Job Title
Founding Firmware Engineer
Salary
£80k-£120k + Equity
Company Description
Alpha Machines is a well-funded London-based hardware startup founded by repeat unicorn founders to build critical infrastructure for the physical AI economy. The company designs and manufactures advanced power electronics and propulsion systems for aerospace, defense, and robotics, leveraging its proprietary AlphaOS AI platform to re-industrialize Europe through vertically integrated manufacturing.
Job Description
As the first firmware hire, you will own the entire embedded software platform for Alpha Machines’ propulsion systems. You’ll architect the RTOS, hardware abstraction layer, and bootloaders while bridging the gap between Simulink control models and real-time execution. Your work ensures reliability and performance in safety‑critical applications across aerospace and robotics.
Location
London, UK
Why this role is remarkable
- Join a high‑pedigree founding team of repeat unicorn founders as the first embedded software hire, gaining massive ownership over the firmware architecture and stack.
- Work on mission‑critical hardware where your code directly drives physical systems in aerospace and defense, contributing to the re‑industrialization of Europe.
- Receive a significant founding‑team equity stake in a well‑funded startup building the fundamental infrastructure for the next generation of physical AI.
What You Will Do
- Architect and own the complete embedded firmware platform, including RTOS integration, hardware abstraction layers, and secure bootloaders for ARM Cortex‑M targets.
- Implement deterministic communication stacks for CAN, DroneCAN, and SPI, ensuring high‑reliability data transfer and fault tolerance for safety‑critical drone applications.
- Develop the code generation toolchain using Embedded Coder to translate complex MATLAB/Simulink control models into high‑performance, deployed embedded C/C++ firmware.
The ideal candidate
- Has 5+ years of experience building RTOS‑based embedded platforms from hardware bring‑up through production, with deep proficiency in ARM Cortex‑M microcontrollers.
- Demonstrates expert‑level mastery of embedded C/C++, interrupt‑driven architectures, and peripheral driver development for resource‑constrained environments.
- Possesses hands‑on hardware expertise, including reading schematics and using oscilloscopes, combined with experience in model‑based design toolchains like Simulink and Embedded Coder.
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