ALSO is looking for an Embedded Validation & Tools Engineer to own validation, automation, and operational readiness for firmware and software update delivery across our fleet of embedded devices. You will play a key role in ensuring the robustness, security, and reliability of our OTA systems.

What You'll Do

Design, implement, and execute comprehensive OTA validation plans across device families and release types.
Build, manage, and scale automated testbeds and harnesses to run regression, integration, and stress tests for OTA flows.
Implement automation for end-to-end OTA pipelines using Python, shell, and CI tools.
Validate update mechanisms and components: bootloader, update agent, package formats, rollbacks, A/B partitions, and recovery modes.
Test update resilience under adverse conditions like intermittent networks, power interruptions, and low-battery scenarios.
Validate security properties: signing/verification, secure transport, secure boot, and key management.
Define metrics and KPIs, instrument devices and cloud backends to measure rollout health, and produce reports.
Perform root cause analysis on failed updates, reproduce field issues, and drive remediation.
Maintain device lab hardware and tooling stacks.
Contribute to OTA process improvements: staging strategies, canary rollouts, rollback thresholds, risk assessment templates, and runbook documentation.

What We're Looking For

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field (or equivalent experience).
5+ years of hands-on experience validating embedded devices and firmware updates (OTA or similar).
Strong programming/scripting ability in Python and familiarity with C/C++ for embedded debugging.
Deep understanding of embedded platforms (embedded Linux and/or RTOS), bootloaders, partition schemes, and A/B update models.
Practical experience with building automated test harnesses and integrating tests into CI pipelines.
Experience with hardware debugging tools and workflows: serial/UART, JTAG/SWD, logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, power cycling rigs.
Familiarity with networking protocols used for OTA (HTTP(S), MQTT, CoAP) and wireless technologies (Wi-Fi, Ethernet, cellular, BLE).
Experience analyzing logs, packet captures, and device telemetry to diagnose update failures.
Strong debugging skills and methodical problem solving.
Excellent communication skills — able to write clear test plans, runbooks, and postmortems.

Nice to Have

Experience with cloud OTA platforms and services: AWS IoT Device Management, Mender, Azure IoT, Google Cloud IoT, or custom fleet management systems.
Knowledge of secure update practices: code signing, public key infrastructure, TPM/secure element integration, secure boot implementations.
Experience with CAN/LIN, automotive-grade validation, or industrial protocols for fleeted devices.
Familiarity with containerization/virtualization for test environments (Docker, QEMU).
Experience with large-scale rollout strategies (canary/capacity ramping, staged rollouts, feature flags).
Firmware build systems and OS build frameworks (Yocto/OpenEmbedded, Buildroot).
Prior experience with telemetry frameworks and analytics (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK).

Technical Stack

Languages & Platforms: Python, C/C++, Embedded Linux, RTOS
Tools & CI: U-Boot, Jenkins, GitLab CI, CircleCI, JTAG, SWD
Network & Wireless: HTTP(S), MQTT, CoAP, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Cellular, BLE
Cloud & Services: AWS IoT Device Management, Mender, Azure IoT, Google Cloud IoT
Infrastructure & Analytics: Docker, QEMU, Yocto, OpenEmbedded, Buildroot, Prometheus, Grafana, ELK

Team & Environment

You will work closely with Firmware, Release, QA, and Cloud teams to close the loop from release to fleet health.

Benefits & Compensation

Salary range: $140,000-$170,000 per year.
Excellent health, dental and vision insurance covered up to 100% by ALSO with FSA & HSA options.
One Medical membership and dedicated insurance advocates.
Rich fertility and family building benefits with Progyny.
Flexible time off.
401(k) match.