Embedded Linux Software Team Lead
Job Location:
Job Location:
San Diego, CA - USA
Monthly Salary:
$ 140000 - 180000
Monthly Salary:
Posted on:
Yesterday
Posted on:
Vacancies:
1 Vacancy
Vacancies:
Department:
Job Summary
Who We Are
At Firestorm we are building the future of expeditionary defense manufacturing and autonomous systems. Modern conflict has exposed a fundamental problem: the systems needed most by operators are often too expensive too slow to produce and too difficult to sustain at scale. Firestorm exists to change that.
We develop mission-adaptable aerial systems and deployable manufacturing infrastructure designed to put capability directly into the hands of the warfighter. From modular unmanned aircraft to xCell our deployable microfactory our goal is to make defense systems rapidly deployable adaptable and producible at the point of need.
We are looking for builders operators and problem-solvers who want to work on meaningful technology with real-world impact.
About the Role
Firestorm isseeking an Embedded Linux Software Team Lead to join our report to the Flight Systems Software Lead and work closely with the autonomy avionics and applications software teams to build robust secure applications that power real defense will also interface with mechanical and electrical engineering teams in the product design phase to ensure software time will be split between management and being an individual contributor.
This is a high-impact hands-on engineering leadership role focused on designing and delivering Linux based applications for media radio communications SDK and other Linux system oversee and personally contribute to the development of C/C system services and implement REST based and other APIs to interface with these help ensure interoperability with industry and defense standards while upholding security and performance requirements.
What Youll Do
- Team management facilitating standup meetings scrummaster task prioritization and scheduling and architecture and design review
- Work across engineering disciplines to ensure software compatibility and capability with product design and requirements
- Design and implement Linux core daemons in modern C.
- Define clean versioned REST APIs (SemVer deprecation strategy) and deliver software application packages installers and artifacts across Linux Windows and Android (e.g. deb/AppImage MSI/MSIX AAR/APK add-ons).
- Own the developer experience: samples quickstarts idiomatic wrappers error models logging/telemetry hooks and clear documentation that make integration fast and intuitive.
- Engineer for real-time and mission-critical use: deterministic behavior back-pressure zero-copy paths bounded latencies and graceful degradation on CPU/GPU-constrained hardware.
- Harden security by default: memory-safe patterns least-privilege design secure transport (OpenSSL/libsodium) key/material handling and supply-chain integrity for third-party deps.
- Build reliability into CI/CD: cross-platform builds (CMake Conan/vcpkg) automated unit/integration tests (Catch2/GoogleTest pytest JUnit NUnit) fuzzing sanitizers codegen validation.
- Collaborate across teams and with partners to gather requirements refine APIs and support field integrations; contribute to platform-wide architecture and roadmap discussions.
- Contribute to operability: diagnostics tracing metrics compatibility matrices and upgrade playbooks for customers in the field.
Minimum Qualifications
- U.S. Citizenship and the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance.
- Bachelors in Computer Science Computer Engineering or related field.
- 5 years of experience in embedded systems and Linux development in modern C/C.
- 2 years of experience leading a team with people management.
- Proven experience creating and maintaining Linux daemons with systemd integration.
- Strong integration background with real-time or mission-critical systems (5 years) including async/event-driven networking (TCP/UDP REST WebSockets DDS/gRPC/ZeroMQ).
- Familiarity with industry/defense protocols and standards (e.g. RAS-A MAVLink STANAG 4586 OMS/UCI Link 16) and data serialization (Protobuf/FlatBuffers).
- Expertise in secure coding and dependency hygiene (OpenSSL libsodium memory safety fuzzing sanitizers).
- Cross-platform build and packaging: CMake Conan/vcpkg; Linux (deb/rpm/AppImage systemd) Windows (MSVC/MinGW windeploy/MSI/MSIX) Android (Gradle/JNI/APK signing).
- Excellent problem-solving and communication skills; comfortable driving features end-to-end (requirements design implementation testing release).
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience troubleshooting hardware bringup and the use of oscilloscopes logic analyzers etc.
- Experience with the Linux kernel and drivers building and deployment thereof
- Experience with ROS 2 (rclcpp/DDS) gRPC ZeroMQ and protocol gateways/bridges.
- Knowledge of telemetry pipelines and observability for SDKs (structured logs metrics distributed tracing).
- Experience in embedded/Linux environments (Yocto/Buildroot cross-compilation OTA updates) and constrained targets.
- Performance tuning and profiling across languages (perf VTune Valgrind sanitizers) and build/toolchain optimization.
- Experience developing to MIL-STD/DO-178C or similar safety/security standards.
- Track record of mentoring peers conducting code reviews and enforcing modern C/API best practices.
Work Environment
- This role is preferred to be on-site in San Diego but hybrid candidates may be considered.
- We welcome candidates who are local or open to relocating; relocation assistance is available and may be included in the offer package where appropriate.
- Willingness to travel up to 15% domestically for testing and demonstrations
This position typically operates in a standard office setting and manufacturing environment. This role requires use of standard office equipment and the physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Ability to sit stand bend reach and move about regularly throughout the day. Must have manual dexterity to operate standard office equipment.
Compensation
US Salary Range: $140000 - $180000 USD
The posted salary range reflects an estimate based on a variety of compensation factors including but not limited to relevant experience education certifications specialized skills geographic location and business needs. Actual compensation may vary and this range is subject to change as our compensation structure or market conditions evolve.
Benefits & Perks
Our culture fosters collaboration respect and trust empowering passionate people to do their best work. We offer a competitive salary comprehensive benefits and opportunities for career addition to an opportunity to take part in an innovative collaborative and fast-growing business with a highly motivated and skilled team we also take pride in taking care of our employees. Here are just a few ways that we show our appreciation:
- We offer comprehensive medical dental and vision plans
- 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan to invest in your long-term retirement goals
- Equity grants for new hires
- Unlimited PTO
- Extremely generous company holiday calendar including a holiday hiatus in November & December
- Generous Parental Leave
- Lifestyle Spending Account
- FSA
- DCFSA
- HSA
- Hospital Indemnity insurance
- Critical Illness insurance
- Accident insurance
- Basic Life/AD&D short-term and long-term disability insurance 100% covered by Firestorm. Plus the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your family.
- Mental Health Resources: We provide free mental health resources 24/7 including therapy and more. Additional work-life services such as free legal and financial support are available to you as well.
Export Control Compliance
To conform to U.S. government export control regulations including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR) you must be a U.S. citizen lawful permanent resident of the U.S. protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3) or otherwise eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State or U.S. Department of Commerce.
Equal Opportunity Statement
Firestorm is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace and upholding equitable hiring practices. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity national origin disability protected veteran status or any other characteristic under federal state or local law including those with a criminal history in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws including the CA Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance. We actively encourage members of recognized minorities women Veterans and those with disabilities to apply and we work to create a welcoming and supportive environment for all applicants throughout the interview process.
Firestorm is committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible work environment. If you require accommodations or assistance during the application process please dont hesitate to reach out to us at so we can provide the support you need.
Required Experience:
Manager
