XTEND, a global leader in advanced human-guided autonomous drone systems, is looking for an Embedded Team Lead to join our R&D organization and lead the development of the firmware and low-level software that power our real-time autonomous and mission-critical systems used by defense and security forces worldwide.
In this role, you will combine hands-on technical leadership with people management, guiding a team of embedded engineers while actively contributing to the design, implementation, and bring-up of firmware for our airborne platforms and payloads. You will own the embedded layer end-to-end - from microcontroller firmware and low-level drivers, through hardware/software integration, to production support and field-deployed systems.
This is a unique opportunity to lead development at the point where software meets hardware, in systems that operate in the most demanding real-world environments.
Responsibilities:
Lead and mentor a team of embedded software engineers, fostering ownership, accountability, and technical excellence
Take full ownership of embedded delivery, from architecture and board bring-up through serial production and field deployment
Act as a hands-on contributor to embedded C development for real-time, resource-constrained, mission-critical platforms
Drive hardware/software integration together with electrical, mechanical, and systems teams - from prototype through production
Ensure reliability, deterministic real-time behavior, and efficient resource utilization of firmware running on fielded systems
Conduct code and design reviews, enforce best practices, and maintain high development, testing, and documentation standards
Manage sprint planning, task prioritization, technical roadmap alignment, and delivery timelines within an Agile framework
Support recruitment, onboarding, and professional development of embedded engineers
Requirements
5+ years of hands-on real time embedded software and firmware development experience, including strong expertise in C
Proven experience leading and mentoring engineers in a technical team environment
Strong embedded system design and architectural experience
Deep understanding of embedded fundamentals: real-time behavior, interrupts, memory management, concurrency, and low-level debugging
Hands-on experience with ARM microcontroller platforms (STM32 or similar), including firmware implementation and hardware bring-up
Experience implementing and troubleshooting embedded communication interfaces such as I2C, UART, SPI, GPIO, and CAN
Ability to read schematics and work at board level, with proficiency using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and hardware debuggers
Strong experience working in Linux environments, with Git-based workflows and modern development tools
Strong ownership mindset and ability to lead technical initiatives end-to-end
Advantages:
Experience with bootloaders and secure firmware update mechanisms
Experience with sensor integration
Experience supporting NPI, serial production, or fielded hardware systems, including production test infrastructure
Experience scaling teams or leading multi-disciplinary projects
Apply now to join XTEND and be a key player in transforming the future of human-machine interaction!
