First Mode is seeking engineers to join our software team and contribute to the development of our clean energy technologies. Applicants from all industries are welcome, with particular emphasis in software development in complex, multidisciplinary systems.

You will lead the development of the software that powers our clean energy product line, leveraging modern tools, techniques, and best practices to craft solutions to real-world problems. Our software projects span a wide spectrum from embedded systems to large-scale distributed computing, but usually involve interaction with a physical system. You will work alongside -- and learn from! -- engineers of mixed disciplines as you think outside the boundaries of your own code to make a major impact on the systems we design and implement.

A successful engineer in this role will thrive in an inventive environment and be excited by researching and teaching themselves new technologies and skills. You will be hands-on with hardware and learn about the clean energy space in the lab, in the field, and in building the software to operate our vehicle fleets.

Position Responsibilities

• Serve as a strategic leader within our software team, owning software architecture, collaborating with management on technical roadmaps and planning, while driving delivery across one or more teams
• Design and build software solutions that target high-reliability robotic systems driven by our clean energy power products
• Mentor team members in engineering best practices via coaching and design/code review
• Drive operational excellence by delivering high quality software products via automated testing and tooling
• Work effectively in a fast-paced, dynamic team environment
• Collaborate with hardware, controls, and systems engineers in development, integration, and debugging
• Represent software as a stakeholder within a multi-disciplinary team, from system formulation through design, build and test
• Travel internationally to represent First Mode to its customers, vendors, and partners

Basic Qualifications

• Minimum three (3) years of experience with software engineering technical leadership, including planning, architecture, design & delivery, while working across teams
• Minimum five (5) years of experience with software engineering in a language such as C++ or Rust
• Practical understanding of core data structures and algorithms and their applications
• Expertise in software techniques related to concurrency and operating systems
• Experience completing one or more complete product life cycles

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a relevant domain, such as robotics, automotive, aerospace, video games, networking, medical, or other embedded systems
• Possess a diverse experience base, with comprehension of low and high-level software
• Experience with real-time operating systems and/or real-time software techniques
• Experience working with embedded hardware and basic lab equipment (power supplies, etc.)
• Experience with model-based software engineering methods
• Experience with software configuration management tools/methods
• Experience in testing and validation approaches for embedded systems
• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop testing
• Proficiency with common embedded systems communications protocols and standards (SPI, I2C, CAN, RS-422/485)
• A knack for thinking about how the parts of a system work together
• Have gleaned insights from interesting projects (school, personal, or professional) and can tell a great story about the lessons they learned

Additional Requirements

• Experience with the development and execution of agile software and test plans
• Experience with software quality metrics (path coverage, static analysis, etc.)
• Experience with leading a team of embedded software engineers to deliver to higher-level goals
• Experience in real-time embedded systems, mission-critical software, or distributed system software
• Experience with high-reliability safety-critical software development, deployment, and operation in resource-constrained environments
• Ability to write and speak clearly about technical subject matter

Location

• This position will be located at First Mode’s headquarters in Seattle, WA and will be required to work in office >60% of working hours

Total Rewards

Base Salary Range: $156,000 - $233,500 

     Senior Embedded Engineer II: $156,000 - $211,500

     Principal Embedded Engineer I: $172,500 - $233,000 

Benefits & Perks

• Annual bonus incentive
• Equity-based awards
• 100% employer-paid health insurance (medical, dental, vision)
• 401(k) retirement account with a 3% employer contribution from the start of employment
• Flexible PTO with 12 weeks of supplementary paid parental leave
• Commuter benefits (parking & public transportation)
• A culture that encourages professional growth with learning and development reimbursements
• Open and collaborative workspace with free office snacks and lunches
• Hybrid work model

#LI-Hybrid