Embedded Software Engineer

Role: Embedded Software Engineer – Space Applications

Location: Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire

Working Pattern: Hybrid – 3 days onsite / 2 days remote following probation

Employment: Permanent, Full-time

Industry: Space / Deep Tech

**Candidates must be based within a commutable distance of the office or be willing to relocate.**

The Opportunity

Our client is a growing technology company developing advanced electronic and embedded systems for the Space and scientific sectors.

They are looking for an Embedded Software Engineer to join their electronics team and contribute to the development of embedded systems for real flight, Deep-Space, LEO, exploration and scientific missions.

This is a genuinely low-level, hardware-facing embedded firmware position. You will work directly with microcontrollers and electronic hardware, developing firmware that communicates with, acquires data from and controls sensors, actuators, motors and other electronic devices.

This is not primarily an application-level software or ready-made module integration position.

Projects include advanced power electronics, propulsion systems, control systems, motor and actuator controllers, high-precision mechanisms and robotics for demanding Space applications.

What You'll Be Doing

• Design, develop and test low-level embedded software and firmware from prototype through to flight-ready systems.

• Develop firmware running directly on microcontrollers and interfacing with electronic hardware.

• Develop and debug bare-metal firmware, BSPs, HALs and low-level peripheral drivers.

• Work with MCU peripherals and interfaces including SPI, I²C, UART, CAN/CANopen, RS422/RS485, ADC, GPIO and PWM.

• Develop within RTOS environments, working with tasks, scheduling, interrupts, queues, semaphores, mutexes, timing and resource management.

• Acquire data directly from sensors and control actuators, motors and other electronic devices from the MCU.

• Implement embedded control algorithms and control-system functionality.

• Perform hardware/software integration, board bring-up and troubleshooting.

• Read and interpret electrical schematics and investigate hardware, firmware and signal-related issues.

• Debug systems using oscilloscopes, multimeters, logic analysers and JTAG/SWD.

• Support system integration, verification, qualification and acceptance testing.

• Work closely with electronics, systems, mechanical and MAIT engineers throughout the complete development lifecycle.

What We're Looking For

You should have 3+ years of professional embedded software/firmware experience, ideally within Space, aerospace or another high-reliability environment.

Most importantly, you will need strong hands-on experience working close to the hardware, including:

• Low-level embedded firmware development directly on microcontrollers.

• Bare-metal firmware and low-level driver development.

• Strong practical RTOS experience such as FreeRTOS or equivalent, extending beyond primarily communication-related tasks.

• ARM Cortex-based microcontroller experience. MSP430 experience would be advantageous, but transferable MCU experience will be considered.

• Developing or modifying peripheral drivers for technologies such as SPI, I²C, UART, CAN, ADC, GPIO and PWM.

• Direct MCU interaction with sensors, actuators, motors or other electronic devices.

• Hardware/software integration and debugging.

• Ability to read and understand electrical schematics and understand how electronic components can affect analogue and digital signals.

• Practical experience with oscilloscopes, multimeters, logic analysers and JTAG/SWD.

• Understanding of control theory and its practical application within embedded control systems.

Desirable Experience

Previous Space experience is highly desirable but is not essential where you can demonstrate strong low-level embedded firmware experience from another high-reliability environment.

Additional desirable experience includes:

• Embedded software/firmware for Space flight systems.

• ESA / ECSS standards.

• Full product lifecycle development from prototype through to qualified hardware.

• FPGA-based control systems.

• MIL-STD-1553B.

• Safety-critical or high-reliability software development.

• Static analysis, coding standards and structured code reviews.

• Master's degree in Electronics, Embedded Systems, Control Engineering, Space Engineering or a related discipline.

Why Consider This Opportunity?

You'll have the opportunity to work on real Space hardware, contributing to systems that will ultimately operate in some of the most demanding environments imaginable.

Rather than working solely at software or integration level, you'll work directly across firmware, microcontrollers, electronics and control systems, collaborating closely with multidisciplinary engineering teams.

The company offers a long-term career opportunity within an expanding Space and Deep Tech environment, alongside benefits including:

• Hybrid working following probation

• Flexible working arrangements

• Private medical and dental insurance

• Life insurance

• Company pension

• Additional leave

• Health & wellbeing programme

• Relocation assistance

• On-site parking

Please apply with an up-to-date CV for a confidential discussion about the opportunity.