. We operate in a demanding environment where rigor, ownership, and execution are expected.

ABOUT THE ROLE

As an Embedded Software Engineer at Harmattan AI, you will join the R&D team to own the embedded software stack on the compute modules used across our platforms. You will take a new module from bare board to a maintained, securely booting Linux platform, covering the boot chain, kernel, drivers, and the verification around them. This is a high impact role that combines deep Linux and kernel work with hands on bring up on new hardware, taking a board from first power up through to flight.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• BSP and Reference Images: Build and maintain the BSP layer, device trees, and the reference images for each board, including custom layers and SDK generation, and carry them forward across kernel upgrades and silicon revisions.

• Boot Chain and Secure Boot: Own the boot chain, including bootloader porting, signed boot, verified rootfs, and A/B system update.

• Drivers and Low Level Interfaces: Develop and validate Linux device drivers across I2C, SPI, UART, GPIO, PCIe, and MIPI, including camera and sensor interfaces.

• Board Support on MCU Targets: Provide startup, clock, and peripheral support on the microcontrollers of boards the team designs.

• Board Bring Up and Hardware Validation: Lead software bring up on new hardware, take part in design reviews, and debug system level issues across the hardware and software boundary.

• Verification and Documentation: Define verification test plans and acceptance criteria, automate boot and peripheral test on real targets, and document each milestone.

• Cross Functional Collaboration: Work with the hardware team on new boards, and with Systems and Embedded Software Platform on interfaces and integration.

• Mentorship: Depending on seniority, mentor junior embedded engineers.

CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS

• Educational Background: MSc in engineering (electrical, computer, or a related field). PhD a plus. A hands on bring up record matters more than the specific degree.

• Experience: 5 years minimum in embedded software, with BSPs owned through their lifecycle and kept reproducible as the hardware evolved.

• Build Systems: Strong command of an embedded Linux build system such as Yocto or OpenEmbedded, across custom layers or packages, BSP integration, image build, and SDK generation. Experience with in house or non standard build systems is an advantage.

• Technical Expertise: Kernel space driver development on ARM targets, validated against real peripherals across I2C, SPI, UART, GPIO, PCIe, and MIPI. Device tree work on new boards and hardware revisions. Board bring up from first power up to a booting Linux image.

• Boot and Update: Bootloader porting, kernel configuration, signed boot, and firmware update mechanisms on production hardware, with security conscious and deterministic engineering practice throughout.

• Programming: Strong C and C++, including kernel space coding, and strong Python scripting skills, with solid version control practice (Git).

• Debugging Expertise: Able to isolate whether a fault sits in the driver, the kernel configuration, or the board, using GDB, JTAG, OpenOCD, kernel tracing, ftrace, and perf.

• Professional Attributes: Rigorous, structured, and systematic, able to work autonomously, unfazed by a board that will not boot. Excellent communication and documentation skills, able to present platform and test results to engineers and senior stakeholders.

• Additional Skills: Bare metal or RTOS firmware on microcontroller targets, experience enabling hardware accelerators on embedded SoCs including VPU and NPU drivers and runtimes, familiarity with the perception or control workloads that run on the module, and UAS, drone, or defense experience are strong advantages.

• Commitment: 100% dedication to Harmattan AI's mission, vision, and ambitious growth plans, ready to go the extra mile to ensure operational excellence. Thrives in a fast paced environment where priorities shift and no task is too small.

We look forward to hearing how you can help shape the future of autonomous defense systems at Harmattan AI.

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