Senior Embedded Systems Engineer

About us

Zenos is a highly funded next-gen AI/robotics startup, with strong customer demand. We are delivering AI productivity to the physical world. We’re attacking a trillion dollar market opportunity with a world class team at lightning speed, and having a ton of fun while doing it.

This role is for someone who thrives in ambiguity, operates independently, and likes working on interesting and varied problems with smart people from places like Google, Amazon, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, and Apple. Our founders previously started and sold a successful AI company with a nine figure exit, and our CEO has been an executive at a hyperscale tech company.

Join us early and take on outsized equity ownership. This is a chance to join a top company with a unique strategy to build the next phase of AI - in the physical world. We have a fun, friendly team, and are hiring fast.

We are currently in stealth mode, but excited to launch with major announcements soon.

What we’re looking for

We are looking for top engineers that combine experience with intellectual horsepower.

Excellence: A track record of designing, developing, and productionizing embedded and software systems.

Sense of ownership: You will work with the team to set development standards, define the tech stack, and mentor new hires as we scale.

Dynamic and resourceful: You enjoy defining the problem as you solve it, and work well with others to crack big challenges. You’re not afraid to dive into multiple parts of the stack and do something that is fundamentally new.

What you’ll do

• Develop drive-by-wire control and electro-hydraulic actuation systems on industrial ECUs, microcontrollers, and CAN gateways.

• Architect safety-critical systems on RTOS including hardware/firmware fail-safes and emergency stop (E-stop) interlocks.

• Integrate PCBs by handling board bring-up and hardware testing in laboratory and real-vehicle environments.

• Write production-grade embedded firmware for custom PCBs, ECUs, and sensor integrations.

• Collaborate with in-house experts to control autonomous vehicles and integrate with compute, sensor, and electrical or power-management subsystems within robotic platforms.

Nice to haves

• Experience: Ideally 3+ years of professional experience in high-growth environments, leading technology companies, or elite research labs with a university degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or related technical field

• Vehicle communications: integrate with vehicle buses (CAN / SAE J1939 / CANopen) to interface directly with OEM heavy equipment

• Analog controls: control analog interfaces with PWM and high-side / low-side drivers

• Robotics: ROS 2 / micro-ROS or other robotics software experience

• Languages: C, C++, Python, Rust

The perks

• Competitive salary + significant equity: we want you to own what you build

• No approvals for R&D purchases. Top-tier gear

• Full relocation support

• 100% health coverage

• Daily paid lunches

Location

Our HQ is in San Mateo, 25 minutes from San Francisco and Mountain View, walking distance from Caltrain. We’re building physical machines, so we aim for 4 days in-office with flexibility as needed.