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.