Embedded Systems
Embedded engineers sit at the boundary between hardware and software – drivers, protocols, bootloaders. We place the people who can read a schematic and write the code that talks to it.
What Embedded Engineering engineers actually do.
Embedded engineers design and build the hardware-adjacent software and firmware that runs directly on a spacecraft or ground system’s electronics – sensor drivers, communication protocols, bootloaders and low-level control loops beneath flight software and applications.
Real-time constraints and resource limits (memory, power, radiation tolerance) demand a different mindset from general software engineering – and space environments push those constraints further than almost any terrestrial application.
Why this hire is hard.
- Requires fluency in both hardware and software — reading schematics and datasheets as comfortably as writing code
- Real-time constraints and resource limits demand a genuinely different engineering mindset
- Rare to find engineers with both strong C/C++ and hands-on hardware debugging skills
- Space-specific communication protocols (SpaceWire, MIL-STD-1553) are a narrow, specific skill set
- Board bring-up and low-level debugging experience takes real time in the lab to build
Roles, technologies and seniority we cover
Roles we cover
Embedded Software Engineer, Embedded Systems Engineer, Firmware Engineer, Hardware-Software Integration Engineer, Embedded Engineering Lead.
Technologies & competencies
C/C++, RTOS, microcontrollers & SoCs, communication protocols (SpaceWire, CAN, MIL-STD-1553, I2C/SPI), hardware debugging tools (oscilloscopes, logic analysers, JTAG), board bring-up, low-power design.
Seniority levels
Graduate through Senior, Principal and Embedded Engineering Lead.
Typical candidate profiles
Electronic or computer engineering backgrounds; often crossing over from automotive, industrial or defence embedded work; hands-on hardware lab experience is a strong signal.
Relevant industries
Satellite manufacturers, avionics suppliers, defence primes, new-space, ground systems providers.
Related disciplines & insights
Flight Software
The higher-level software layer embedded systems support.
Avionics
The hardware embedded engineers write code against.
The hardware/software crossover gap in space engineering
Why engineers who can do both are the hardest hire on any programme.