Job Description:

2x Senior & Principal Embedded Systems Engineers | Bristol | £45,000–£70,000 approx. — happy to pay more for the right talent 

We are a growing engineering team hiring for two embedded systems engineering positions.

We're really looking for someone who combines embedded software with systems engineering, requirements capture, PCB design and electronics development.

Both roles sit within the same team, working on the same next-generation sensing products, but they differ in seniority, scope and required experience:

Senior Systems Engineer: up to £55,000 approx. Principal Embedded Systems Engineer: up to £70,000 approx.

The overview below sets out what both roles have in common, followed by a summary of how they differ and the specific requirements for each.

Role Overview

As a Senior or Principal Embedded Systems Engineer you will play a key role in the development of our next generation of permanently installed products. Working within a multidisciplinary engineering team, you will contribute across the full product lifecycle, from concept and prototype through to production, customer deployment and ongoing product improvement.

This is a hands-on engineering role combining embedded firmware, electronics development and product integration. You will work closely with firmware, hardware, software, mechanical and manufacturing engineers to design reliable industrial products deployed in demanding environments across the energy, infrastructure and industrial sectors.

The Senior role suits an engineer with several years of commercial experience who enjoys solving practical engineering problems and is comfortable working across hardware and software boundaries. The Principal role suits a more experienced engineer ready to take on greater ownership of product design and engineering decisions, and to develop into a senior technical contributor for the team.

Previous experience of ATEX or IECEx is not essential for either role. We will provide training and mentoring for candidates with the right technical aptitude and attitude.

Purpose of the Role

The successful candidates will help deliver high-quality embedded products by contributing across embedded firmware development, electronics design and debugging, prototype development, product verification and validation, manufacturing support, product integration, and continuous product improvement. The Senior role is intended to develop into a position of increasing technical ownership. The Principal role already carries increasing ownership of product design and engineering decisions from the outset.

Key Responsibilities

Both roles share the same core responsibilities across the product lifecycle; the Principal role carries greater autonomy and technical decision-making within each area.

Embedded Firmware Development: Develop embedded firmware in C/C++ for low-power microcontroller platforms; design robust state machines and embedded control software; debug firmware using JTAG/SWD and modern embedded debugging tools; develop drivers for sensors, memory devices and communication peripherals; optimise firmware for reliability, battery life and performance; and support firmware release, version control and configuration management.

Electronics Design & Development: Assist in the design of analogue and digital electronic circuits; participate in schematic capture and PCB design reviews; select appropriate electronic components balancing performance, cost and availability; support prototype bring-up and board-level debugging; and use oscilloscopes, logic analysers and electronic test equipment to diagnose issues.

Hardware/Firmware Integration: Integrate embedded firmware with electronic hardware; investigate hardware/software interactions; support integration of sensors, communications and power management; and resolve system-level technical issues.

Product Development: Contribute throughout the complete product lifecycle from concept through manufacture; build and evaluate engineering prototypes; participate in design reviews; support design verification and validation activities; and contribute to engineering risk assessments.

Testing & Validation: Develop functional and regression tests; execute verification plans; analyse failures using structured root-cause analysis; support environmental, reliability and endurance testing; and document results and recommend corrective actions.

Manufacturing Support: Support transition from development into manufacture; assist Operations with production issues; investigate manufacturing defects; contribute to Design for Manufacture (DFM) and Design for Test (DFT) improvements; and support engineering change requests and product revisions.

Compliance & Product Safety: Support product compliance activities including CE/UKCA, EMC, environmental compliance (RoHS/REACH), ATEX/IECEx (training provided), technical documentation and product traceability.

Continuous Improvement: Improve engineering processes and documentation; identify opportunities for cost reduction and design simplification; evaluate new components and technologies; use AI-assisted engineering tools where appropriate to improve productivity; and maintain awareness of developments in embedded systems and industrial electronics.

Skills & Experience

Essential requirements differ by level, as set out below. Both roles share the same desirable skills, personal attributes and success criteria further down.

Essential — Senior Systems Engineer (up to £55,000)

• Degree (or equivalent experience) in Electronics Engineering, Embedded Systems, Computer Engineering or similar, with 2–5 years' commercial engineering experience.
• Strong Embedded C programming and understanding of microcontroller-based embedded systems, with experience debugging embedded hardware and firmware.
• Understanding of digital communication protocols including I²C, SPI and UART; ability to read electronic schematics; practical laboratory skills; good written and verbal communication skills; and a structured approach to technical problem solving.

Essential — Principal Embedded Systems Engineer (up to £75,000)

• Degree (or equivalent experience) in Electronics Engineering, Embedded Systems, Computer Engineering or similar, with 5+ years' commercial engineering experience.
• Strong Embedded C programming and a strong understanding of microcontroller-based embedded systems, with experience debugging embedded hardware and firmware.
• Understanding of digital communication protocols including I²C, SPI and UART; ability to read electronic schematics; and practical laboratory skills.
• PCB design experience; experience with STM32 or similar ARM Cortex-M devices; good written and verbal communication skills; and a structured approach to technical problem solving.

Desirable (both roles)

• PCB design experience and STM32 or similar ARM Cortex-M devices (essential for Principal, desirable for Senior); low-power embedded design; and battery-powered products.
• Bootloaders and firmware update mechanisms; Python for engineering tools and automation; industrial communications; and CAN, RS485 or Modbus.
• Familiarity with Git, Jira, Azure DevOps and Altium.
• Familiarity with IEC, EMC or product safety standards; and experience of ATEX or IECEx (not essential — training provided).

Personal Attributes

We are looking for someone who:

• Enjoys building real products rather than only writing code; is naturally curious and keen to learn; and takes ownership of technical problems.
• Communicates openly and works well within a multidisciplinary team; can balance engineering quality with commercial priorities; and is comfortable working in a fast-moving SME environment.

What Success Looks Like

Within the first 12 months you will be expected to:

• Become a productive contributor across firmware and electronics development; support the delivery of new product features; and take ownership of defined engineering work packages.
• Contribute to prototype builds and verification activities; support manufacturing and customer technical issues where required; complete ATEX/IECEx awareness training; and build sufficient product knowledge to contribute confidently to design reviews.

For the Principal role, this also includes taking increasing ownership of design decisions and providing technical guidance to other engineers within the team.

Why Join Us?

You will work on industrial sensing products deployed worldwide, solving real engineering challenges across embedded electronics, firmware, industrial communications and product development. Unlike larger organisations, you will have visibility across the complete engineering lifecycle from concept and prototype through manufacture, customer deployment and continuous product improvement, providing broad technical experience and significant opportunities for professional growth.

Please state clearly in your application which role — Senior Systems Engineer or Principal Embedded Systems Engineer — you are applying for.