Firmware Engineer (Founding Team)

We are building a founding firmware engineering team in India and are looking for strong Firmware Engineers who want to own the foundation of new hardware platforms from day one. This role is focused on low level firmware development, early board bring up, and system level enablement across microcontrollers and infotainment class SoCs.

As a founding member of this team, you will work close to the hardware and have end to end ownership from first power on through a stable, production ready platform. Your work will define boot flows, OS bring up, performance characteristics, and power behavior that future products and teams will build on.

This is a deeply hands-on role for engineers who enjoy operating at the boundary of hardware and software, solving hard problems, and setting technical direction rather than inheriting it. You will collaborate closely with global teams, silicon vendors, and hardware partners while helping establish best practices and technical standards for the India organization.

• Lead board bring up for new hardware platforms including microcontrollers and infotainment SoCs

• Develop and debug bootloaders and early boot software

• Bring up and customize FreeRTOS, QNX, Linux, and Android on new boards

• Work on Linux kernel and device driver enablement for custom hardware

• Optimize boot time, system startup, and runtime performance

• Drive power optimization across boot, idle states, and active workloads

• Debug complex hardware and software issues using JTAG, logic analyzers, and low level logs

• Collaborate closely with hardware teams, BSP vendors, and silicon partners

• Support system integration, validation, and bring up on real target hardware

• 4+ years of strong experience in firmware or low level embedded systems development

• A Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Embedded Software, Mechatronics, or equivalent

• Hands on experience with board bring up for MCUs or SoCs

• Deep knowledge of FreeRTOS and or QNX for embedded systems

• Experience working with Linux kernel or Android at the platform level

• Solid understanding of bootloaders such as U Boot or custom boot flows

• Strong C and C++ programming skills

• Experience debugging early boot and hardware dependent issues

• Understanding of power management, boot optimization, and performance tuning

• Comfort working close to hardware and reading schematics and datasheets

• Ability to work independently and take ownership from bring up to stabilization

• Experience with BSP customization and silicon vendor SDKs

• Familiarity with secure boot, firmware update flows, or OTA mechanisms

• Experience supporting customer facing engineering or production bring up

• Experience with cloud-connected vehicle platforms, SDV architectures, and AI-driven automotive applications

• Knowledge of functional safety (ASIL levels), cybersecurity (ISO 21434), and AUTOSAR tooling

Compensation at Applied Intuition for eligible roles includes base salary, equity, and benefits. Base salary is a single component of the total compensation package, which may also include equity in the form of options and/or restricted stock units, comprehensive health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance coverage, learning and wellness stipends, and paid time off. Note that benefits are subject to change and may vary based on jurisdiction of employment.

Applied Intuition pay ranges reflect the minimum and maximum intended target base salary for new hire salaries for the position. The actual base salary offered to a successful candidate will additionally be influenced by a variety of factors including experience, credentials & certifications, educational attainment, skill level requirements, interview performance, and the level and scope of the position.

Please reference the job posting’s subtitle for where this position will be located. For pay transparency purposes, the base salary range for this full-time position in the location listed is: 2,165,800 - 5,000,000 INR annually.