Senior Embedded Software Engineer, Kernel

Role Overview

• Flock Safety is seeking a Senior Kernel Engineer to join our Device OS Team to solve one of our most critical engineering challenges: building an ultra-stable, rapid-deployment operating system foundation for our expanding next-generation device fleet.
• In this pivotal role, you will eliminate system vulnerabilities and accelerate hardware execution by driving low-level Qualcomm Android BSP bring-up, devicetree modifications, and pSIM framework implementations.
• Collaborating across electrical engineering and application teams, you will bridge the gap between complex hardware architectures and cloud-connected software to ensure our life-saving devices never drop a frame.

Requirements

• A Bachelors, Masters, or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field with 8+ years experience
• Proven track record of working with a large fleet of connected devices, a good understanding of different phases of their lifecycle and related challenges
• Development experience within embedded systems/firmware design at multiple stages of the product life cycle (prototyping, pre-production engineering validation, release and scaling)
• Experience with chipset bring-up within Linux or Android ecosystems
• Experience with Android system architecture (HAL, Android Linux Kernel, Android Build System, etc)
• Mastery of C and C++
• Experience in bootloader development and customization, including familiarity with XBL (eXtensible Boot Loader) and ABL (Android Boot Loader) concepts and implementation
• Proven ability to develop and debug firmware for Application Digital Signal Processors (ADSP), understanding their architecture and software development lifecycle
• Comfortable working in a Linux-based development environment, including custom tooling, containers, Gerrit/Git, etc
• Comfortable providing onsite support for new projects at the Coop once or twice a year as priorities come up
• Familiar with AI-assisted engineering practices, including the strategic, concurrent use of multiple AI agents (Claude, Copilot, Codex) to optimize development velocity
• Strong knowledge of Linux internals (memory management, power management, IRQ handling, synchronization, networking, storage, subsystem architecture)
• Experience bringing up Linux Kernel drivers for common peripheral bus technologies including SPI, I2C, UART, is a big plus
• Experience with Kotlin and Android apps development
• Experience with Qualcomm chipset devices is a plus
• Experience with customizing “Qualcomm Proprietary” subsystems(BP) is a big plus!
• Experience with battery-powered/power constrained devices is a plus
• Experience with ARM Cortex Microcontroller (NRF5x, STM32x, etc.) is a plus

Tech Stack

• Android
• Cloud
• Kotlin
• Linux

Benefits

• Flexible PTO: We offer non-accrual PTO, plus 11 company holidays.
• Fully-paid health benefits plan for employees: including Medical, Dental, and Vision and an HSA match.
• Family Leave: All employees receive 12 weeks of 100% paid parental leave. Birthing parents are eligible for an additional 6-8 weeks of physical recovery time.
• Fertility & Family Benefits: We have partnered with Maven, a complete digital health benefit for starting and raising a family. Flock will provide a $50,000-lifetime maximum benefit related to eligible adoption, surrogacy, or fertility expenses.
• Spring Health: Spring Health offers a variety of mental health benefits, including therapy, coaching, medication management, and digital tools, all tailored to each individual's needs.
• Caregiver Support: We have partnered with Cariloop to provide our employees with caregiver support
• Carta Tax Advisor: Employees receive 1:1 sessions with Equity Tax Advisors who can address individual grants, model tax scenarios, and answer general questions.
• ERGs: We want all employees to thrive and feel like they belong at Flock. We offer four ERGs today
• Women of Flock, Flock Proud, LEOs and Melanin Motion. If you are interested in talking to a representative from one of these, please let your recruiter know.
• WFH Stipend: $150 per month to cover the costs of working from home.
• Productivity Stipend: $300 per year to use on Audible, Calm, Masterclass, Duolingo and so much more.
• Home Office Stipend: A one-time $750 to help you create your dream office.