Senior Embedded Firmware Engineer – Laser Systems

Senior Embedded Firmware Engineer Laser Systems / Scientific Instrumentation

Location: Greater Baltimore MD (4 days on-site / 1 day WFH; relocation available)
Compensation: Up to $140K base salary with flexibility for an exceptional fit bonus
Benefits: Health Dental Vision Life Insurance 401K company-wide success share (bonus) program strong annual merit review structure
Contact: Andrew Millar; ;

Iris Scientific is a specialist recruitment agency focused on technical and commercial roles within the North American scientific instrumentation sector.

Were partnering with a global leader in photonics and laser instrumentation (confidential) to hire a Senior Embedded Firmware Engineer for their laser systems R&D group near Baltimore MD.

The Opportunity

This is a firmware-first role at the heart of a growing laser systems business unit. Youll own the embedded software for a portfolio of fiber laser systems and laser instrumentation bare-metal and RTOS firmware running on the microcontrollers that control real photonics hardware.

The software/firmware group is the newest discipline within the unit alongside well-established mechanical electrical and laser engineering teams. Youll step into the senior seat with one junior engineer reporting to you and a clear path to lead and grow the group as the product line expands.

This is lab-bench engineering not remote code delivery. Youll flash your own boards probe them with a scope and work out whether the bug lives in your firmware or in the hardware.

What Youll Be Doing

• Design and develop bare-metal and RTOS firmware for microcontroller-based laser systems
• Bring up new boards in the lab: flash probe debug and validate firmware against real hardware
• Work directly with electrical and laser engineers reading schematics chasing signals resolving hardware/firmware interactions
• Own firmware architecture across multiple concurrent product programs
• Mentor a junior software engineer and shape the groups engineering practices (version control documentation release management)
• Support products through NPI into production including test and manufacturing support
• Contribute to GUI/application software as needed (support available this is not the core of the role)

Why This Role Is Different

• Firmware is the job not a side duty. The hiring manager is explicit: firmware depth is the requirement; GUI and application-layer skills are secondary and supported by others.
• A group to build. Senior seat in the newest engineering discipline of the unit with a realistic path to engineering leadership as the team grows at whatever pace suits you. Candidates who want to stay purely technical are equally welcome.
• Open commercial R&D. You can publish attend conferences and talk about your work a genuine contrast to much of the embedded work in the Baltimore/DC corridor.
• Variety. System-level laser products and accessories moving through the group continuously not one program for five years.
• Mentorship-first management. One junior direct report. Prior management experience is not required and the surrounding structure handles the formal HR side while you grow into leadership if thats a direction you want.

What You Bring

• BS in Electrical Engineering Computer Engineering or Computer Science (MS a plus)
• 5 years of hands-on firmware development experience

Core Experience (What Really Matters)

• Bare-metal and RTOS firmware development in C/C for microcontroller-based instruments
• Genuine hardware fluency you can look at a schematic and understand what the circuit is doing
• Lab-bench debugging with oscilloscopes logic analyzers and multimeters comfortable probing real boards not just simulating
• Firmware for instruments and systems: scientific industrial medical or semiconductor equipment
• Sound software engineering practice: version control documentation structured releases

Technical Environment

• STM32-class microcontrollers FreeRTOS
• C/C (modern C a plus) Python for test and automation
• Git Azure DevOps
• Lab bench: oscilloscopes logic analyzers standard EE debug tooling
• Altium schematics (reading fluency you wont be doing layout)
• Linux configuration and scripting

Nice to Have

• GUI development with C# and/or Qt C (genuinely optional the team covers this)
• Analog/digital electronics depth beyond schematic reading
• Experience mentoring or supervising junior engineers
• Prior work on laser systems photonics or precision instrumentation

The Right Background

The strongest candidates are firmware engineers who grew up close to the hardware often with an EE or CE foundation. Youve owned the firmware for real instruments debugged at the bench with a scope in hand and worked shoulder-to-shoulder with the electrical engineers who designed the boards. Pure application-software developers whove dabbled in embedded are unlikely to be the fit; hardware-fluent firmware specialists are exactly it.

Other Requirements

• Must be authorized to work in the US without current or future employer sponsorship
• On-site in Baltimore area facility 4 days/week (1 day WFH with informal flexibility)
• Local candidates preferred; relocation support available for the right person

Process Note

Full company details will be shared prior to formal submission. First interview is a focused technical conversation with the firmware team your skills get assessed early and the process moves quickly from there.

Required Experience:

Senior IC