Senior Full-Stack Hardware & Firmware Developer

About Wattr.ai

Wattr.ai is a CleanTech innovator on a mission to reimagine global access to water and energy. We develop breakthrough AI-driven systems that address infrastructure inefficiencies at a systemic level, ensuring reliable and sustainable resources for generations to come. Recognized by global institutions like The World Bank and UNICEF, Wattr.ai bridges the gap between high-end digital intelligence and real-world, on-ground impact. Join us as we build the future of climate-resilient infrastructure.

About the Role

We are looking for an exceptional Senior Full-Stack Hardware & Firmware Developer who will own the entire product development lifecycle — from napkin sketch to production-ready hardware shipped at scale.

You will bridge the gap between hardware design, embedded firmware, and software integration — wearing multiple hats while maintaining deep technical excellence in each domain.

This is a high-ownership, high-impact role for someone who thrives on complexity and loves shipping real products.

What You'll Own

▸   PCB schematic & layout design

▸   Embedded firmware (bare-metal & RTOS)

▸   IoT architecture & sensor integration

▸   Hardware-software integration layer

▸   Bring-up, validation & DVT

▸   DFM reviews & production ramp

▸   Post-production debugging & support

Key Responsibilities

Hardware Design & Engineering

▸   Own the full PCB development flow: schematic capture, component selection, layout, DRC/ERC review, and Gerber release.

▸   Design mixed-signal, power electronics, RF, or high-speed digital systems from concept to manufacturable BOM.

▸   Conduct signal integrity, thermal, and EMC analysis; drive layouts to meet IPC-2221 standards.

▸   Collaborate with mechanical engineers on enclosure tolerancing, connector placement, and thermal management.

▸   Lead DFM/DFA reviews with CMs and oversee NPI, EVT, DVT, and PVT builds.

▸   Develop production-grade firmware in C/C++ targeting ARM Cortex-M/A, RISC-V, or proprietary SoCs.

▸   Implement device drivers, HALs, and middleware for peripherals: SPI, I2C, UART, USB, CAN, Ethernet, BLE/Wi-Fi.

▸   Architect and maintain RTOS-based systems (FreeRTOS, Zephyr, ThreadX) with deterministic real-time constraints.

▸   Apply secure boot, OTA firmware update mechanisms, and cryptographic primitives (TLS, AES, ECC).

▸   Write hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test suites and automate firmware CI pipelines.

▸   Design and implement host-side software bridges: Linux kernel drivers, userspace daemons, REST/gRPC APIs.

▸   Build data pipelines from sensor firmware through edge processing to cloud telemetry (AWS IoT / Azure IoT Hub / GCP).

▸   Develop companion mobile or desktop applications when the product requires an end-user interface.

▸   Own communication protocol stacks and ensure data integrity from silicon to cloud.

▸   Design and integrate multi-parameter sensor systems: flow meters, pressure transducers, energy monitors, temperature/humidity, water quality (pH, TDS, conductivity) and environmental sensors.

▸   Architect end-to-end IoT solutions — from sensor node hardware and low-power firmware through edge gateways to cloud dashboards and alerting pipelines.

▸   Implement low-power IoT profiles: duty-cycling, deep-sleep wake strategies, and energy-harvesting topologies to maximise battery or self-powered node life.

▸   Select and qualify IoT connectivity stacks for the application: NB-IoT, LTE-M, LoRaWAN, Zigbee, Thread/Matter, Wi-Fi, or BLE mesh.

▸   Develop sensor calibration routines, compensation algorithms, and data-quality assurance pipelines to guarantee measurement accuracy in field conditions.

▸   Integrate time-series data with IoT platforms (AWS IoT Core, Azure IoT Hub, Google Cloud IoT) and build real-time analytics dashboards for water and energy metrics.

▸   Define and implement device provisioning, fleet management, and remote OTA update workflows for large-scale IoT deployments.

▸   Drive all phase gates from proof-of-concept bench prototypes to pilot runs and mass production ramp.

▸   Maintain engineering change orders (ECOs), version-controlled hardware and firmware repositories.

▸   Define reliability, regulatory, and compliance requirements (CE, FCC, UL, RoHS); work with test labs through certification.

▸   Create and maintain detailed technical documentation: hardware design specs, FW architecture docs, test plans, and user guides.

