Embedded Software Engineer in Cramlington

We are looking for strong professional experience writing embedded software in C and C++. We want a solid understanding of low-level systems, including registers, interrupts, DMA, memory mapping, timing constraints, and peripheral configuration. We need practical experience with RTOS concepts such as tasks, queues, semaphores, mutexes, stack limits, scheduling, and resource ownership. We expect a clear commitment to writing clean, readable, maintainable, and testable code. We need comfort debugging physical hardware using tools such as oscilloscopes, logic analysers, serial consoles, and schematics. We value a genuine passion for technology, embedded systems, and building products that work in the real world. We want a collaborative, practical mindset suited to a fast-moving multidisciplinary startup.

Bonus experience:

• RISC‑V architectures or custom compiler toolchains
• Embedded Template Library or allocation‑aware C++ development
• FreeRTOS on production devices
• Embedded networking protocols such as TCP/IP, Wi‑Fi, HTTP, MQTT, TLS, or AWS IoT
• OTA bootloaders, secure update flows, or fail‑safe firmware recovery
• Camera sensor interfaces, image capture, ISP pipelines, JPEG/MJPEG encoding, or image processing
• Deploying quantised machine learning models using TensorFlow Lite Micro, ONNX, or local NPUs
• STM32, Cortex‑M, ESP32, or similar microcontroller platforms
• Consumer electronics, IoT products, or connected devices shipped to real users
• Working in small engineering teams where software, electronics, mechanics, and manufacturing overlap

Responsibilities:

• Develop and optimise production‑grade C and C++ firmware for a dual‑core, heterogeneous RISC‑V SoC running FreeRTOS.
• Maintain and expand firmware responsible for Wi‑Fi connectivity, secure TCP/IP cloud communication, local e‑paper UX rendering, SD/MMC storage, USB interfaces, and over‑the‑air update flows.
• Work on high‑speed camera capture, hardware‑accelerated JPEG encoding, local NPU classification pipelines, and inter‑core communication between processing domains.
• Configure, debug, and maintain interfaces including I2C, SPI, UART, USB, SD/MMC, GPIO, timers, DMA, and other SoC peripherals.
• Design robust software abstractions suitable for constrained systems, using tools such as the Embedded Template Library to manage fixed‑capacity data structures and avoid memory fragmentation.
• Diagnose issues on real prototypes using oscilloscopes, logic analysers, serial consoles, datasheets, schematics, and careful reasoning.
• Work closely with our lead electronics engineer and wider hardware team.
• Help ensure firmware is stable, recoverable, testable, and suitable for real customers using the product every day in unpredictable home environments.
• Meaningful ownership from day one and help shape the embedded architecture of our product line.

Technologies: AI, AWS, Cloud, Embedded, Firmware, FreeRTOS, Hardware, HTTP, IoT, Machine Learning, MQTT, TCP/IP, TensorFlow, UX, UI Design, C++, LLM, Robotics.

We are OnlyCat, a fast‑growing smart pet technology company building intelligent, AI‑powered products for cat owners around the world. We have grown from a home prototype into a global brand with thousands of smart cat flaps shipped, 4x year‑on‑year growth, and recognition on BBC One’s Dragons’ Den. We are now scaling production, deepening our technology stack, and building the next generation of smart pet appliances. You will join a hands‑on, collaborative engineering team working across embedded software, electronics, mechanical engineering, product design, AI, and manufacturing. This is an on‑site role in our mechatronics lab, giving you direct access to hardware, prototypes, and test equipment. We offer a salary of £33,000–£60,000 depending on experience, EMI share options, on‑site and free parking, a company pension, casual dress, and regular company‑sponsored social events.