Embedded Systems Software Engineer – Linux, Containers & Tactical SDR
- Compensation
- Not disclosed
- Location
- North Charleston, SC, US
- Work setup
- Not specified
- Seniority
- Not specified
- Employment
- Contract
- Experience
- 3+ years
- Category
- Embedded
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, or equivalent practical experience, with 3-5 years of embedded software engineering experience
- Proficient in C and C++ (standard library, POSIX APIs) with the demonstrated agility to navigate, read, and contribute to polyglot codebases.
- Solid hands-on experience using Python and Bash for system scripting, test automation, and workflow tooling
- Strong working knowledge of Linux operating environments (RHEL, Rocky, Ubuntu, or CentOS), including command-line navigation, systemd, package management, kernel log analysis (dmesg), and build utilit
- Working knowledge of container technologies (e.g., Docker, Podman, OCI standards) with experience writing multi-stage Containerfiles/Dockerfiles and debugging container networking and volume mounts
- Experienced in embedded system debugging using tools such as GDB, strace, valgrind, and system profilers
- Highly resourceful problem solver who excels at picking up new frameworks, reading undocumented code, and collaborating within an agile team environment
- Active DoD Secret clearance
Nice to have
- Hands-on exposure to Software Defined Radio platforms or frameworks such as REDHAWK SDR, GNU Radio, or SCA (Software Communications Architecture)
- Familiarity with distributed middleware (e.g., CORBA, omniORB, DDS, gRPC) or serialized protocols (RS-232/422, CAN bus, MIL-STD-1553, TCP/UDP sockets)
- Experience configuring custom embedded Linux images using Yocto Project, Buildroot, or PetaLinux
- Exposure to modular defense open standards such as SOSA, CMOSS, MORA, or OpenVPX
- Familiarity with Go (Golang), especially in the context of container tooling and microservices
- Exposure to digital signal concepts, vocoders/audio codecs, or precision timing protocols (IEEE 1588 PTP, GPS/PPS sync)
Full description
Description
We are seeking a versatile, proactive Embedded Systems Software Engineer to join the next-generation USMC software-defined radio (SDR) Operating Environment (OE) team. This is a "swiss army knife" role designed for an engineer who loves working across the full embedded software stack—from low-level Linux system configuration and driver interfaces up to container orchestration and waveform service integration.
On this project, you will collaborate with lead architects and SDR specialists to implement and validate a containerized, SCA-compliant Operating Environment (OE) on SOSA-aligned hardware. Your day-to-day work will span writing C++ device integration services (timing, serial devices, audio/vocoder interfaces, etc), building custom container images, crafting Python and Bash automation pipelines, and debugging hardware-software interactions on ARM64 systems-on-chip (SoC). If you enjoy diving into unfamiliar codebases, bridging software layers, and solving multifaceted engineering puzzles, this role is built for you.
Typical responsibilities include:
- Developing, enhancing, and debugging modular embedded C/C++ applications and background daemon services providing core OS features (Vocoder, PNT/Timing, Serial I/O, Device Proxies)
- Building, packaging, testing, and optimizing container images (Docker, Podman) designed to run tactical radio components and waveforms deterministically on embedded hardware
- Creating Python and Bash scripts to automate container orchestration, system configuration, build pipelines, integration tests, and hardware verification suites
- Deploying and validating software running on embedded Linux platforms (primarily ARM64 and x86_64), assisting with driver-level debugging, peripheral bring-up, and bus communications
- Diving into diverse codebases (ranging from modern container runtimes to legacy C/C++ libraries and middleware) to diagnose performance bottlenecks, memory leaks, and interface mismatches
- Supporting laboratory hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing, test tool development, and participate in customer milestones and waveform demonstrations
#LI-KS1
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, or equivalent practical experience, with 3-5 years of embedded software engineering experience
- Proficient in C and C++ (standard library, POSIX APIs) with the demonstrated agility to navigate, read, and contribute to polyglot codebases.
- Solid hands-on experience using Python and Bash for system scripting, test automation, and workflow tooling
- Strong working knowledge of Linux operating environments (RHEL, Rocky, Ubuntu, or CentOS), including command-line navigation, systemd, package management, kernel log analysis (dmesg), and build utilities (CMake, Make, GCC/Clang)