Senior Firmware Engineer

At Wavelynx, we design and manufacture open-architecture physical access control hardware and software solutions. Our reader and controller technologies bridge the gap between traditional smart credentials, mobile credentials (Apple Wallet, Employee Badges), and secure cloud-managed networks. We empower physical security systems to be flexible, interoperable, and future-proof.

Position Overview

We are seeking a Senior Firmware Engineer to develop and optimize current embedded products along with our next-generation of access control products. In this role, you will work closely with hardware, software, and systems engineering teams to design resilient firmware handling NFC/RFID communications, secure element integrations, cryptographic protocols, and network communications (OSDP, Ethernet, IP-based access control).

Supervisory Responsibilities

None

Duties/Responsibilities

• Architect, implement, and maintain bare-metal and RTOS-based firmware for smart card readers and controllers.
• Optimize high-frequency (13.56 MHz) RFID/NFC field processing, ISO/IEC 14443, ISO/IEC 18092, and MIFARE/DESFire protocols.
• Integrate and secure mobile credentials, including Apple Wallet and Google Wallet credentials, using Secure Elements (SE) and Secure Application Modules (SAM).
• Implement secure physical and logical communication protocols between readers, controllers, and cloud environments (e.g., OSDP, TLS/TCP/IP, RS-485, BLE, Ethernet).
• Develop robust firmware update mechanisms (OTA / FOTA) over network protocols while ensuring tamper resistance and zero downtime.
• Troubleshoot complex networking issues across local serial buses, IP networks, and RF interfaces.
• Collaborate with hardware engineers during schematic review, board bring-up, signal integrity testing, and power management optimization.
• Drive automated firmware testing, unit testing, and CI/CD pipelines for hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) environments.
• Lead root-cause analysis for field escalation issues related to RF performance, timing dependencies, or protocol compliance.

Required Skills/Abilities

• 5+ years of professional embedded software development experience using C and C++.
• Strong background with real-time operating systems (FreeRTOS, Zephyr, or similar) and ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers.
• Experience with logic analyzers and oscilloscopes.
• Be willing to travel domestically and internationally ranging from 0 to 10 days per year.

Nice to Haves

• Direct background in the Physical Access Control System (PACS) industry.
• Hands-on experience with NFC chipsets (e.g., ST25R-series similar), ISO 14443 Type A/B, Felica, or ISO 15693 standards.
• Proven expertise with industrial or secure communication protocols (OSDP, RS-485, TCP/IP, UDP, TLS/DTLS, MQTT, or BLE stack development).
• Deep knowledge of symmetric/asymmetric encryption (AES, ECC, RSA), PKI, secure boot, and hardware root-of-trust implementations.
• Experience with static code analysis and RF test equipment (e.g., Proxmark, network analyzers).
• Exposure to compliance and certification standards (UL 294, FCC, CE, ISO/IEC standards).

Salary Benefits

Salary: $120-150k

Benefits include great rates on company-sponsored medical, dental, and vision with HSA-eligible plans available, generous retirement with up to 6% 401k match, and holidays, vacation, and sick leave.