Embedded Firmware Engineer - Wireless IoT Sensors

Samsara (NYSE: IOT) is the pioneer of the Connected Operations™ Cloud, enabling physical operations industries—representing over 40% of global GDP—to harness Internet of Things (IoT) data. We build battery-powered wireless sensors, Linux-based IoT gateways, and AI dashcams that power commercial fleets, field services, manufacturing, and logistics worldwide.

As a Firmware Engineer at Samsara, you will write software running on millions of connected devices deployed in mission-critical environments. Operating at the boundary where hardware meets software, you will participate in SoC and sensor selection with electrical engineers, perform first power-on board bring-up from virgin silicon, build low-power bare-metal and RTOS drivers, and structure sensor data for cloud ingestion. You will balance rapid iteration with extreme field reliability—designing secure bootloaders, fail-safe Over-the-Air (OTA) update mechanisms, and power-optimized routines where great firmware extends device battery life by years.

Key Responsibilities

• Hardware Co-Design & Component Selection: Collaborate with electrical engineering teams during schematic reviews to evaluate and select SoCs, RAM/Flash allocations, and sensor packages for production prototypes.
• Virgin Silicon & Board Bring-Up: Lead initial power-on bring-up on unproven prototype boards; configure I/O peripherals (SPI, I2C, UART, BLE, ADC) at the bench using oscilloscopes and logic analyzers.
• Embedded Architecture & RTOS: Develop low-level drivers, power management state machines, and system tasks in C using bare-metal and RTOS (FreeRTOS, Zephyr) environments.
• Low-Power & Battery Optimization: Design power-conscious peripheral routines, sleep modes, and wireless communications to maximize operating life on battery-powered IoT hardware.
• Fleet-Scale DFU & Reliability: Build robust bootloaders, firmware signing pipelines, and Over-the-Air (OTA) update mechanisms that guarantee field recovery and eliminate bricking risks.
• Cross-Layer Collaboration: Work across full-stack, cloud, mobile, and QA engineering teams to ensure sensor observations, diagnostic events, and telematics land reliably in backend services.

Requirements

Embedded Engineering & Systems Depth

• 2+ years of hands-on experience building, testing, and shipping embedded firmware for resource-constrained, commercial hardware products.
• C Language Fluency: Expert proficiency in C with deep understanding of compiler behavior, memory alignment, stack traces, linker maps, and heap profiling.
• Bare-Metal & RTOS Mastery: Practical experience writing multi-threaded embedded software in Zephyr, FreeRTOS, or equivalent RTOS environments using mutexes, semaphores, and interrupt handlers.
• Hardware Bring-Up & Bench Skills: Direct experience bringing up prototype boards at the bench alongside hardware engineers, using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, or RF spectrum analyzers to isolate hardware vs. software defects.
• Low-Level Interface Mastery: Proven experience implementing low-level communications drivers across SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, ADC, and GPIO frameworks.
• Cross-Layer Impact: Track record of designing firmware drivers while understanding how data flows upward through cloud services and end-user applications.

Work Logistics

• Ability to work remotely or hybrid within the United States.

Preferred Qualifications

• Expertise in Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) PHY optimization, connection parameters, and low-power advertising.
• Hands-on experience with Cellular IoT modems (LTE-M, NB-IoT), AT command stacks, and regulatory carrier certifications (FCC, PTCRB).
• Embedded security expertise: secure boot, hardware cryptographic engines, TLS, and factory key provisioning.
• Experience with Embedded Linux (Yocto, Buildroot, kernel drivers, Device Trees) or vehicle bus protocols (CAN bus, J1939).
• Proficiency in Python or Bash for test automation, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing, and manufacturing line validation.

Total Rewards & Benefits

• Compensation & Equity: Annual base salary of $113,645 – $191,000 USD + initial RSU equity grant (no vesting cliff) + ongoing refresh grants.
• Workplace Flexibility: Employee-led flexible remote work model + professional development stipends.
• Comprehensive Healthcare: Top-tier medical, dental, vision, mental health, and parental leave coverage.
• Growth Culture: High-impact engineering environment focused on ownership, rapid career progression, and technical mastery.