Senior Firmware & Embedded Systems Engineer

ABOUT US:

Help us bring pregnancy into the 21st century and save the lives of millions of babies lost to preventable causes.

Project Stardust aims to save the lives of the babies lost in childbirth or late-stage pregnancy to causes that could be prevented with actionable signals about fetal growth and well-being. The problem is urgent: Stillbirths are the leading cause of infant mortality (~24,000/yr in the U.S, 1 in 150 births); many involve mechanisms where earlier detection has been proven to change outcomes. Yet only a small fraction of parents get additional monitoring and scans in their final trimester, because these are currently done in hospitals that are already overloaded and overworked. As a result, for example more than 70% of stillborn babies with growth restriction are not diagnosed until after birth.

We are building affordable, comfortable and intuitive smart belly bands that use sensor-fusion and AI-workflows to provide parents with individualized growth curves, monitor fetal movement, track fetal heart rate, measure blood flow in the umbilical cord and placenta, and provide timely alerts to seek care. The underlying technologies have all already been validated clinically - we just need to assemble them into a compelling and easy-to-use product.

Project Stardust is a 7 person team (growing rapidly!), including two serial founders with consumer hardware experience, a Stanford professor specialising in using ML on noisy datasets, and two clinicians who are experts in Maternal-Fetal Medicine and commercializing medical devices. Founded by parents who have lost a child to stillbirth, there is no-one better positioned to address this problem.

More information can be found at www.project-stardust.org

THE ROLE:

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Senior Firmware & Embedded System Engineer to join our team focused on developing an innovative wearable device for maternal health and fetal monitoring. In the role, you will be the technical anchor for our cross-functional team. You will be responsible for the complete software lifecycle, from architecting the embedded firmware and the communication layer to ensuring the security and performance of the data transmitted to the cloud.

This role demands a strong background in both embedded systems (specifically low-power communication) and a commitment to quality in a health and wellness domain.

As a key member of the team, your responsibilities will include:

• Leading the design, development, and testing of the device's embedded firmware using C/C++.
• Implementing the robust and low-latency Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) stack for secure pairing and data transmission to the companion mobile application.
• Ensuring data integrity and security for all sensitive maternal and fetal health data, adhering to relevant privacy best practices.
• Managing and mentor software engineers, conducting code reviews and promoting a culture of high-quality, documented code.
• Collaborating with Hardware Engineers on board bring-up, sensor integration, and power consumption optimization.
• Contributing to the cloud backend architecture for secure data ingestion, processing, and delivery of AI-powered monitoring features.
• Troubleshooting complex issues spanning the embedded device, BLE layer, and data pipeline.
• Bringing joy and carrying culture! As an early employee, you’ll be core to how we develop as a company.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 7+ years of experience in software development, with a minimum of 2 years in a senior role.
• Deep expertise in embedded C/C++ development for resource-constrained microcontrollers and Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) such as FreeRTOS or Zephyr.
• Experience developing, optimizing, and debugging Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocols and profiles.
• Experience with sensor data acquisition, filtering, and analysis for biometric monitoring.
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines for embedded systems.

Bonus Points

• Prior experience developing software for medical, maternal health, or consumer health-focused wearable devices.
• Experience with ultrasound.
• Prior in depth experience with at least one major cloud service provider (AWS, GCP, Azure, etc.).
• Familiarity with deploying ML models on edge compute.
• Familiarity with data privacy and security best practices (e.g., encryption, secure boot).
• Strong motivation to improve maternal and fetal healthcare.

This is a full time position working at the Project Stardust office space in the San Francisco Bay Area, starting immediately.

Project Stardust is an equal opportunity employer. Our hiring decisions are based on need and competence to satisfy said need. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other legally protected status.

Any and all offers of employment extended by Project Stardust are conditional on candidates’ ability to provide satisfactory proof of eligibility to maintain full-time employment in the United States. Unfortunately Project Stardust cannot sponsor visas at this time.