From Amazon's posting. “We” and “our” refer to the employer.
Amazon is seeking exceptional talent to help develop the next generation of advanced robotics systems that will transform automation at Amazon's scale. We're building revolutionary robotic systems that combine AI, sophisticated control systems, and advanced electromechanical design to create adaptable automation solutions capable of working safely alongside humans in dynamic environments.
This is a unique opportunity to shape the future of robotics and automation at an unprecedented scale, working with world-class teams pushing the boundaries of what's possible in robotic manipulation.
Amazon is seeking a talented and motivated Senior Embedded Firmware Engineer to design, implement, and launch firmware for highly dexterous robotic end effectors. In this role you will own firmware sub-domains independently. The ideal candidate has extensive experience writing firmware to process a wide variety of sensors, control electric motors, and communicate with the larger system, and can work well both independently and in a multidisciplinary team setting.
Key job responsibilities
Drive communication interface integration at the firmware layer, ensuring robust, deterministic communication between the end effector and the larger robotic system.
Review vendor firmware deliverables, provide technical direction, and hold vendors to Amazon's quality, coding, and integration standards.
Author functional requirements, design verification plans, and test procedures; execute designs that meet those requirements.
Build and test firmware for electromechanical subsystem prototypes and integrated systems, covering sensor processing, motor control, and system communication.
Support product releases to manufacturing and customer deployments, including production firmware bring-up and validation, working efficiently to support fast-paced development schedules.
A day in the life
Your morning starts with a new sensor module on your desk: the latest prototype from a manufacturing partner overseas. You jump on a call with the vendor's engineering team to walk through their test results, flag an issue you spotted in the data, and agree on a firmware fix they'll turn around overnight. Getting fast iteration cycles on hardware is how this team operates: you don't wait for perfect specs, you get hardware moving and learn from what it tells you.
By mid-morning you're designing the control interface for the end effector: defining how it talks to the rest of the system, what data it exposes, and how it fits into the real-time communication architecture. You sketch the firmware-side changes, then switch to the simulation environment to update the corresponding ROS model so the controls engineer you're working with can test policies against it before hardware arrives. Making things work in sim and on your dev kit in the same day is normal here: the hardware hasn't shipped yet, but that doesn't stop you.
After lunch you pick up a code review from another team. They're building the actuator control framework that your end effector integrates with, and their latest change surfaces a new set of requirements you hadn't considered. You leave substantive feedback, and it reshapes how you're thinking about your own interface design.
You close the day with a quick chat with a teammate on the mechanical design side who's working on a physical sensor model. They want help writing custom firmware to characterize the sim-to-real gap, and you realize it connects directly to the simulation change you made that morning. What started as two separate threads becomes a collaboration. You open a shared design doc and start outlining the approach together.
About the team
We're developing next-generation robotic manipulation capabilities for highly dexterous multi-finger grippers and hands. Our firmware work spans motor control, sensor processing, tactile sensing production firmware, and the tight integration of the robotic end effector with the larger robotic platform. We build the embedded systems that bring capable, reliable robotic hardware to life.
Basic Qualifications
5+ years of non-internship professional software development experience
5+ years of programming with at least one software programming language experience
5+ years of leading design or architecture (design patterns, reliability and scaling) of new and existing systems experience
Experience as a mentor, tech lead or leading an engineering team
5+ years of professional software development in C or C++ for embedded systems 5+ years of full embedded software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes, testing, and operations
5+ years developing embedded C applications that use an RTOS (such as FreeRTOS, uC-OS, Zephyr, VxWorks) or embedded Linux environments
3+ years of development experience with some aspect of robotic systems, including direct, hands-on experience designing, developing, and debugging one of: consumer electronics, medical devices, automotive systems, avionics, industrial, or telecommunications products
Experience with at least two communication protocols at the firmware layer (e.g., EtherCAT, CAN/CAN-FD, SPI, I2C, RS-485, Ethernet/UDP)
Master's degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or a related field
10+ years of full embedded software development life cycle experience
Hands-on experience with motor control firmware (BLDC/FOC, current sensing, commutation, torque/velocity/position control loops)
Experience with EtherCAT or other real-time industrial communication protocols at the firmware layer (CiA 402 / CANopen profiles)
Experience with Ethernet/UDP protocol design for embedded systems, including lightweight TCP/IP stacks (lwIP, NetX Duo) and zero-copy networking
Experience with functional safety standards (IEC 61508, ISO 13849) or safety-aware firmware design (fault state machines, safe-state actions, watchdog architectures)
Experience reviewing and directing vendor-delivered firmware
Experience bringing embedded firmware from prototype through production and manufacturing release
Experience with ROS2, ros2_control, or similar robotics middleware on Linux
Equal Opportunity
Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.
Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.
The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location.
Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.
USA, CA, Sunnyvale - 193,300.00 - 261,500.00 USD annually
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