Senior Embedded Systems Engineer

Consultant, Senior Embedded Systems Engineer

Field: Embedded firmware & connected-device systems

Location: 100% Remote

Engagement: Part time to full-time consulting, ~20-40 hrs/week

Duration: 6 months, with potential to extend

Reports to: Program Manager

Target start: September 2026

A senior engineer who advises and still builds — setting the embedded architecture for a connected medical device, writing the firmware that matters, and owning the interfaces to the software platform.

Client Overview

Peritia, a Career Portfolio Management company servicing the drug, device, and biologic development community, is partnering with an early-stage connected medical device company to add senior embedded-systems depth to its engineering team. The device pairs custom hardware with Bluetooth connectivity and an external software platform, and the program is making a significant jump from early prototype toward an integrated, production-bound system.

Client Business Driver

Embedded work is the constraint on this program. The client's internal team is at capacity, and its software partner is strong on backend and UI but not on firmware prototyping. This engagement brings in senior expertise to guide architecture, define the interfaces between the device and the software platform, and remove risk before it becomes downstream rework — while carrying the hands-on build in the work packages that need it most.

The Work

This role combines technical advisory support with hands-on engineering execution. The engineer reviews and guides the embedded architecture, writes and debugs firmware directly, and acts as liaison to the external software group — defining, documenting, and standing up the interfaces between the embedded system and the software platform. Where a junior engineer supports the program, this role provides design review, troubleshooting, and architectural oversight rather than handing the work off.

The right person is comfortable in an early-stage environment where there is not always a blueprint for how the work should be done — a trusted technical voice across the program, and the lead executor within defined work packages.

Key Responsibilities

• Embedded architecture — Review and guide the embedded-system architecture, including firmware, Bluetooth communications, data flow, and external software interfaces.
• Hands-on firmware — Write, modify, and review embedded firmware — bringing up hardware, debugging on the bench, and turning scope into working code.
• Interface definition — Define and document embedded-to-software interfaces: APIs and protocols, data structures, commands, states, events, configuration parameters, and expected behaviour.
• System integration — Support integration of the embedded system with the wider hardware and software ecosystem — commands, states, timing, communications, and system behaviour.
• Junior engineer support — Provide technical guidance, design reviews, troubleshooting support, and architectural oversight for decisions with significant downstream impact.
• Integration testing — Develop and execute targeted bench and integration tests to verify firmware behaviour and interfaces before full system verification.
• Technical risk reduction — Identify architectural, firmware, communication, and integration risks early, and recommend practical solutions before they create rework.
• Code & design review — Review significant firmware and embedded changes for architectural consistency, robustness, and compatibility with the broader system.
• Documentation — Generate or review embedded specifications, interface definitions, test procedures, and the technical documentation the software partner needs.

Qualifications

• Degree in computer science, computer engineering, or electrical engineering with a strong software basis — or equivalent depth earned in practice.
• Substantial embedded firmware experience across multiple products, ideally including at least one that reached production.
• Software-first thinking paired with genuine comfort at the hardware boundary — schematics, peripherals, sensors, scopes, and logic analysers. Pure software experience alone is not sufficient.
• Hands-on Bluetooth Low Energy work: GATT services, pairing and bonding, throughput, and connection reliability in the field.
• Breadth across connected-device and IoT architecture — device-to-app, device-to-cloud, provisioning, and OTA update paths.
• Fluency in C or C++ on microcontrollers, with real-time and low-power design experience.
• A track record of defining interfaces and specifications another team can build against without a second conversation.
• Experience mentoring less-experienced engineers through design review rather than by taking the work away from them.
• Comfort in an early-stage environment where the blueprint does not exist yet.

Preferred Skills

• Medical device or other regulated product experience; familiarity with IEC 62304 and design controls.
• Biosignal or sensor acquisition experience — sampling, timing, and streaming under constraint.
• Having worked opposite an external software vendor and owned the interface contract between the two.
• Taking a device from prototype through design transfer and manufacturing readiness.

Expected Commitment

Part Time to Full-time consulting, approximately 20-40 hours per week, for an initial six-month term with the potential to extend. Remote.