Sr. Embedded Software Engineer

Engineering · Full-time · Kent, United States

Job description

Who We Are:

PowerLight was co-founded by our CTO, Tom Nugent, and Dr. Jordin T. Kare to change how the world distributes power. Out team has set numerous world records for beaming power over light, and won two NASA project awards. We are the first to develop a viable technology platform that demonstrates the safe long-distance delivery of electric power, and we’re now developing products to meet the Kilowatts over Kilometers® needs of multiple industries looking beyond 19th century copper wire solutions.

At PowerLight Technologies, we look for people who have three distinct characteristics: they are humble, hungry, and smart (not just in their area of expertise, but in common sense about people). All of these attributes are exhibited by the most successful members of our team, wrapped in real niceness and regard for others.

We value academic chops (especially for this position), people who are unfazed by equations, analysis, technical papers, and mastering something completely new. Our culture is one of urgency, accountability, and teamwork, with a healthy sense of fun and a passion for science. We show up prepared, engage in healthy debate, embrace deadlines, and make sure that our workplace feels energizing.

We hire hands-on tinkerers who love to make things work, and we give them a fantastic lab in which to explore ideas. In some cases, our technical contributors have previously invented products and have even launched their own successful companies. Successful team members are undeterred by extremely challenging, first-of-their-kind problems to solve. They experiment, fail-and-learn quickly, and lock in the mastery of their explorations.

We hire professionals who know their craft: those that can design boards, assemblies, optical chains, code and processes with an eye toward successful, field-ready, nicely documented products and systems.

PowerLight is building laser power beaming solutions to transform the way energy is delivered. From the depths of the ocean to craters on the moon, our team of applied scientists, engineers, and technicians are bringing science fiction to reality.

A career here means you will interact with the world's leading experts in laser power beaming. Join our team – bring your skills, experiences, and determination – to help us “make a dent in the universe.” Together we'll revolutionize energy distribution.

Power Beaming Video
Power Over Fiber Video

Job Description:

This senior Embedded Software engineering role requires a hands-on engineer who enjoys developing high-performance embedded systems for advanced aerospace and telecom applications. The successful candidate will develop code on various hardware platforms such as FPGA, Raspberry Pi, Arduino, etc., for free space laser power transfer systems and power-over-fiber solutions. In this role, you will collaborate closely with a cross functional team of optical, electrical, and mechanical engineers to develop and test our laser energy transmitter and receiver subsystems. We are looking for a strong background in the development of real-time systems data acquisition and control. This is a unique opportunity for a skilled software professional and thought leader to work in the emerging field of free-space laser power transfer systems.

What You'll Do:

Select appropriate HW/SW platforms and architectures to achieve real-time data acquisition and control of complex systems including beam tracking, power management, and safety interlocks.
Develop embedded code to perform system telemetry and control for these complex systems in real-time (< milliseconds).
Develop assorted software for a variety of subsystem test stands.
Develop database and post processing software to support system troubleshooting, development and analysis.
Be able and willing to build or adapt new software development environments as needed.
Create graphical user interfaces for real time system telemetry and control panels.
Maintain high quality documentation of code base and architectures.
Help to build our software engineering team and our software products and strategies as we grow.
Because collaboration with all personnel is such an important part of this position, on-site work at least three days per week is required.

Experience and Abilities:

Demonstrated self-starter for all things software.
Hands-on experience coding and testing prototype systems.
Ability to plan projects, be accountable for deliverables & schedules, and lead others.
Strong sense of accountability and curiosity.
Experience with relevant computer programming languages such as C/C++, Python, other
5+ years designing real-time embedded software applications (audio, video, control, etc.)
Linux, RTOS's and NO OS.
FPGA (Xilinx in particular) development experience.
Bachelor's degree in software engineering, data science or related field.
Humble, hungry and curious.

Preferred Skills and Experiences:

Embedded microcontrollers firmware & IDE experience (PIC, PSoC, AVR, etc.)
Experience designing IoT systems.
Power quality characterization/compensation experience.
Experience with comms, especially ethernet & USB.
UI development experience.
Data analytics experience.
Experience with AI applications.
Experience with GIT revision control.
Start-up experience a plus.

Physical Requirements:

Prolonged periods sitting or standing at a desk and working on a computer.
Must be able to occasionally lift up to 5 pounds (e.g. computer, printer paper).
Repeating motions that may include the wrists, hands and/or fingers using a computer, keyboard, mouse, writing.

Benefits