Embedded Engineer in Abingdon

About Us

We are a team of passionate individuals from 15 countries developing the world’s first biosecurity platform built to combat critical pest threats to human health, food security and the environment.

With a deep commitment to trust, integrity and collaboration, Flyttr has become the trusted partner of governments, industries, philanthropies and communities seeking to make bold advancements on the biggest pest threats of our time.

We work with urgency because lives and livelihoods depend on it.

Successful candidates will find Flyttr to be an exhilarating place to do their best work and will find that every person at Flyttr plays a critical role in a dynamic, exciting, team-oriented culture.

Purpose of the Job

We're looking for a mid-level Embedded Software Engineer to design, develop, and maintain firmware for our embedded systems which are comprised of capacitive pest-detection Io T sensors deployed in the field globally.

These require robust firmware that reliably operates in a variety of environmental conditions with operations that maximise battery life.

A central part of the role is characterising, calibrating and extending the capacitive sensing that underpins detection – including proposing alternative sensing controllers as current parts reach end-of-life, and developing the on-device signal processing needed to scale the platform to new pest species.

This role sits close to the hardware so the engineer will be comfortable not just writing production-quality C code but also getting hands-on with boards, components, and lab equipment.

They must be able to accurately diagnose issues and design new architecture and electronics to support new features.

They will be confident working autonomously but with technical direction from the Principal AI Engineer.

The role is hybrid; based in Milton Park, UK.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and debug embedded firmware in C for microcontrollers/microprocessors.
• Write low-level drivers for peripherals (SPI, I2C, UART, USB, CAN, ADC/DAC, GPIO, etc.).
• Optimise code for memory footprint, power consumption, and real-time performance.
• Characterise, calibrate and tune the capacitive sensing front-end; evaluate and qualify alternative sensing controllers and components as parts reach end-of-life.
• Develop and optimise on-device signal processing and detection algorithms to extend the platform to new pest species.
• Implement and maintain low-power wireless connectivity (e. g. Lo Ra/Lo Ra WAN or cellular NB-Io T/LTE-M) for globally deployed field sensors.
• Perform hands-on board bring-up: probing signals, verifying power rails, and diagnosing hardware faults.
• Debug hardware/software issues using multi-meters, oscilloscopes, network analysers.
• Solder and rework through-hole and SMD components (including fine-pitch parts) for prototyping and fault isolation.
• Contribute to architectural decisions and set firmware coding standards.
• Develop and maintain bootloaders, firmware update (OTA) mechanisms, and diagnostics.
• Document design decisions, interfaces, and technical specifications.
• Follow and refine processes for firmware development which cover the entire development life cycle.
• Support production and troubleshoot field issues, including component-level repair when needed.
• Provide technical support to operational team to ensure issues are resolved within SLAs.
• Ensure documentation is kept up to date.
• Set up robust pipelines for all cloud-based code operations.

Skills, Experience, and Education Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent experience.
• Professional experience writing embedded C for microcontrollers.
• Strong understanding of computer architecture, memory management, and interrupts.
• Experience with communication protocols: SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, USB.
• Comfortable reading schematics and datasheets, and modifying/reworking electronic components on a PCB (desoldering, replacing, bodge-wiring).
• Hands-on proficiency with lab equipment.
• Proficiency with debugging tools.
• Familiarity with version control (Git) and build systems (Make, CMake).
• Solid understanding of data structures, algorithms, and low-level optimisation.
• Experience with capacitive or mixed-signal sensing front-ends – sensor characterisation, calibration, and noise mitigation.
• Experience implementing low-power wireless connectivity for field Io T devices (Lo Ra WAN and/or cellular NB-Io T/LTE-M).
• Signal processing / detection-algorithm development (DSP, filtering, feature extraction).
• Experience with a real-time operating system (e. g. Free RTOS, Zephyr) and/or bare-metal, power-managed designs.
• Experience with cloud computing – AWS, GCP, Azure, etc.
• Familiarity with setting up and configuring robust CI/CD pipelines.
• Ability to write clear documentation and regularly update task management tickets.
• Excellent communication.
• Track record of owning projects from concept through to production.
• Proven ability to design robust systems that meet all stakeholder needs.

Desirable

• Knowledge of wireless protocols (BLE, Wi-Fi, Lo Ra, Zigbee).
• Exposure to scientific computing or numerical programming (Julia, MATLAB, Python, or similar).
• Experience working in a small team or startup and having a high degree of ownership.
• Experience with Rust and C++.
• Experience with capacitive sensors.
• Some RF experience.
• Behavioural Requirements
• Commitment to, and passion for, the Flyttr mission and values.
• Responsive to the needs of an international business working across different time zones, adapting working patterns in-line with business requirements.
• Positive, humble, co-operative and professional always.
• Works with urgency and solves things promptly.
• Resilient and persistent in an innovative and constantly changing environment.
• Proactive, resourceful, and comfortable building processes from scratch.
• Values collaboration and works effectively with global colleagues.

Flyttr is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.