Senior Firmware Engineer

Join Smartbox and make a meaningful impact as our newest team member!

Are you a passionate Senior Firmware Engineer who wants to help create technology that gives a voice to those without speech? At Smartbox, you’ll play a key role in developing life‑changing solutions for people with disabilities.

We are a leader in assistive communication technology, combining specialised hardware, advanced software, and engaging content used by people with diverse needs worldwide. Our work reflects our values: passionate, caring, empowering, achieving together, and enabling change.

We believe everyone deserves a voice, and our inclusive culture supports this. You’ll join a diverse, collaborative team dedicated to empowering our users and supporting each other.

You’ll also work with talented colleagues who share a drive for innovation and responsible design. We prioritise sustainable development, aiming to minimise our environmental impact while creating technology that matters. By joining Smartbox, you’ll help shape a more inclusive society and contribute to positive, lasting change.

How will you be making a difference?

• Technical Project Delivery: Deliver complex, multi‑disciplinary projects, meeting scope, time, budget, and quality requirements, while coordinating others as needed.

• Firmware Architecture & Lifecycle Planning: Develop reliable, portable firmware with a long and stable lifecycle.

• Firmware Development: Design, develop and maintain embedded firmware in C for Zephyr RTOS and Embedded Linux, including board bring‑up, drivers, and HALs.

• Code Quality & Engineering Standards: Set and uphold coding, documentation and review standards, ensuring best practices in architecture, modularity, fault tolerance and testability.

• Test strategy and automation: Implement strong automated testing following the Test Pyramid, including unit, component, subsystem and hardware‑in‑the‑loop tests, with CI automation to prevent regressions.

• Test Software and Tooling: Build and maintain automated test harnesses, GUIs and utility tools (e.g. Python, C#) to support development, validation and manufacturing.

• Libraries and Developer Experience: Create libraries and demo applications in C‑compatible languages (C#, C++) to validate firmware subsystems and support integration with other teams.

• Validation & Debugging: Lead investigation and debugging of complex issues across hardware and firmware using appropriate diagnostic tools.

• Verification & Validation: Oversee verification through lab testing, user trials and real‑world use, ensuring evidence supports regulatory compliance.

• Quality Assurance: Analyse and resolve quality issues quickly, feeding insights back into designs, documentation and processes.

• Technical Strategy: Contribute to strategy for reliable, mission‑critical hardware and firmware, clearly communicating trade‑offs and supporting sound decision‑making.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Work closely with teams such as Eye Tracking, Quality, Production and Repairs to solve issues, refine designs and improve reliability and serviceability.

• Mentoring and Leadership: Mentor engineers, providing coaching and support to foster growth and contribute to a positive, collaborative culture.

The successful applicant will also be asked to perform other duties on an ad-hoc basis and will need a proactive attitude to this.

Essential qualifications/skills/experience

• Degree or equivalent experience in an engineering subject (Electronics, Computer Science, Software), Physics, Mathematics, or other scientific subject.

• 8+ years of experience in embedded software development in C.

• A strong knowledge of Computer Science fundamentals in data structures, algorithm design, problem-solving, and complexity analysis.

• A strong grounding in embedded software architecture, with a focus on maintainability, modularity, fault-tolerance and testability.

• Confident and experienced with automated testing, including unit, integration and system tests, mocking and automation frameworks.

• A strong understanding of API design and the creation of clear, stable abstractions for hardware/firmware interaction.

• Skilled at debugging in constrained environments and using hardware/software debugging tools.

• A proven track record of innovation and quality software development throughout the entire software product lifecycle.

• Ability to solve complex technical problems in elegant and maintainable ways, demonstrating systems thinking across hardware, firmware and application layers.

• Experience with embedded platforms (for example: Embedded Linux, Arduino, STM32, Nordic, Zephyr RTOS).

• A passion and drive for excellence in software craftsmanship.

• Linux, Bash/shell, CI (Continuous Integration) experience.

• Ability to read electronics schematics and collaborate effectively with hardware engineers during bring-up and debugging.

• Technical leadership through influence – able to guide architecture and standards, mentor others, and improve team-wide practices.

• Practical, proactive mindset – comfortable taking initiative and working through ambiguity in a fast-moving team.

• Proven experience in people or team management, with the ability to lead, motivate, and develop others.

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build positive working relationships at all levels.

• Skilled in providing constructive feedback, conducting performance reviews, and supporting staff development.

• Proven ability to foster high-performing, engaged, and collaborative teams.

Useful qualifications/skills/experience

• A passion for improving lives through assistive technology.

• Experience in high-performance applications, such as game development or network.

• Experience in MISRA-C.

• Experience managing recruitment, onboarding, and other people processes in collaboration with the People/HR team.

• Understanding of performance management and continuous improvement principles.

• Formal training or qualification in leadership, management, or coaching.

Additional information:

• We work in a hybrid way, so you’ll have the flexibility to split your time between home and our Malvern or Bristol offices. You’ll need to be in the Bristol office at least two days a week to stay connected with the team and collaborate in person.

• You will gain in-depth knowledge of our products and see first-hand the impact they have on empowering people every day.

• You will have the opportunity to collaborate with teams across the business and contribute to shared goals.

Why join us?

Here at Smartbox, we are positive and inclusive about making adjustments, providing flexible working, and encouraging all staff to engage in a diverse range of year-round learning and personal development opportunities. In addition, you will work alongside highly motivated colleagues in an environment of strong teamwork, whilst also having fun. This is a hugely rewarding role and a career to be proud of, where every day you will go home knowing you made a positive difference in the lives of people with disabilities.

Rewards and benefits

Dress: Smart casual, so you can feel comfortable at work.

Food: Free healthy snacks in our kitchens.

Hybrid working: Two office days per week, with the rest from home. Laptop and home‑working kit provided.

Flexible schedule: Balance your time in a way that helps you perform at your best (with line manager approval).

Community giving: One paid volunteering day each year.

Development: We invest in your growth and reward long service with extra holiday.

Wellness: Daily online trainers and discounted gym options.

Wellbeing: Unlimited access to the Yulife wellbeing and rewards app.

Mental health: 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme for support on family, health, money, and work.

Peace of mind: Company pension, group life assurance, and income protection.

Fun: Free theatre and cinema tickets to Malvern Theatres, plus regular social events.

Eco-friendly options: Cycle-to-work scheme (from day one) and EV scheme (after 2 years).

Bonus potential: Discretionary annual bonus.

Financial perks: Discounts across shopping, fitness, entertainment, travel and more through Corporate Perks.

Our commitments

At Smartbox, we’re committed to an inclusive and equitable workplace where everyone’s unique background is valued. We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Employer and a Founding Partner of Purple Tuesday. You can find out more on thinksmartbox.com.

We ensure our recruitment practices are barrier‑free, offering adjustments throughout the application process and your career with us. To request support, email [email protected].

At Smartbox, it’s not about fitting in; it’s about adding to our culture. Our diverse team brings together unique talents to create products that reflect the diversity of our users and customers.

We’d love to hear from you

Our ever-evolving team powers the business across the world and brings the next generation of AAC solutions to life. Together we experiment, innovate and create across the full product lifecycle. And, in a collaborative and close-knit culture, we support each other to search for better. We support our community and contribute to a sustainable future for our business and the planet.

Join us as a Senior Firmware Engineer and take our technology and your career into new territories.

Share your operational expertise and passion for making an impact within your cover letter and CV. We look forward to receiving your application.

For a full job description, please visit: https://thinksmartbox.com/join-the-team/

Agencies

Please respect that at this current time, we wish to try and recruit directly from the market rather than engage support from an agency.