Staff Embedded Validation & Tools Engineer - OTA

What You'll Do

• Design, implement, and execute comprehensive OTA validation plans across device families and release types (full OS images, firmware, bootloader, A/B updates, delta/patch updates)
• Build, manage, and scale automated testbeds and harnesses (hardware-in-the-loop, virtualized devices, emulators) to run regression, integration, and stress tests for OTA flows
• Implement automation for end-to-end OTA pipelines, from build artifact signing and staging to rollout and post-update verification, using Python, shell, and CI tools
• Validate update mechanisms and components, including the bootloader, update agent, package formats, rollbacks, A/B partitions, and recovery modes
• Test update resilience under adverse conditions such as intermittent networks (cellular/Wi-Fi), high latency/packet loss, power interruptions, low-battery scenarios, storage constraints, and corrupted images
• Validate security properties, including signing/verification, secure transport (TLS), secure boot, key management, and the vulnerability surface introduced by update components
• Define metrics and KPIs (success rate, rollback rate, mean time to recover, time-to-update), and instrument devices and cloud backends to measure rollout health and produce release readiness reports
• Perform root cause analysis on failed updates, reproduce field issues, and drive remediation with firmware and backend engineering teams
• Maintain device lab hardware (JTAG, serial consoles, network emulators, power controllers, logic analyzers) and tooling stacks (Wireshark, serial monitors, provisioning fixtures)
• Contribute to OTA process improvements, including staging strategies, canary rollouts, rollback thresholds, risk assessment templates, and runbook documentation

What You'll Bring

• 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 (e.g., U-Boot), partition schemes, and A/B update models
• Practical experience building automated test harnesses and integrating tests into CI pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI, CircleCI, etc.)
• Experience with hardware debugging tools and workflows, including serial/UART, JTAG/SWD, logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, and power cycling rigs
• Familiarity with networking protocols used for OTA (HTTP(S), MQTT, CoAP) and wireless technologies (Wi-Fi, Ethernet, cellular, BLE), and experience analyzing logs, packet captures, and device telemetry to diagnose update failures
• Strong debugging skills and methodical problem solving, able to reproduce complex failure modes and propose design fixes, with excellent communication skills to write clear test plans, runbooks, and postmortems
• Preferred: Experience with cloud OTA platforms (AWS IoT Device Management, Mender, Azure IoT, Google Cloud IoT, or custom fleet management systems), secure update practices (code signing, PKI, TPM/secure element integration, secure boot), or CAN/LIN and automotive-grade validation
• Preferred: Familiarity with containerization/virtualization for test environments (Docker, QEMU), large-scale rollout strategies (canary/capacity ramping, staged rollouts, feature flags), firmware build systems (Yocto/OpenEmbedded, Buildroot), or telemetry frameworks and analytics (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK)

Additional information

The salary for this position ranges from $140,000 - $170,000 per year, depending on experience, qualifications, and location.

Perks & Benefits

• Robust health coverage - 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

• Why ALSO.
• We’re passionate about helping the world find a better way to get there-wherever it is you’re headed.
• We’re located in the heart of Silicon Valley and have brought together a world-class team from some of the biggest brands in the technology, automotive, cycling, outdoor recreation and retail spaces.
• Together we’re working hands-on to imagine, design and build an entirely new solution to a global set of transportation challenges.