Firmware Emulation Engineer (RTOS/Embedded)
Zealot is deploying AI systems at the center of western cyber operations , backed by tier-1 US VCs and industry leaders. Our team includes alumni of Anthropic, xAI, and Anduril. Soon live with close U.S. allies abroad.
APPLIED AI RE RTOS/EMBEDDED QEMU STYX
Compensation 100K-195K + skin in the game equity
Location London, United Kingdom On Site
Stage Early-stage startup backed by tier 1 investors. Small, growing team with exceptionally high ownership.
- + Build the agentic systems that let Zealot automatically understand and emulate non-Linux embedded targets, the weird stuff nobody else touches.
- + Reverse and rehost firmware from niche, obscure, and unconventional devices: printers, industrial controllers, point-of-sale terminals, calculators, Russian DSPs, smart appliances, and anything else with a chip and a pulse.
- + Design workflows that can map boot logic, runtime dependencies, and peripheral stubs for proprietary RTOS and bare-metal environments with little or no documentation.
- + Turn the manual art of cracking open strange devices into scalable, AI-driven capability.
- + Hands-on reverse engineering experience with non-Linux embedded firmware, VxWorks, ThreadX, FreeRTOS, Nucleus, eCos, QNX, or proprietary/bare-metal environments.
- + You've popped open devices most people would never think to look at, and you enjoyed it.
- + Strong understanding of embedded boot flows, memory layouts, and peripheral interfaces across diverse architectures.
- + Strong C/C++ or Rust skills for low-level systems work.
- + Ability to work from zero documentation and rapidly build understanding from raw firmware dumps and runtime behavior.
Nice to Have
- + Experience with QEMU, Unicorn, or custom emulation harnesses for non-Linux targets.
- + Proficiency with tools such as Ghidra, IDA, Binwalk, GDB, and JTAG/SWD debuggers.
- + Experience patching firmware and building shims to stub out missing hardware dependencies.
- + Familiarity with ARM, MIPS, AArch64, PowerPC, Xtensa, RISC-V, or other embedded architectures.
- + Experience with niche device ecosystems, printers (HP, Lexmark, Brother), POS systems, Russian DSPs, building automation, medical devices, or similar.
- + Experience building with LLMs and AI agents.
- + The kind of person who buys random hardware at a thrift store just to take it apart.
- + Genuinely excited about the weird corners of embedded, the stranger the device, the more interested you are.
- + Clearly interested in stepping away from purely manual research and moving toward the development of AI systems.
- + Building something massive matters more to you than comfort, titles, or predictability.
- + You want to be early at a company that will change an industry, and you're ready to do what that actually takes.
Note to recruiting firms: We want the person who lights up when they encounter a device running a proprietary RTOS nobody has documented. Strong RE fundamentals are the baseline, what sets candidates apart is breadth across weird, non-standard embedded targets and genuine curiosity about niche hardware.
Ready?
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Firmware Emulation Engineer (RTOS/Embedded) APPLIED AI RE RTOS/EMBEDDED QEMU STYX New York, NY / On Site → in London employer: Zealot Labs, Inc.
Zealot is an exceptional employer for Solutions Engineers, offering a dynamic and innovative work environment where you can directly impact the deployment of cutting-edge AI-driven cyber systems. With a competitive compensation package and equity options, employees enjoy a culture of high ownership within a small, growing team that values collaboration and personal growth. The hybrid work model allows for flexibility while providing opportunities to engage with customers across the UK and Europe, making it a rewarding place for those looking to advance their careers in a meaningful way.
