Senior Embedded Systems / Firmware Engineer

Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Work Arrangement: Onsite

Company: MedTech Startup, HQ in Boston with development hub in Kuala Lumpur

Product Area: Medical device, cancer screening, capsule endoscopy platform

Seniority: Senior / Lead-level individual contributor

About the Company

Equitable Technologies is an MIT-founded medical technology startup headquartered in Boston, with a fast-growing product development hub in Kuala Lumpur. We're currently operating in stealth mode as we develop a breakthrough approach to cancer screening - a mission that has the potential for massive real-world impact.

We're supported by a world-class advisory board with leaders from MIT, Harvard, the US FDA, and Cleveland Clinic- and we're now growing our team in KL to shape and deliver this technology to the world.

Our product combines miniature hardware, embedded firmware, wireless communication, sensor integration, and AI-enabled analysis in a battery-powered capsule endoscopy device.

The engineering team works across firmware, electronics, system integration, verification, and productization. This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys solving complex embedded systems problems at the boundary of firmware, hardware, and low-power device design.

Role Overview

We are looking for a Senior Embedded Systems / Firmware Engineer to own and drive firmware development for a battery-powered medical device platform.

This is a firmware-first role. The ideal candidate has strong experience in embedded C/C++, ARM-based MCU/SoC platforms, RTOS or bare-metal development, hardware bring-up, system debugging, and low-power optimization. You will work closely with hardware, electronics, mechanical, AI, and product teams to bring a complex medical device from prototype through productization.

You do not need to be a dedicated RF engineer or PCB designer, but you should be comfortable working with hardware teams, reviewing schematics, debugging board-level issues, and making firmware decisions that affect power consumption, wireless performance, reliability, and manufacturability.

Key Responsibilities

·      Design, develop, test, and maintain embedded firmware for ARM-based MCU/SoC platforms.

·      Own firmware modules across drivers, communication interfaces, power management, data handling, diagnostics, and system control.

·      Develop firmware for RTOS and/or bare-metal environments.

·      Lead hardware bring-up and board-level debugging for new prototypes and product revisions.

·      Work closely with hardware engineers on schematic review, board bring-up, sensor integration, and interface validation.

·      Optimize firmware for low-power operation in a battery-powered medical device.

·      Profile power consumption, analyze sleep/wake behavior, and improve battery-life performance.

·      Debug complex firmware, hardware, and system integration issues using JTAG, oscilloscopes, logic analyzer's, power profilers, and similar tools.

·      Implement and validate communication protocols such as I2C, SPI, UART, CAN, BLE, WiFi, or other device-specific interfaces.

·      Support wireless communication and RF-related debugging in collaboration with hardware or RF specialists.

·      Contribute to firmware architecture, coding standards, test strategy, documentation, and release readiness.

·      Support verification, validation, risk management, manufacturing test, and regulatory documentation for medical-device development.

·      Mentor junior engineers and help establish strong embedded engineering practices.

Must-Have Requirements

·      5+ years of professional embedded firmware or embedded systems experience.

·      Strong embedded C/C++ development experience.

·      Hands-on experience with ARM-based MCU/SoC platforms, such as STM32, Nordic nRF, Renesas, NXP, Qualcomm, or similar.

·      Experience with RTOS and/or bare-metal firmware development.

·      Strong understanding of low-level embedded concepts, including interrupts, DMA, memory management, peripheral drivers, timing, concurrency, and multitasking.

·      Experience developing or debugging drivers for interfaces such as I2C, SPI, UART, CAN, GPIO, ADC, PWM, timers, sensors, or similar peripherals.

·      Hands-on hardware bring-up and system debugging experience.

·      Proficiency using embedded debugging tools such as JTAG/SWD, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power analyzers, and serial/debug consoles.

·      Experience working closely with hardware or electronics engineers.

·      Practical understanding of low-power firmware design for battery-operated devices.

·      Ability to work onsite in Kuala Lumpur.

 

Strong Advantages

·      Experience with battery-powered medical devices, wearables, IoT devices, wireless sensors, automotive electronics, test equipment, or other safety-critical embedded products.

·      Experience defining or optimizing power modes, sleep states, wake sources, duty cycles, and battery-life trade-offs.

·      Experience with BLE, WiFi, sub-GHz, 433 MHz, or other wireless communication systems.

·      Ability to review schematics and identify firmware, power, signal integrity, or interface risks.

·      Experience supporting PCB bring-up, schematic review, and hardware design trade-off discussions.

·      Experience with cameras, image sensors, high-throughput sensor data, data streaming, or constrained memory systems.

·      Experience with manufacturing test, production diagnostics, bootloaders, firmware update mechanisms, or field diagnostics.

·      Experience with medical-device software standards such as IEC 62304, ISO 14971, or regulated product documentation.

·      Experience with automotive or safety-critical standards such as ISO 26262, ASPICE, MISRA C, or similar.

·      Experience mentoring junior engineers or leading firmware modules across multiple product phases.

Nice-to-Have Skills

·      PCB design experience using Altium, KiCad, OrCAD, Eagle, or similar tools.

·      Deeper RF design or antenna debugging experience.

·      Embedded Linux experience.

·      HIL testing, automated firmware testing, CI/CD, Jenkins, Python-based test automation, or hardware test frameworks.

·      Experience with Zephyr, FreeRTOS, SafeRTOS, RTX, ThreadX, or similar RTOS environments.

·      Experience working in a startup or early-stage product environment.

·      Experience taking a product through EVT, DVT, PVT, pilot build, or manufacturing transfer.

What Success Looks Like

In the first 3 months, you will be expected to:

·      Understand the device architecture, firmware stack, hardware design, and current prototype status.

·      Contribute to firmware development and debugging for core device functions.

·      Support board bring-up and hardware/firmware integration.

·      Identify key power-consumption bottlenecks and propose firmware-level improvements.

·      Improve documentation, debug visibility, and development practices where needed.

In the first 6–12 months, you will be expected to:

·      Own major firmware modules or subsystem architecture.

·      Improve battery-life performance through measurable low-power optimization.

·      Help stabilize the firmware platform for verification, validation, and productization.

·      Support design reviews, risk assessments, test strategy, and production-readiness activities.

·      Mentor junior engineers and contribute to stronger embedded engineering processes.

Candidate Profile We Are Looking For

·   The ideal candidate is a senior firmware-first embedded engineer who enjoys working close to hardware. ·   You may come from medical devices, automotive, semiconductor, wireless IoT, consumer electronics, test equipment, robotics, or industrial embedded systems.

·   You are not expected to be the sole expert in firmware, PCB design, RF design, and medical regulation. ·   However, you should be strong enough in embedded systems to collaborate effectively across these areas and make sound technical decisions for a compact, battery-powered medical device.

What We Offer

·      Be part of a MedTech startup shaping the future of healthcare technology.

·      Work in a collaborative environment with software, hardware, and AI experts.

·      Opportunity to work on cutting-edge medical technology with global impact.

·      Fast-paced startup environment with significant ownership and technical influence.

·      Competitive compensation for top-tier talent.

How to Apply

Send your CV and Cover letter about your experience to [Confidential Information]