Engineering Manager, Embedded Linux Platform

Who We Are
At Firestorm, we’re on a mission to revolutionize how defense solutions are designed and delivered. Our goal is to empower U.S. ally nations to effectively deter aggressors — regardless of their defense budget — through innovative, cost-efficient technologies. We call this vision “democratized deterrence.” As a VC-backed company at the intersection of defense and Silicon Valley, we’re pioneering the development of mission-adaptable aerial vehicles that put power back into the hands of operators. By prioritizing operator effectiveness, we’re pioneering a new era of aerial vehicle design. We aim to upend the traditional defense procurement model by delivering world-class capabilities at a fraction of the usual cost. Join us at Firestorm as we redefine defense procurement, making cutting-edge technology accessible to all at a fraction of the cost. About the Role Firestorm Labs is seeking an experienced and driven Engineering Manager, Embedded Linux Platform to lead the development, integration, and deployment of embedded Linux platform software for our next-generation unmanned aerial systems (UAS). This role combines deep technical ownership with people leadership, requiring a strong background in embedded Linux, BSP and kernel development, system software, and cross-domain platform integration across hardware, avionics, multimedia, networking, and RF environments.
In this role, you will lead and mentor engineers responsible for the embedded Linux platform as well as adjacent systems software domains including multimedia and camera systems, and network and communications software. You will work closely with hardware, avionics, autonomy, flight test, manufacturing, and program teams to ensure platform capabilities are robust, secure, high performance, and mission ready. The ideal candidate is a hands-on technical leader who is detail-oriented, execution-focused, and comfortable operating in a fast-paced environment where rapid iteration, integration, and field validation are core to success.
What You'll Do

• Lead and grow a multidisciplinary software team spanning embedded Linux platform, BSP and OS bring-up, multimedia and camera systems, and network and communications software for mission-critical UAS platforms
• Manage, mentor, and develop engineers across platform and systems software disciplines, including performance management, coaching, hiring, career development, and technical leadership
• Own technical execution, team priorities, staffing alignment, and delivery for embedded Linux platform roadmap items across IRAD, product development, integration, deployment, and field support activities
• Guide Linux platform development for Ubuntu- and Debian-based embedded systems, including kernel configuration, PREEMPT_RT tuning, BSP customization, device tree development, bootloader integration, and low-level hardware bring-up
• Provide technical leadership for platform enablement on NVIDIA Jetson and similar embedded compute platforms, including JetPack adaptation, driver integration, GPU-accelerated application support, and system optimization for real-time autonomous workloads
• Oversee the design and maintenance of Linux services, middleware, APIs, and application frameworks that interface with avionics, payloads, cameras, radios, storage, and mission software
• Drive system-level integration of embedded Linux software with avionics subsystems, multimedia pipelines, network stacks, radios, satellite links, and distributed mission applications
• Support the development and optimization of multimedia and camera system software, including streaming, encoding, decoding, storage, metadata handling, and control interfaces for camera and gimbal systems
• Support the development of network and communications software for tactical radios, satellite systems, datalinks, embedded network services, and distributed microservice-based architectures
• Establish and enforce engineering best practices for code quality, architecture, security, CI/CD, containerization, packaging, OTA updates, observability, testing, and documentation
• Lead technical trade studies, design reviews, architecture reviews, root-cause investigations, and integration planning across platform, multimedia, networking, and hardware/software boundary layers
• Oversee the creation and maintenance of custom Linux packages, package repositories, container images, deployment tooling, and fail-safe OTA update strategies with rollback capabilities
• Guide performance analysis and optimization efforts using tools such as perf, ftrace, strace, and other profiling/debugging tooling to meet low-latency, high-throughput, and real-time system goals
• Translate mission and operational requirements into technical specifications, integration plans, team objectives, and execu