Embedded & Firmware Engineer (human)
NEURA Robotics
Metzingen, Germany
- NEW
Embedded & Firmware Engineer (human)
Neura Robotics • Metzingen
This is where Artificial Intelligence comes to life
The Hardware Department is at the heart of developing our high-performance and innovative robots. It's in charge of designing, constructing, and optimizing the robot's physical components, including mechanical parts, sensors, and electrical systems. The team collaborates closely with other departments, like software development and product management, to ensure that the hardware aligns seamlessly with software and system requirements. This involves tasks like mechanical design and prototyping of components, using CAD tools and 3D printing technologies.
- Full-time
Metzingen
You write the firmware that makes cognitive robots tick — at 1 kHz and beyond.
NEURA's robots run dense, safety-relevant, real-time workloads across a distributed network of microcontrollers and SoCs. Your firmware keeps the system deterministic, observable, and ready for the AI stack above it. You'll work across the embedded stack — from bare-metal drivers and BSP (Board support package) bring-up to RTOS application layers, communication middleware, and OTA infrastructure — collaborating closely with electronics, systems, and AI/software engineers.
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BSP & driver development: Develop, port, and maintain board support packages and low-level peripheral drivers (GPIO, SPI, I²C, UART, CAN-FD, EtherCAT, USB) for ARM Cortex-M and Cortex-A targets; support hardware bring-up from first power-on.
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RTOS application layer: Architect and implement FreeRTOS (or equivalent) task structures, inter-task communication, priority management, and resource allocation for safety-critical real-time applications.
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Sensor & actuator integration: Integrate IMUs, encoders, tactile sensors, ToF sensors, force/torque sensors, and BLDC motor controllers into the firmware stack; implement filtering, calibration routines, and data timestamping.
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Communication middleware: Implement and maintain embedded communication stacks — CAN-FD network management, micro-ROS / DDS-XRCE bridge, EtherCAT slave stack — ensuring reliable, low-latency data exchange with the main robot controller.
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Safety & monitoring: Implement hardware watchdogs, software safety monitors, safe-state machines, and power-loss handling; contribute to functional safety analysis (FMEA, safety requirements allocation).
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OTA & configuration management: Design and maintain firmware update mechanisms (OTA, JTAG/SWD flashing), boot sequence management, non-volatile configuration storage, and firmware versioning aligned with the PLM system.
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Testing and CI: Write unit and integration tests for firmware modules; support HIL (hardware-in-the-loop) test setups; integrate automated firmware testing into CI/CD pipelines.
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Documentation and code quality: Maintain clear, peer-reviewed code with proper documentation; participate in firmware architecture reviews and contribute to shared coding standards across the embedded team.
Deep embedded expertise with a system-level mindset.
You are an embedded engineer who thinks in terms of determinism, latency, and resource constraints — and who is equally comfortable writing a CAN driver as reviewing a schematic with the hardware team. You understand that firmware quality is invisible when it's good and catastrophic when it's not.
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Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Embedded Systems, or a related field.
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3+ years of professional embedded firmware development experience in a real-time, resource-constrained environment (robotics, industrial automation, medtech, automotive, or similar).
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Expert-level C/C++ for microcontrollers; strong understanding of memory models, volatile/atomic operations, stack management, and linker scripts.
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Solid hands-on experience with ThreadX or a comparable RTOS — task creation, synchronization primitives, interrupt handling, and timing analysis.
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Experience with ARM Cortex-M series (M0/M3/M4/M7/M33) and ideally also Cortex-A targets running embedded Linux or Zephyr.
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Practical experience with key peripheral interfaces: EtherCAT, SPI, I²C, UART, USB CDC/HID, CAN-FD, or similar; ability to debug protocol issues with logic analyzers and oscilloscopes.
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Familiarity with micro-ROS or ROS 2 integration (fastDDS) is a significant advantage.
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Experience with firmware CI/CD, unit testing frameworks (Unity, Ceedling, GoogleTest for embedded), and version control (Git).
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Ability to read hardware schematics and collaborate effectively with electronics and mechanical engineers at the HW/SW boundary.
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Good English; German is a practical advantage for day-to-day collaboration.
What you can look forward to
Creative Freedom and Agility
Enjoy a dynamic, self-reliant work culture with flat hierarchies, flexible hours, and 30 vacation days. Ideal for those seeking an inspiring professional setting, whether you're starting out or an experienced exec.
Passion for Winning
A passionate and highly skilled team of international experts aiming to redefine robot assistants.
Attractive Compensation
Enjoy a competitive salary package along with exclusive employee discounts.
One Team
Whether it's a summer party or company town hall meetings, we celebrate our successes together.
Professional Growth
Support for your personal and professional development.
Our values. The cornerstones of our success.
We are a team. We strive to achieve great things by promoting the success of our colleagues and partners.
We strive for technological progress in order to give people back their valuable time for enjoyable activities.
We strive to revolutionize the world of robotics by pushing the boundaries of technology every day.
We live a high level of appreciation through open communication and transparency.
We do our best to always be two steps ahead. We achieve this through empowerment, freedom of action and personal responsibility.
People are at the center of everything we do.
Our Location
Our headquarters in Metzingen and Riederich are the heart of our company. It's not just home to our offices, but also our production facilities, Academy, logistics, and Tech Labs—all working together to turn ideas into reality. Riederich itself is a small, peaceful town, just a kilometer away from Metzingen, a city with its own unique character. Metzingen is globally renowned as Outlet City, attracting visitors from all over the world. Here, you can enjoy exclusive designer stores in a relaxed and charming setting. The city also offers a variety of restaurants, cafés, and a down-to-earth Swabian coziness—perfect for unwinding after work.
Our application process
We ensure a transparent and efficient process and look forward to getting to know you during the application process.
Your insight into our daily work
Unsere Mission
"Our goal was to develop the world's first cognitive robot that can work with people, learn from them and provide them with targeted support. And that is exactly what we have achieved. But there is much more to come!"