Software Engineering Expert, Firmware Engineering Expert
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Job Description
Software and firmware engineers evaluating embedded, FPGA, flight, and hardware-test systems. Supporting Mercor’s AI research partners with real-world engineering expertise.
Responsibilities:
- Apply hands-on software, firmware, and digital hardware expertise to technically complex tasks involving real physical systems
- Review and evaluate embedded firmware, FPGA/RTL designs, flight software, test automation frameworks, hardware interfaces, and system-level engineering workflows
- Analyze architecture and implementation trade-offs involving real-time performance, timing, memory, compute resources, interfaces, reliability, fault handling, concurrency, and hardware/software integration
- Assess the technical correctness, robustness, and practical feasibility of engineering solutions for embedded and hardware-connected systems
- Identify implementation errors, incorrect assumptions, race conditions, timing issues, interface failures, resource constraints, and other system-level failure modes
- Develop or review engineering problems, reference implementations, test cases, evaluation criteria, and technical documentation
- Draw on practical experience with development, integration, hardware bring-up, debugging, verification, validation, test automation, and deployment
- Provide clear technical feedback grounded in real-world engineering experience and production hardware constraints
- Support an advanced engineering and AI research initiative with a leading technology organization
- Help improve how AI systems reason about embedded development, hardware/software integration, digital design, real-time systems, testing, and debugging
Requirements:
- 5+ years of professional software, firmware, FPGA, or embedded systems engineering experience
- At least 3 years of recent, actively hands-on experience developing, integrating, testing, bringing up, or troubleshooting software/firmware on real hardware
- Experience as the responsible engineer for production hardware-connected software or firmware
- Experience owning lifecycle stages from requirements and architecture through implementation, integration, hardware bring-up, verification, validation, debugging, and deployment
- Deep technical expertise in at least one core domain: embedded firmware and real-time systems; FPGA/RTL design and verification; flight software and safety/mission-critical systems; or hardware test automation and hardware-in-the-loop infrastructure
- Practical command of C/C++, Python, RTOS/bare-metal development, device drivers, bootloaders, embedded Linux, SPI/I²C/UART/CAN/Ethernet, Verilog/SystemVerilog/VHDL, FPGA toolchains, hardware interfaces, telemetry, and automated test systems, as applicable
- Hands-on experience debugging software-hardware interactions and physical systems using JTAG/SWD debuggers, logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, hardware simulators/emulators, HIL/SIL environments, automated test equipment, CI infrastructure, and structured root-cause analysis
- Experience developing systems in real-world product or hardware manufacturing environments
- Ability to explain architectural decisions, implementation trade-offs, test results, and failure mechanisms
- Experience working for a company that designs, builds, tests, and manufactures physical hardware or embedded systems is strongly preferred
- Must be an independent contractor
- H1-B and STEM OPT candidates are not supported
Benefits:
- Fully remote role
- Flexible engagement structures
- Work on your own schedule
- Weekly payments via Stripe or Wise
- Projects may be extended, shortened, or concluded early depending on needs and performance
- Competitive pay
- Collaboration with leading researchers
- Referral opportunity earning up to $480 per successful referral
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