Firmware Engineer
WindBorne Systems is supercharging weather models with a unique proprietary data source: constellations of next-generation smart weather balloons targeting the most critical atmospheric data. We then combine that unique data source with the world’s most accurate AI weather models. Our long-term vision is to eliminate weather uncertainty, and in the process help humanity adapt to climate change, be that predicting hurricanes or speeding the adoption of renewables. The founding team of Stanford engineers was named Forbes 2019 30 under 30 and is backed by top investors including Khosla Ventures.
WindBorne is looking for a Firmware Engineer to work on our firmware that flies on thousands of balloons around the globe. You will be getting your hands dirty in the lowest levels of software, creating extremely efficient and fault tolerant sensor and communications solutions to maximize the value of our constellation. As a key player in expanding the world's largest atmospheric sensing network and the world's highest accuracy AI weather predictions, you'll contribute to groundbreaking work that has far-reaching implications.
We're dedicated to both mitigating climate change and helping humanity adapt to its effects as fast as possible, and you can be a part of our mission to make this global societal impact. If you like the idea of working on cutting edge technology, and working with a fast moving team, WindBorne is the place for you.
Responsibilities
You will write and maintain software at the lowest levels of our software stack that provides the interface between hardware and software.
You will write drivers for new chips, and potentially write code for FPGA’s that we may embed into parts of the platform.
You will work closely with people doing R&D on novel sensing methods as we seek to improve accuracy of our meteorological measurements with novel techniques.
We have a custom RTOS hardware abstraction layer for the main family of MCU’s that we use, called AMSLAH, written by a cofounder that badly needs love and new features, so you will become the new owner of this code.
Skills and Qualifications
Years of professional experience configuring, shipping, and maintaining hardware in a real-world setting.
Must be excited by rapid iteration more than trying to perfectly plan ahead of time
You must be fluent in C/C++.
You should have experience writing low-level drivers for a number of various chips.
You should be familiar with all the common communication protocols like SPI, UART, I2C, etc.
You don’t necessarily need to be an expert in HDL, but you should have at least written some in your life so far for a decently complex project.
You must be fluent in Python, though ideally you ever so slightly look down on software engineers who only write interpreted languages, but maybe you wouldn’t admit this because you are too nice.
You should be comfortable reading PCB schematics, and it would be cool if you’ve done a bit of EE yourself and have held a soldering iron before.
Must be an effective communicator, adept at conveying complex technical ideas in accessible terms to stakeholders at all levels.
Must excel in a collaborative environment, fluidly designing solutions that minimize tradeoffs and interface cleanly with other team’s systems.
Must be comfortable being scrappy and architecting solutions in a rapidly evolving, undefined problem space.
Benefits
- 401(k)
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Vision insurance
- Unlimited PTO
- Stock Option Plan
- Office food and beverages
Location
Address: 858 San Antonio Rd, Palo Alto, CA.
In person strongly preferred.
What our hardware looks like
