Urban Sky
Embedded Firmware Engineer – HUSKY Bus Platform
Denver, CO · Senior · Contract
No sponsorship$171k-$800kDetected 106 days ago
PythonC++GitCI/CDCybersecurityPCB DesignVHDLVerilogEmbedded SystemsAvionicsSystems EngineeringElectrical EngineeringPower ElectronicsTest AutomationTCP/IPResearchCommunicationCollaboration
About the role
- HUSKY provides integrated power distribution, Ethernet-based communications, and onboard compute for our balloon vehicles and customer payloads.
- This role sits at the intersection of firmware engineering, systems architecture, and product development.
- This is a senior, high-ownership role for an engineer who thrives in a vertically integrated startup where decisions at the firmware layer have direct consequences on flight safety, mission success, and customer outcomes.
Responsibilities
- Serve as the technical product lead for the HUSKY bus platform, owning the firmware architecture and driving iterative development cycles in collaboration with the portfolio manager
- Lead design reviews, architecture decisions, and trade space analyses for new HUSKY revisions
- Manage the transition of validated designs from R&D into the manufacturing pipeline, ensuring design-for-manufacturability and documentation completeness
- Maintain version-controlled firmware baselines and establish robust release processes and configuration management practices
- Manage and develop firmware configuration tools to enable an automated customer interface
- Design, develop, and verify embedded firmware for real-time systems operating in the stratospheric environment, including power management, communication schemas, network architecture, and compute subsystems
- Develop and maintain firmware for low-level hardware interfaces including I2C, SPI, UART, CAN, and Ethernet
- Implement and optimize RTOS-based or bare-metal firmware for microcontrollers and FPGAs as appropriate
- Develop and execute firmware-level unit tests, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test benches, and integration test procedures
Requirements
- Must be a US Citizen or Permanent Resident
- Must be located near Denver, CO
- Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance may be required for certain programs
- Strong understanding of network topology, including Ethernet, TCP/IP, UDP, and serial communications protocols
- Demonstrated experience with systems architecture, requirements development, and interface definition
- Experience with version control (Git), CI/CD pipelines for embedded targets, and configuration management
- familiarity with RMF, CMMC, and ATO processes
- Additional information may be requested so as to determine whether export authorization is required from the Bureau of Industry and Security and/or the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.
- If authorization is required, employment will be contingent upon the Company successfully obtaining such authorization from the relevant government agency.
- 5+ years of embedded firmware engineering experience, with at least 2 years in a lead or senior individual contributor capacity
- Proficiency in C and C++ for embedded targets; Python scripting for test automation and tooling is a plus
- Working knowledge of electrical engineering fundamentals sufficient to read schematics, debug hardware, and drive hardware-firmware co-design
- Excellent technical communication skills; able to produce clear architecture documents, ICDs, and test reports
- Self-directed and capable of managing multiple concurrent workstreams in a fast-paced environment
Nice to have
- Proficiency in C and C++ for embedded targets
- Python scripting for test automation and tooling is a plus
- Nice-to-Haves/Preferred
- Nice-to-Haves/Preferred Skills:
Skills
- Experience with model-based systems engineering (MBSE) tools such as Cameo, MagicDraw, or equivalent
- Experience with cybersecurity controls for networked embedded systems, including NIST SP 800-171 or STIG compliance
- Familiarity with aerospace or high-altitude platform avionics, including stratospheric balloon, UAS, or small satellite systems
- Experience with FPGAs (Xilinx/AMD or Intel/Altera) and HDL development (VHDL or Verilog)
- Background in power electronics firmware, including battery management, solar charging, or DC-DC converter control
- Experience bringing hardware-firmware products from R&D through manufacturing transition
- Startup or small-team engineering experience
Compensation
- Urban Sky is required to post this salary range per Colorado law.
- Your salary will be determined based on your abilities and experience.
- $120,000 - $170,000 USD
Benefits
- Medical, Vision and Dental
- Unlimited Vacation Days
- Parental Leave
- Cell Phone Bill Stipend
Company info
- You will also interface directly with defense customers, supporting integration, network accreditation, and cybersecurity compliance requirements.
Equal opportunity
- equal opportunity employer, and we value diversity.
Visa & Work Authorization
- Must be a US Citizen or Permanent Resident
Apply directly at Urban Sky →Create a free account for alerts like thisView Urban Sky immigration profile
This listing is sourced directly from Urban Sky's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.