Senior Embedded Software Engineer
£65-80k / Hybrid - London
IONATE is a deep tech scale-up building the hardware and software backbone for smart grids. Our mission is to transform power systems – from grids and microgrids to renewables and data centres – unlocking the massive potential in this under-innovated sector that touches every aspect of our modern lives.
We are looking for a Senior Embedded Software Engineer to join our team. You'll work with our hardware and systems team to design and implement production C/C++ firmware, spanning embedded software architecture, control algorithm implementation, hardware-firmware integration, and active participation in verification, validation, and live product testing.
You will bring a practical, evidence-based approach to engineering decisions and contribute to advancing our HIT technology for grid-connected systems.
What you will do
Development
- Develop embedded software for grid-connected Power Electronics Systems.
- Design and implement real-time firmware from scratch for ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers, including memory management, peripherals configuration, interrupts handling, and low-level debugging.
- Develop both bare-metal and RTOS-based embedded applications.
- Implement real-time platforms for deploying control algorithms operating under hard timing constraints and strict safety requirements for grid-connected applications.
- Bring up new hardware platforms by integrating sensors and actuators, validating system functionality, and documenting the integration process.
- Troubleshoot firmware–hardware issues in laboratory test rigs and field deployment by reproducing faults, analysing logs, identifying root causes and delivering robust corrective solutions.
Quality and Collaboration
- Work closely with hardware engineers, power electronics specialists, control engineers, and systems teams to define interfaces, establish timing budgets, and develop validation strategies.
- Participate actively in code reviews, design discussions, and technical analyses, contributing to continuous improvement and elevating overall code quality.
- Contribute to safety and quality processes by identifying applicable regulatory standards, ensuring firmware compliance, maintaining requirements traceability, and documenting design decisions and test evidence.
- Create and maintain technical documentation including requirements specifications, architecture designs, test plans, and validation reports.
- Deliver high-quality results within defined timeframe, supporting ambitious product objectives and meeting project milestones.
Requirements
What you will need
- A degree in computer science, electronics, embedded systems, or related discipline.
- Industrial experience building real-time embedded systems – developing, shipping and supporting firmware in complex products, from prototype through to deployment.
- Solid understanding of real-time and deterministic embedded software design principles or best practice.
- Demonstrable experience of working on embedded software projects using C/C++.
- Solid understanding of C and its underlying implementation cost function.
- You can write efficient, predictable and maintainable code under strict constraints.
- Proven experience developing bare-metal and RTOS applications, managing interrupt priorities and latency budgets, and debugging race conditions and timing issues in deployed real-time systems.
- Solid understanding of interrupt handling, inter processor communications and synchronisation mechanisms.
- Good knowledge of performance optimisation techniques and hardware/software interaction.
- You can diagnose firmware–hardware faults using oscilloscopes, logic analysers, JTAG debuggers, and low-level inspection.
- Strong communication and written skills.
- Willingness to travel nationally and internationally for testing/commissioning when required.
It would be useful to have
- Understanding of power electronics, grid interconnection, or motor control firmware.
- Demonstrable track record of developing for ARM-Cortex-M/R/A processors.
- Proficiency in a scripting language (e.g. Python, TCL, Bash) for test automation, tooling or data analysis.
- Experience architecting real-time Linux drivers or kernel modules; you understand device trees, OS-level interrupt handling, and the trade-offs between RTOS and embedded Linux.
- Working knowledge of with MPSoC platforms (Xilinx Zynq); you have experience knowledge of FPGA languages such as VHDL or Verilog.
- Experience with communication protocols such as UART, SPI, I2C, Ethernet and USB.
- Ability to read PCB schematics and datasheets; experience testing/debugging PCBs.
- Previously set up or maintained CI/CD for embedded code, written unit tests for firmware, or used static analysis tools to catch defects early.
- Knowledge of digital closed-loop control applications.
- You have written or reviewed firmware against safety standards.
Benefits
- Employee Option Plan: You get equity in IONATE, so as we succeed so do you.
- Private Medical & Dental Insurance: From day one, we provide you with full, comprehensive private medical and dental cover through Bupa. You also have the option to add any dependents to your cover. Please ask us for more details.
- Company pension: a flexible, and sustainable pension product to help you plan for your future.
- Career Development: It’s important to us that you have the opportunity for ongoing professional development and career growth. You will receive an annual budget for professional development and work with your team to set and reach goals every year.
- Flexible working schedules: You will have the flexibility for work-from-home arrangements. Talk to us at the application stage about this.
- Cycle to Work Scheme: Low carbon travel is important for everyone, so we have in place a cycle scheme to help you purchase a bicycle.
- Slow travel: We believe in a low carbon future, so if you wish to travel by a lower carbon method – but it takes much longer than flying - we will give you an extra 2 slow travel days per year.