Senior Embedded Hardware Design Engineer

Location: Singapore / Remote 🌏

Groundup.ai empowers workplaces to become AI-driven 🤖. We partner with fast-growing companies across manufacturing, aerospace, logistics, and maritime, and we are looking for a Senior Embedded Hardware Engineer to join us 🚀. You will design, develop, and optimize cutting-edge industrial AI hardware--including sensors, gateways, and edge devices ⚡. You’ll lead end-to-end embedded hardware and firmware development, ensuring robust, scalable, and reliable solutions in industrial environments 🏭.

As part of our Hardware R&D team, you’ll work in a fast-paced environment with an international team to build the next generation of smart devices for cognitive maintenance, machine health monitoring, and industrial automation ⚙️. We value team members who take ownership, move fast, and build impactful solutions 🌟.

Key Responsibilities 🛠️

• Lead technical excellence in hardware design, including analog, digital signal processing, embedded firmware, EMI/EMC compliance, and hazardous area certification 🏗️

• Ensure thorough verification and validation practices, including functional, environmental, robustness, and compliance testing ✅

• Coordinate with software development, product engineering, supply chain, and manufacturing to align design objectives and deliver cohesive solutions 🤝

• Lead mechanical design of enclosures and chassis, ensuring compliance with thermal, structural, and manufacturability requirements 🏭

• Ensure project costs, scope, quality, and timelines meet senior management goals ⏱️

• Engage and manage third-party development partners to augment internal design capabilities 👥

• Manage the entire firmware development lifecycle—from architecture, coding (C/C++), testing, and documentation to deployment 💻

• Design and review schematics and PCB layouts for rugged industrial hardware 📐

• Develop and implement test plans to ensure system reliability and performance in harsh environments ⚡

• Integrate industrial communication protocols such as CAN, Modbus (RTU/TCP), IO-Link, Profinet, Profibus, EtherCAT, and Ethernet/IP 🌐

• Troubleshoot and debug hardware and firmware issues on real industrial systems, including oil & gas machinery 🔧

• Ensure seamless data acquisition, transmission, and sensor performance in the field 📡

• Maintain accurate documentation and track bugs, updates, and design changes 📝

Requirements ✅

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field 🎓

• Strong professional written and verbal communication skills in English and Mandarin 🗣️

• 5–8 years of hands-on embedded firmware development, ideally in industrial or harsh-environment applications ⚡

• Strong technical background in electronic circuit design, PCB layout, and product testing 🏗️

• Strong proficiency in C/C++ for microcontrollers, with working knowledge in Rust or Python 💻

• Experience with industrial communication protocols and functional safety standards 🌐

• Experience with low-speed/local communication (UART, SPI, I2C, 1-Wire) 🔌

• Experience with wireless communication technologies (Bluetooth/BLE, Zigbee, LoRa, Wi-Fi) 📶

• Proficient in ARM Cortex-M microcontroller development, including startup code, interrupt handling, low-power modes, and peripheral drivers ⚡

• Experience integrating wireless LoRa/Zigbee devices with edge gateways (Linux, MQTT, Modbus TCP, cloud APIs) 🌐

• Expertise in ultra-low power design, including sleep mode optimization and current profiling 🔋

• Experience with Zigbee protocol stack, mesh networks, and sensor/gateway integration 📡

• Hands-on experience with analog and digital sensors for temperature, vibration, and sound acquisition 🌡️

• Familiarity with hardware design, schematic capture, embedded systems, and mechanical design integration 🏗️

• Experience with regulatory compliance (CE, FCC, ATEX, IECEx) ✅

• Proven success managing multi-functional engineering teams and delivering complex projects 👥

Qualifications that set you apart 🌟

• Familiarity with industrial automation systems ⚙️

• Experience in regulated industries (process, power, oil & gas, military) 🏭

• Exposure to hardware cybersecurity concepts 🔒

Benefits 🎁

• Competitive salary and Employee Stock Options 💰

• Guaranteed work on high-visibility projects 🌟

• Flexible work arrangements for selected roles 🏡

• Professional coaching and mentorship programs 📚

• Accelerated career progression and development opportunities 🚀

• Performance-benchmarked bonuses (not based on years of experience) 💹

• Career accelerator fund and tuition reimbursement for relevant post-graduate degrees, education, and courses 🎓