▸   Mentor junior engineers; conduct thorough code and design reviews with constructive feedback.

▸   Communicate technical trade-offs clearly to product managers, executives, and non-technical stakeholders.

▸   Partner with supply chain to qualify alternative components and manage obsolescence risk.

▸   Own project timelines, risk registers, and milestone commitments for hardware development programs. REQUIRED QUALIFICATI

Education & Experience

▸   Master’s/bachelor’s degree (or higher) in Electronics, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related discipline.

▸   6+ years of hands-on hardware and firmware development experience with shipped production-volume products.

▸   Demonstrable end-to-end ownership: from initial schematic to factory floor and post-launch support.

Hardware Skills

▸   Expert proficiency in at least one EDA toolchain: Altium Designer, KiCad, or Cadence OrCAD/Allegro.

▸   Hands-on experience with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, network analyzers, and JTAG/SWD debug tools.

▸   Deep knowledge of power supply design: LDOs, buck/boost converters, battery management ICs.

▸   Experience with high-speed design (DDR, PCIe, USB 3.x, Gigabit Ethernet).

Firmware & Software Skills

▸   Expert-level C and strong C++ for embedded targets; Python for scripting and tooling.

▸   Mastery of at least one RTOS and bare-metal programming paradigms.

▸   Proficiency with Git, CI/CD tools (GitHub Actions, Jenkins), and unit/integration test frameworks for embedded.

▸   Experience with Linux bring-up, device tree configuration, and kernel module development is a strong plus.

IoT & Sensors

▸   Proven experience designing or integrating sensor systems for energy metering, water quality/flow, or environmental monitoring.

▸   Hands-on with IoT connectivity protocols: MQTT, CoAP, LwM2M, AMQP and at least one LPWAN standard (LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, or LTE-M).

▸   Familiarity with sensor signal conditioning: ADC selection, filtering, noise rejection, and calibration methodologies.

▸   Experience with IoT device management platforms and FOTA update frameworks at fleet scale.

TECHNICAL COMPETENCY MATRI

MCUs / SoCs

ARM Cortex-M0–M7/A, ESP32, STM32, nRF52, i.MX RT, RISC-V cores

EDA & PCB

Altium Designer, KiCad, Cadence Allegro; HDI, flex, rigid-flex

IoT Connectivity

BLE 5.x, Wi-Fi 6, LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, LTE-M, Zigbee, Thread/Matter

Sensor Systems

Flow, pressure, energy (CT/Shunt), pH, TDS, conductivity, temp/humidity

IoT Protocols

MQTT, CoAP, LwM2M, AMQP, Modbus, OPC-UA, gRPC

IoT Platforms

AWS IoT Core, Azure IoT Hub, Google Cloud IoT, ThingsBoard

Communication

SPI, I2C, UART, USB 2/3, CAN/CAN-FD, Ethernet, RS-485, 1-Wire

RTOS

FreeRTOS, Zephyr, ThreadX / Azure RTOS, bare-metal FSM

Cloud & Edge

Edge compute, time-series DBs (InfluxDB, TimescaleDB), Grafana

Languages

C (expert), C++ (proficient), Python, Rust (bonus)

Version Control

Git, Git LFS for hardware assets, semantic versioning

Test & Validation

HIL test rigs, cppcheck, static analysis, automated test benches

Compliance

FCC Part 15/22, CE RED, IEC 62368, UL 60950, RoHS/REACH

Preferred

▸   Experience with functional safety standards (IEC 61508, ISO 26262, IEC 62061).

▸   Familiarity with Rust for embedded systems or safety-critical firmware.

▸   Background in medical devices (ISO 13485, IEC 60601) or automotive (AUTOSAR, ASPICE).

▸   Experience with FPGA development (Verilog/VHDL, Xilinx/Intel toolchains).

▸   Contributions to open-source hardware or embedded firmware projects.

▸   Publications, patents, or conference presentations in hardware/embedded domains.

What we offer

▸   Competitive salary & performance-based equity / ESOPs

▸   State-of-the-art tools & EDA licenses

▸   Annual learning & conference budget

▸   Patent filing support & bonuses

▸   Mentorship from industry veterans

▸   End-to-end product ownership

▸   Collaborative, low-bureaucracy culture

▸   Relocation assistance (if applicable)