Senior Firmware Engineer in Basingstoke, Hampshire

Lavazza Professional has ambitious plans to expand the range and features of its class leading drinks beverage systems and machines. A key part of this ambition is how we harness new technology and adapt it to benefit our customers and consumers. We are seeking dynamic and experienced Software Engineers to join the Equipment Development Team to bring this new technology to our products. The successful candidate will join the Software Engineering Team, reporting to the Global Software Engineering and Product Development Manager.

THE JOB

This job pertains to the design, development, delivery into production and maintenance of real time embedded software for the control of electromechanical systems used in Lavazza Professional equipment.

• AREA OF FOCUS: This role focuses on the development and maintenance of embedded real time control software of electro-mechanical systems.
• MANAGEMENT OF DESIGN TEAMS: Lead and coordinate software design teams, including internal and external partners and consultants to ensure complete, timely, delivery of proven control system software.
• SYSTEMS DESIGN: Responsible for conceiving, planning, and implementing embedded real time control system software designs for existing and new Lavazza Professional equipment (brewers and vending machines).
• DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION: Be a hands-on manager and key contributor to the development, delivery, and maintenance of software.
• HARNESS EXTERNAL EXPERTISE: Identify and build relationships with technology and service suppliers to support current and future products or projects.
• DRIVER FOR QUALITY: Apply software testing, verification, and validation tools to ensure best possible quality for the software and the system it controls. Evaluate and approve the software solutions delivered by external partners.
• WORK WITH CROSS DISCIPLINE PROJECT TEAMS: Consult and work collaboratively as part of a multi-disciplinary product development team, translating needs into realizable goals, and clearly reporting progress to project managers and key stakeholders as needed.
• TOOL CHAIN MANAGEMENT: Specify, deploy, and maintain appropriate tool chains for software development and software maintenance that enable agile project development.

As Lavazza Professional rapidly expands its product range and innovation, there is an ever increasing need to reduce time-to-market, as well as add new feature-rich technology that our customers demand. The Senior Firmware Engineer will lead the effort of the software discipline that forms part of multi-disciplinary project teams charged to deliver new products to market. The reach of the role is global and supports all countries we commercialize our products in; North America, Europe, and Asia.

The role requires a technically savvy creative problem solver with strong embedded firmware and control theory skills needed to act as a consultant to the wider product development teams. The individual will have the ability to turn a concept or consumer requirement into reality by deploying and managing relevant software solutions to meet the expected project scopes, schedules, and costs.

Software for Lavazza Professional products covers a wide range of domains and technologies that include embedded real time, micro-controller based electronics that use no operating system, embedded real time systems that are hosted by an operating system, and also PC platform tools. This role focusses on the embedded real time micro-controller based systems.

Working as part of a product development team, the role requires a close working relationship with mechanical and electronics engineers, as well as the understanding and appreciation of electronics and mechanical designs. The individual in this role will be required to be the project lead software expert, able to propose, define, design and deploy software systems that work seamlessly with the other parts of the system. The individual will be expected to play an active role in system design, such as evaluating and selecting appropriate processors and other intelligent devices and conceiving and proving control applications.

Software project teams will be a mixture of internal and external individuals. The individual in this role is required to be a “player manager”, both as a manager and an individual contributor, with a high degree of self-motivation, the ability to be self-starter, and a strong team player.

Education - Minimum - Honours Degree in Computing/Software or related engineering subject

Knowledge and Experience

• TEAM AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Knowledge and experience leading project teams, including multidiscipline teams, both at a functional, as well as at a project level, managing internal and external resources.
• DESIGN EXPERIENCE: Broad experience designing software for embedded systems control applications integrating electrical/electronic and mechanical systems. Proven experience in putting control theory into practice. Experience in the control of motors, actuators, and thermal devices including PID and PWM control. Comfortable working at a data sheet level, selecting/specifying microcontrollers, and intelligent ICs. Experience of interfacing to a wide and diverse range of devices using industry standard protocols SPI, SCI, IIC, serial and network interfaces. Experience of designing for and managing digital and analogue signals. Knowledge of a wide range of microcontroller and micro-processor technologies and able to select appropriate micros to meet design needs. Knowledge of Renesas, ST, and Freescale processors is an advantage.
• DATA ANALYSIS: Creative problem-solving ability with strong data analysis skills. Ability to design solutions for the real world controlling mechanical and thermal devices. Understanding of electrical and mechanical tolerances and designing fail safe robust software.
• PRODUCT: Experience designing complex real time embedded software system architectures including control integration with electromechanical systems. Experience designing and developing Bare Metal and RTOS applications. Ideally this will be in consumer white goods, vending or process control products.
• PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES: Expert level of competence in Embedded Structured ANSI-C / C++ for real time embedded systems. Experience of OOD, C++ and C#, XML an advantage. Sound understanding and proven experience of fault tolerant software design principles for real time embedded systems. Knowledge of microprocessor fundamentals and ability to configure and build systems. Comfortable analyzing build maps.
• DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENTS AND TOOLS: Expert experience in design and development IDEs and tools such as IAR EW, Keil uVision or Microsoft Visual Studio. High levels of competence with electronics laboratory tools such as oscilloscopes and data loggers and a variety of software debug tools. Experience of Linux and Qt Embedded is an advantage. Experience of Source Code Control Systems including Git. Understanding and experience of Agile project tools. Understanding and experience of software testing techniques, theory, and tools.

Minimum skills required are - ANSI-C Structured Embedded, Control Theory, Exp in Mechtronics, PC Dev Environments, Mechatronic Systems, Consultant to Electronics Engineering, Bare Metal bring up, Real Time System Design, Motor Control, AC/DC Systems, PWM, PID, SPI, Source Control - Git or other, Digital and Analogue.

Please only apply if you are based within the UK due to the interview process. The successful candidate will be subject to reference checks and completing a DBS check.