About 1X
We’re an AI and robotics company based in Palo Alto, California, on a mission to build a truly abundant society through general‑purpose robots capable of performing any kind of work autonomously.
We believe that to truly understand the world and grow in intelligence, humanoid robots must live and learn alongside us. That’s why we’re focused on developing friendly home robots designed to integrate seamlessly into everyday life.
We’re looking for curious, driven, and passionate people who want to help shape the future of robotics and AI. If this mission excites you, we’d be thrilled to hear from you and explore how you might contribute to our journey.
Role Overview
We are looking for a cross-functional Firmware / Embedded Engineer to develop and maintain
low-level firmware that supports and enables system-level hardware architecture. In this role,
you will focus on robust, maintainable, and well-structured embedded software that spans
multiple hardware domains and directly informs architectural decisions.
You will work closely with hardware architects, electrical engineers, systems engineers, and test
engineers to ensure firmware reliably bridges hardware capabilities and higher-level system
requirements across prototype and production platforms.
The system is a humanoid robot with 20+ distributed embedded nodes that must communicate
deterministically, fail safely, and operate continuously in uncontrolled environments. This is a
new product category. Established playbooks from adjacent industries are useful starting points,
but many of the problems you will encounter do not have known solutions. The ideal candidate
reasons from first principles, works comfortably at the boundary between firmware and
hardware, and is energized rather than frustrated by problems that require novel approaches.
Responsibilities
Develop and maintain firmware for the deterministic communication bus connecting 20+
embedded nodes to a central controller, including cyclic data exchange, distributed clock
synchronization, and protocol state management
Design real-time data interfaces and acyclic communication channels for device
configuration, parameterization, and runtime diagnostics
Architect safety communication firmware that delivers safe shutdown commands within
deterministic time bounds, using black channel principles (independent CRC, watchdog,
sequence validation) over untrusted transport
Responsible for the testing, validation, and verification of initial firmware releases to
ensure functionality, reliability, and performance requirements are met
Integrate network-based safety functions with hardware mechanisms including external
watchdogs, gate driver enables, and hardwired safe-state paths
Collaborate with hardware architects to define interfaces, requirements, and trade-offs;
support bring-up, integration, and debugging of new platforms
Implement drivers and hardware abstraction layers for embedded bus interface
(CAN,CANopen, SPI, I²C, UART) used for communication with battery management, sensors,
and peripheral ICs.
Design secure bootloader architecture with cryptographic signing and validated rollback
for firmware updates delivered over the communication bus
Develop diagnostic and telemetry infrastructure: logging, error counters, communication
statistics, and DFT hooks for production end-of-line validation
Evaluate network topology and redundancy strategies for production, considering failure
domain isolation and physical routing constraints within a mobile form factor
Document firmware architecture, interfaces, and assumptions; improve code structure,
readability, and maintainability
7+ years of industry experience with embedded systems and real-time firmware
development
Proficiency in C and C++ for embedded targets
Deterministic communication experience — production-level work implementing,
debugging, or substantially modifying a real-time communication stack on embedded
hardware. The candidate should understand at a fundamental level how cyclic data
exchange, clock synchronization, and protocol state machines work, regardless of which
specific protocol was used.
Real-time embedded firmware in bare-metal or minimal-RTOS environments, with
direct management of interrupt priorities, DMA transfers, shared-memory coherency,
and timing-critical ISR execution
Embedded bus fluency — hands-on experience with CAN/CANopen plus additional
embedded interfaces (SPI, I²C, UART, RS-485), demonstrating breadth across
communication domains
Hardware debug at the firmware boundary — experience using oscilloscopes, logic
analyzers, and packet capture tools to diagnose problems that span firmware behavior
and electrical signaling
Schematic literacy — ability to read transceiver circuits, PHY interfaces, signal-level
translation, and power sequencing without requiring hardware engineering interpretation
Firmware update / bootloader experience — design or maintenance of a production
firmware update mechanism with integrity verification and rollback capability
Comfortable debugging firmware on real hardware using standard lab tools
Ability to collaborate closely across hardware, systems, and software teams
Preferred Qualifications
First-principles problem solving — a track record of approaching unfamiliar problems
by building understanding from fundamentals rather than relying solely on vendor
documentation or established patterns. Many problems in this role do not have reference
implementations.
Safety-critical or fault-tolerant firmware — experience developing firmware where
failure has physical consequences, in automotive, aerospace, medical, industrial, or
defense applications. Familiarity with safety integrity concepts (SIL, ASIL, DAL) and
standards such as IEC 61508, ISO 26262, or DO-178C.
Safety-over-network protocols — implementation of any protocol that carries safety
commands over a communication bus using black channel principles
Autonomous or mobile robotic systems — communication architectures in systems
that move, where cabling is subject to mechanical stress and network topology must
account for physical constraints
Multi-node distributed systems — coordinating firmware behavior across many
embedded nodes (10+) sharing a common bus, including enumeration, synchronization,
and fault isolation
Experience contributing to hardware architecture or system-level design decisions
Familiarity with real-time operating systems (FreeRTOS, SafeRTOS, or similar)
Experience supporting hardware through prototype and production phases
Background in robotics or complex electromechanical systems
Benefits & Compensation
Health, dental, and vision insurance
401(k) with company match
Paid time off and holidays
Equal Opportunity Employer
1X is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, marital status, medical condition, genetic information, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.
