Firmware Lead
Frontline Wildfire Defense
California, USA
USD 146,909-170k / year
Posted on Nov 18, 2025
*Please note that we do not accept unsolicited candidate introductions, referrals, or resumes from external recruiters or staffing agencies.
Firmware Lead
Location: While this role is remote, this role requires the candidate to be located in the PST area.
About Frontline Wildfire Defense
Founded in 2017 by landscape ecologist and fire mitigation expert Harry Statter, Frontline developed the first fully integrated wildfire defense system to stop the leading cause of home loss in wildfires: ember-driven ignition. The system combines exterior sprinklers, full-coverage design, and connected software for remote monitoring and response, allowing homes to protect themselves long after families evacuate or infrastructure fails.
Proven effective during the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, 96% of homes with Frontline systems survived. That success has earned top industry recognition, including Frontline being recognized as one of TIME’s Best Inventions 2025 in the Green Tech category and receiving the PCBC Gold Nugget Award for “Most Innovative Housing Concept” and the Best of IBS Award for “Best Home Technology.”
As wildfires grow hotter and more frequent, our vision is to give people the tools and strategies to live safely with fire. We’re building a mission-driven team creating real-world solutions in wildfire safety and climate tech.
About This Opportunity
As Firmware Lead, you will own the design, development, and delivery of embedded software that powers Frontline’s connected wildfire defense systems. You’ll lead modernization of the controller firmware architecture, from low-level device drivers to networking, diagnostics, and over-the-air (OTA) updates. This role blends hands-on embedded Linux development with technical leadership—defining the roadmap for reliability, connectivity, and secure updates across our deployed fleet. You’ll work cross-functionally with product, hardware, software, cloud engineering teams to deliver mission-critical firmware that performs in real-world wildfire conditions.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead design and implementation of embedded Linux firmware for Frontline’s controller platform.
- Modernize platform components (toolchain, kernel, connectivity stack) to improve connectivity, reliability, and maintainability.
- Develop secure, resilient OTA update systems with rollback, A/B partitioning, and signing.
- Implement and optimize multi-interface networking (Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Cellular, Satellite).
- Enhance system logging, telemetry, and watchdog infrastructure for fleet observability.
- Collaborate with cloud and mobile teams on provisioning, onboarding, and device identity.
- Drive firmware release planning, testing, and integration with CI/CD pipelines.
- Support field and manufacturing teams in diagnosing and resolving firmware issues.
- Integrate and validate new hardware components, sensors, and subsystems.
Qualifications
Must-Have:
- 5+ years in embedded firmware or Linux system software development.
- BS/MS in Computer, Electrical, or related engineering field.
- Strong C++ skills and experience with Linux build systems (GNU Make, Yocto, Buildroot, etc.).
- Deep knowledge of Linux kernel, bootloaders (U-Boot), and system initialization.
- Experience implementing secure and signed OTA and local firmware update systems.
- Expertise with TCP/IP networking, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and Cellular connectivity.
- Familiarity with D-Bus and multi-process embedded architectures.
- Proficient in low-level debugging and profiling tools (gdb, strace, tcpdump, perf).
- Excellent problem-solving, documentation, and cross-functional communication skills.
Nice-to-Have
- Experience building IoT or mission-critical connected devices.
- Background in PKI, TLS, or device provisioning.
- Experience with connman, iwd, oFono, and/or wpa_supplicant open source connectivity projects.
- Familiarity with telemetry, diagnostics, or fleet management systems.
- Prior experience leading platform modernization or migration projects.
- Experience with encoding and serialization formats such as CBOR, JSON, TLV, and XML.
- Experience with Iridium Short Burst Data (SBD).
- Experience with BlueTooth Low Energy (BLE).
- Experience with C++17.
- Experience extended, supporting, and maintaining large, multi-project git repositories.
- Experience with cloud-based continuous integration (CI) / continuous deployment (CD) platforms such as Gitlab and/or Github.
- Experience with 32- or 64-bit Arm Cortex-based single board computers (SBCs) or systems.
- Experience with USB Mass Storage Class (MSC), Communication Device Class (CDC), and Device Firmware Update (DFU), host and/or device.
- Experience implementing and deploying the Matter IoT framework / toolkit / standard.
Compensation & Benefits
- Salary Range: $146,909-$170,000 DOE
- Company-provided cell phone and laptop computer
- Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance.
- 401(k) Plan
- Flexible time off policy + 10 paid holidays per year
- Join a passionate, mission-driven team making a real difference!
- And much more!
Join Our Mission!
If you're excited about building technology that protects homes and families from wildfire disasters, we want to hear from you! Apply today and become part of a fast-growing team with purpose and innovation at its core.
Diversity and inclusion are essential values at Frontline. We know we'll do our best and most impactful work when we feel represented, and we belong. We encourage talented people from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences to apply. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.