Senior Embedded Firmware Engineer

About SandboxAQ

SandboxAQ is a high-growth company delivering AI solutions that address some of the world's greatest challenges. The company’s Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) power advances in life sciences, financial services, navigation, cybersecurity, and other sectors.

We are a global team that is tech-focused and includes experts in AI, chemistry, cybersecurity, physics, mathematics, medicine, engineering, and other specialties. The company emerged from Alphabet Inc. as an independent, growth capital-backed company in 2022, funded by leading investors and supported by a braintrust of industry leaders. 

At SandboxAQ, we’ve cultivated an environment that encourages creativity, collaboration, and impact. By investing deeply in our people, we’re building a thriving, global workforce poised to tackle the world's epic challenges. Join us to advance your career in pursuit of an inspiring mission, in a community of like-minded people who value entrepreneurialism, ownership, and transformative impact. 

About the Role

As a Senior Embedded Firmware Engineer at AQNav, you will be at the forefront of designing and implementing embedded software solutions for our next-generation quantum sensing and navigation systems. In this role, you will collaborate closely with R&D teams to rapidly prototype, validate, and refine sophisticated sensor architectures, with a strong emphasis on embedded firmware and software-driven methodologies. You will be responsible for building robust, maintainable codebases that underpin our cutting-edge hardware platforms, ensuring reliable performance in diverse, often mission-critical environments.

Hardware Bring-up & Integration

• Support hardware bring-up activities, including low-level board and SoC development, BIOS development, and interfacing with new hardware components.
• Collaborate with hardware and electrical teams to design and validate system-level functionality, ensuring firmware-hardware interoperability.
• Ensure designs account for resource constraints (memory, power, performance) while adhering to compliance and certification requirements.

Firmware Design & Development

• Architect and implement embedded firmware for new system features, focusing on performance, scalability, and robustness.
• Write, enhance, and debug real-time firmware, ensuring tight integration with underlying hardware.
• Participate in API development, firmware reviews, and documentation to promote best practices in coding and architectural decisions.

Safety-Critical Firmware Development

• Familiarity with key aviation standards and regulations (e.g., DO-178C, DO-254) and military standards (e.g., MIL-STD-2167A, MIL-STD-882).
• Hands-on development using RTOS platforms such as SafeRTOS, VxWorks, or similar safety-certified real-time operating systems.

About You

• 6+ years of experience in embedded firmware development, with a track record of bringing hardware prototypes to production-ready systems.
• Strong skills with low-level debugging, board bring-up, BIOS support, and embedded microprocessor toolchains.
• Ability to architect and document embedded systems, including firmware design specifications, hardware interfaces (SPI, I2C, UART, etc.), and performance trade-offs.
• Experience with test automation, CI/CD pipelines, and collaborative development tools.
• Holds a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.

Job Requirements

• U.S. Citizenship is required due to USG contract requirements.
• Must be able to obtain and hold a U.S. Secret security clearance.
• You’re willing and able to work from our Palo Alto location 50% of the time (hybrid).
• Proficient in high- and low-level programming (e.g. Python, Julia, C, C++, Rust, MatLab, etc.).
• Proficient in software development methodologies and best practices (e.g., Agile practices, CI/CD, test-driven development.)
• Hands-on experience with real-time systems, embedded microprocessor tools, and advanced debugging techniques.

Nice to Haves: 

• Background in aerospace, automotive or other safety-critical industries.
• Familiarity with Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) concepts and sensor fusion algorithms.

The US base salary range for this full-time position is expected to be $154k-$256k per year. Our salary ranges are determined by role and level. Within the range, individual pa