Lead Firmware Engineer

The Company

Rocky Talkie launched in late 2019 with its signature product, a backcountry radio made for climbers and skiers. Since then, we have launched multiple best-in-class products and are well-known in the adventure sports industry. We are committed to making easy-to-use and durable radios for use in the backcountry, paired with best-in-class customer service. Rocky Talkie has a rapidly growing base of happy customers in the USA and Canada. Although we initially designed our radio with climbers and skiers in mind, our products have been embraced by a wide variety of outdoor enthusiasts and commercial applications. We have a small, passionate, and highly motivated team with a deep understanding of our products and customers. With more products in the works for 2024, we would love your help in making the next generation of Rocky Talkie products a reality.

At Rocky Talkie, we’re driven by the belief that better communication in the backcountry can save lives. As part of this mission, we donate $2 per radio sold to search and rescue teams around the country, supporting those who help keep outdoor communities safe. Learn more about our company here.

The Role

We are seeking a Lead Firmware Engineer with extensive experience in hardware development and consumer electronics to join our engineering team at Rocky Talkie in San Francisco. You will be the sole firmware engineer at Rocky Talkie for now, owning the firmware stack end-to-end and collaborating closely with our Director of Engineering.

This is an opportunity to take full technical ownership of firmware development for Rocky Talkie radios and accessories, while contributing to an innovative company committed to revolutionizing backcountry communication. We’re bringing our streamlined, rugged, and activity-focused design principles to new products that improve safety in adventure sports and inject fresh thinking into an outdated 2-way radio industry.

This role is most suitable for a passionate and experienced Firmware Engineer who has shipped consumer electronics in high volume (>100ku/yr). Rocky Talkie is growing quickly and we will be actively looking to further expand our engineering team with your help. Opportunity for growth is abundant and excellence is recognized and rewarded.  

At Rocky Talkie, we embrace the fast-paced nature of a start-up environment and are looking for someone with a strong ability to work at multiple stack layers and with different MCUs/SoCs. If you’re passionate about creating life-saving communication tools for outdoor enthusiasts and have a solid background in firmware development for consumer electronics, we want to hear from you!

The role is on-site in San Francisco (our engineering team is typically in the office 5 days a week).

The Responsibilities

• Architect, design, and test firmware running on a variety of platforms from low-power MCUs to mobile SOCs.
• Contribute to hardware architecture via MCU/SoC selection, communication interface requirements, driver implementation, and tooling development.
• Define and implement firmware development, debug, and CI workflow and environment.
• Engage and direct development partners and/or contractors to ensure full system coverage.
• Travel to Asia for key design, bring-up, and NPI build milestones with our development and manufacturing partners.

• Experience working independently where processes and systems are not yet defined.
• 5+ years of experience owning and delivering firmware for consumer electronics that have shipped in high volume (>100ku/yr).
• High level of expertise in C/C++, Python, and firmware build & debug tools.
• Experience in one or more of the following: Bluetooth Classic Audio, LE Audio, Bluetooth Low Energy, Zephyr RTOS, Bootloaders.
• Comfortable using electrical test equipment (power supplies, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, RF communications testers).
• Excellent written & verbal communication skills.
• Experience working at a start-up or small company and the inherence DIY mindset that comes with the enviroment.
• Experience traveling to builds in Asia, and available to travel to Asia 2-3 times a year
• BS or MS in EE, CE, CS, or equivalent.
• Live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and work from the office 5 days a week

Not Required, but Desired

• Experience with RF products outside of BT/WiFi (e.g. VHF/UHF)
• Experience with Nordic, Cypress/Infineon, and/or Qualcomm MCUs/SoCs.
• Experience with CI/CD infrastructure.
• A love of the outdoors and an understanding of why we do what we do

• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
• Sick Leave
• Paid Holidays
• Paid Parental Leave
• 100% Paid Short Term & Long Term Disability