About Standard Bots
Standard Bots' mission is to significantly lower the barrier to entry to real-world automation, bringing the power of bits to the world of atoms and unlocking productivity for entire new industries and users.
Bolt is our mobile manipulation platform: two of our robot arms on an upper body, riding an autonomous mobile base that we are designing and building in-house. Control systems and embedded engineering are the basis of the entire company's mission, and the mobile base is built on them.
What you'll do
We're looking for an exceptional Staff Firmware Engineer to lead the firmware of Bolt's mobile base. This role sets the firmware architecture for that base from the first prototype: drive and motor control, power and battery systems, sensors and I/O, and the communication that ties them to the robot's compute.
Your impact will be measured by how quickly the first AMRs come to life on the bench and the test floor, how reliably they run once they leave it, and how strong the firmware team around you becomes.
Responsibilities
Bring-up and architecture
Define the Architecture: Own the firmware architecture across every controller on the base: partitioning, communication buses, timing, update paths, and diagnostics
Bring Up the Fleet: Lead firmware bring-up for each prototype build with the electrical and mechanical teams, on a hardware schedule that doesn't move. That includes board support packages, drivers, and bootloaders
Pragmatic Trade-Offs: Make clear, pragmatic calls on what each build needs now and what can wait, balancing long-term vision with timely delivery
Shape the Hardware: Partner with electrical engineers from schematic review onward, so every board is easy to bring up, test, and debug
Standard Setter: Set the coding standards, review practices, test expectations, and release process for all AMR firmware
Motion, power, and sensors
Motion Foundations: Own firmware for the drive modules and their motor control. That covers current, velocity, and steering loops, encoder feedback, and coordinated control of all wheels
Power and Batteries: Own firmware for power sequencing, battery management communication, charging and docking, and battery swap
Sensors and I/O: Integrate the sensors and peripherals on the base, and deliver their data reliably to the robot's compute
Cross-Team Interfaces: Define the interfaces between firmware and the navigation, fleet, and safety software, and between the base and Bolt's upper body
Quality and leverage
Debug Across Boundaries: Root-cause problems that span firmware, electrical, mechanical, and component behavior. Drive them to closure and turn them into prioritized work that prevents recurrence across the fleet
Systemic Quality: Build hardware-in-the-loop tests, fault injection, production test firmware, and diagnostic tools that catch problems before they reach a robot
Technical Multiplier: Mentor the AMR embedded engineers, review their designs, and help grow the team
Software Stack and Ownership Areas
This role owns board bring-up, motor control, power and battery systems, sensors and I/O, and firmware test tooling for Bolt's mobile base.
Tech Stack
Embedded: STM32 or similar, C / C++, FreeRTOS or similar
Communications: CAN, EtherCAT, Ethernet
Infrastructure & Tooling: Python, GitHub Actions, CI/CD, hardware-in-the-loop rigs
Location
This is an on-site role at our new Boston-area office, where Bolt's mobile base is designed, built, and tested. There's some flexibility on days in the office once you're up to speed. The build area, electronics lab, test floor, and robots are steps from your desk.
Who you are
We're looking for a firmware leader who has taken a battery-powered robot or vehicle from first boards to a fielded fleet. You lead by writing the hard parts yourself, and you know what it takes for firmware to survive thousands of hours on a factory floor. You're comfortable operating with complete independence.
Skills you'll bring
Experience: 8+ years of embedded firmware development, including leading firmware for a battery-powered product with motors through production
Motor Control: Hands-on motor control firmware experience (FOC, current sensing, encoders), ideally for traction or steering drives
Embedded Depth: Mastery of C / C++ on microcontrollers, RTOS design, real-time scheduling, interrupts and DMA, and peripheral drivers
Bring-Up Skills: Fluent with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, DMMs, and schematics. You diagnose timing, signaling, and electrical issues at the bench
Power Systems: Experience with power sequencing, BMS communication, and charging
Leadership: You've led engineers through an NPI cycle and made them better
Cross-Functional Influence: Proven ability to influence technical direction without direct authority and successfully partner with hardware engineering, motion planning, safety, and executive leadership
Clarity of Communication: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, capable of synthesizing complex technical risks and strategies for non-technical leadership
Impact Driven: You relentlessly seek user impact and value execution over technical idealism
Proactive Simplicity: A relentless drive to reduce complexity, improve operational simplicity, and proactively identify organizational-level technical risks and address them before they become crises
Excelling in Ambitious Environments: Your best work happened where hardware deadlines were real and the plan changed weekly
Nice to have
Prior work on mobile robots, AGVs, or autonomous vehicles
Swerve, omnidirectional, or other multi-wheel steering drive control
Functional safety development (ISO 13849, IEC 61508)
Over-the-air firmware update systems for fielded fleets
Compensation
The base salary range for this role is [$200,000 to $230,000], depending on experience. Base salary is just one part of the overall compensation at Standard Bots. All full-time employees are eligible for employee stock options. We also offer paid time off, medical, dental, and vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and a 401(k) to regular full-time employees.