Firmware Engineer

Shift5 is the observability platform for onboard operational technology (OT). We’re a rapidly growing scale-up that specializes in cybersecurity, predictive maintenance, and compliance for operational technology (OT) systems across defense, aerospace, and rail. We are a collaborative, passionate, and driven cadre of dynamic, multidisciplinary experts and we’re focused on helping our customer’s fleets run smarter and safer by accessing and democratizing the volumes of onboard OT data generated by transportation and freight fleets, and defense fleets and weapon systems. Come join us. 

Our Values :

• Embrace Truth and Integrity: Base decisions on data, foster open dialogue, and uphold unwavering integrity.
• User-Centric Focus: Prioritize user needs to guide our actions and resource allocation.
• Collaborative & Adaptable: Collaborate for excellence, learning from failures and driving iterative improvements, recognizing every decision's significance.

Shift5 is seeking a Firmware Engineer to join our growing team. As a firmware engineer, you will be a vital member of our Hardware team, and will be responsible for creating the firmware for our products. You’ll be expected to support our products’ design, development, and production and answer the needs of DoD and commercial customers by unlocking access to new and hidden data streams. Excellent candidates will be able to manage their own work, deliver, and keep an eye on what is needed to make Shift5 successful. If you’re the kind of person who loves learning about new topics, exploring outside of your comfort zone, painting from blank canvas, and working with like-minded individuals, Shift5 could be a fantastic fit for you. 

Responsibilities :

• Handle testing, system performance, environmental, and system troubleshooting.
• Understand the hardware and software interactions.
• Investigate hardware, firmware, and software issues. 
• Support the design and implementation of HDL modules and their integration into a larger system.
• Responsible for deriving HDL designs from mathematic or higher-level software algorithms.
• Document designs, data flows, hardware and software interfaces.
• Understand serial protocols (like MIL-STD-1553, ARINC-429, UART, CAN) through all layers, from the physical layer to the application layer, and support development in encoding and decoding messages.
• Participate in design/code reviews and provide criticism and new ideas during hardware design reviews, system design reviews, and code reviews. 
• Help to maintain Shift5 testing lab.

Skills and Experience :

• Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related field.
• 3+ years of experience designing FPGA modules, preferably in VHDL, and the FPGA development cycle.
• Experience working with FPGA IDE’s: Libero, Vivado, Quartus, or similar.
• Experience designing HDL simulations: ModelSim, GHDL, or similar.
• Familiar with the implementation of DSP techniques such as FIR filters and downsampling.
• Experience constraining FPGA designs for specific hardware deployments.
• Experience with embedded software development: C, C++, Go, or similar
• Comfortable debugging firmware, software, and hardware problems.
• Familiar with oscilloscopes and FPGA internal logic analyzers.
• Comfortable with Linux and Windows, FPGA development will primarily be on Windows and the embedded solutions will be running Linux.
• Familiarity with CAN, MIL-STD-1553, ARINC-429, and other serial protocols is a plus. 
• Experience with scripting: TCL, Bash, Python, etc.
• Experience with Git or similar version control, and CI/CD automations

Compensation & Benefits:  

• Competitive salary and stock options in a fast-growing startup  
• Employer-paid medical, dental and vision coverage 
• Health Savings Account with annual employer contributions 
• 401k with employer contributions 
• Life Insurance 
• Uncapped paid time off policy 
• Flexible work & remote work policy 
• Tax-deferred public transit benefits with Metro SmartBenefits (DC/MD/VA)  

We are committed to building an inclusive culture of belonging that embraces the diversity of our people and represents the communities in which we work and the customers we serve. We know the happiest and highest performing teams include people with diverse perspectives and ways of solving problems. We strive to attract and retain talent from all backgrounds and create workplaces where everyone feels empowered to bring their full, authentic selves to work.   

Shift5 is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identify, national origin, disability, age, marital status, ancestry, projected veteran status, or any other protected group or class.  

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