Senior Embedded Systems Engineer

As America refires its manufacturing base, Detroit is leading a new wave of innovation across mobility and manufacturing. First Principle has been retained by a rapidly growing startup at the center of this movement, developing a next-generation EV platform that is redefining an entire class of consumer and commercial vehicles.

Our client has moved from prototype to production in record time, with vehicles already delivered to customers, driven by a small, execution-focused engineering team that values ownership, speed, and building hardware that works in the real world.

We’re now seeking a Senior Embedded Systems Engineer to take technical ownership of vehicle electrical and control systems, spanning embedded firmware, custom electronics, and full-vehicle electrical integration. This is a highly hands‑on role, working closely with mechanical engineers, technicians, and the CTO to design, build, test, and continuously improve production vehicles.

• Own the design and evolution of vehicle electrical and embedded control architectures across current and future platforms.
• Develop embedded firmware for custom hardware, writing production‑quality code to control and monitor vehicle subsystems.
• Design and integrate custom electronic assemblies, including schematic capture, PCB layout coordination, bring‑up, and validation.
• Specify and integrate power electronics, protection devices, sensors, and control hardware appropriate for automotive environments.
• Diagnose and resolve electrical and firmware issues at both bench and vehicle level, feeding learnings back into robust design improvements.
• Support prototype and production builds, working hands‑on with technicians during wiring, installation, and test.

• Proven experience building embedded or electrical systems that shipped as real products, ideally in vehicles, robotics, aerospace, or industrial hardware.
• Strong fundamentals in embedded systems and low‑voltage electrical design, with comfort working across hardware and firmware boundaries.
• Experience developing firmware for microcontroller‑based systems (C/C++), including debugging and field validation.
• Comfortable owning ambiguous problems and driving them from concept through production without heavy process overhead.
• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechatronics, or a closely related field.
• Likely 5+ years of relevant industry experience in hands‑on hardware development environments.

This is not a desk role; you’ll spend meaningful time on the shop floor and in vehicles, diagnosing issues, validating designs, and refining systems for reliability, manufacturability, and serviceability.

This business has real momentum, with strong venture backing and growing commercial revenue, yet remains early enough that individual engineers have outsized influence on both product direction and engineering culture.

For more information, apply or reach out to our team today.