Principal Embedded Software Engineer
Mainspring Energy
Software Engineering
Menlo Park, CA, USA
USD 210,100-247,200 / year
Posted on Feb 12, 2026
Principal Embedded Software Engineer
3.4 out of 5 stars
3601 Haven Ave, Menlo Park, CA 94025
$210,100 - $247,200 a year
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Company Overview
Mainspring Energy is revolutionizing power generation with the world’s most flexible and adaptable local power generation technology, the Mainspring Linear Generator. Commercial, industrial, and utility leaders are choosing Mainspring over traditional options like engines, turbines, and fuel cells to quickly and reliably deliver local power for EV charging, commercial facilities, data centers, and grid-scale operations. The Mainspring Linear Generator is fuel flexible, ramps up and down to meet demand, and utilizes a flameless reaction with near-zero NOx emissions.
Backed by top-tier investors including Khosla Ventures, Bill Gates, American Electric Power, Lightrock, and General Catalyst Mainspring designs, manufactures and delivers its products to customers across the U.S. today, and we’re quickly scaling for international expansion.
Inspired by our vision of the affordable, reliable, net-zero carbon grid, Mainspring is rapidly expanding within the $816B global electricity equipment market, and we’re hiring the best talent to meet growing customer demand around the globe. We welcome a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, and talents to bring fresh perspectives and ongoing innovation to our customers.
We are looking to build relationships with people who share our values:
Pragmatic Optimism. Building a new category of world-class power generation requires the optimism of ambition and creativity, balanced with practicality to solve problems efficiently. The challenges that arise are opportunities for growth.
Excellence without Ego. We bring expertise and commitment to creating the best customer experience, from sales to deployment and service, just as we apply deep technical rigor to building and delivering world-class products. We strive for excellence and behave as leaders with the humility to acknowledge our challenges, both collectively and as individual contributors.
Proactive Collaboration. The integration and cross-disciplinary nature of Mainspring’s business requires intentionally seeking out others who bring different skills, perspectives, and priorities. Our culture of inclusion and respect extends beyond our team to interactions with our partners and customers.
More information can be found at www.mainspringenergy.com
Job Overview
We are seeking a highly experienced and technically profound Embedded Software Architect to lead the design and evolution of our next-generation product platforms. This critical role involves defining the architectural vision for embedded systems that require hard real-time performance, sophisticated control algorithms, and seamless integration with hardware. The ideal candidate will have a deep track record of bringing complex, high-reliability products to market, specifically those leveraging Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) and advanced signal processing or control theory. You will be instrumental in translating high-level system requirements into robust, modular, and maintainable software architectures.
Key Responsibilities
- Architectural Design: Define, document, and champion the end-to-end software architecture for embedded systems, ensuring compliance with system requirements for performance, safety, security, and reliability
- RTOS and Control Systems: Serve as the subject matter expert for the implementation and optimization of Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) and the integration of complex, high-frequency control algorithms (e.g., state-space, predictive control, PID loops, motor control)
- Technical Leadership: Guide and mentor embedded software development teams on best practices, design patterns, coding standards, and architectural decisions. Conduct rigorous design reviews and code inspections
- Hardware-Software Interface: Define the precise interfaces and interaction models between application software, low-level drivers, and custom hardware components, including microcontrollers (MCUs) and Digital Signal Processors (DSPs)
- Platform Strategy: Drive the evolution of our embedded software platform, identifying opportunities for reuse, modularity, and migrating legacy codebases to modern architectural patterns
- Performance Optimization: Analyze and optimize system performance, memory usage, and resource allocation to meet strict real-time deadlines and minimize latency
- Risk and Compliance: Identify and mitigate technical risks associated with architecture choices and ensure the system design adheres to relevant industry standards and safety-critical requirements
- Tooling and Automation: Evaluate and recommend development tools, build systems, continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, and testing frameworks for embedded environments
Required Qualifications
- 10+ years of progressive experience in embedded software development, with at least 3-5 years in an Architect or Lead capacity for complex systems
- Deep expertise in designing and implementing solutions using various Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) such as FreeRTOS, VxWorks, QNX, or similar
- Demonstrated experience in implementing and tuning sophisticated control algorithms and signal processing techniques in an embedded environment, ensuring hard real-time performance
- Proficiency in C/C++ for embedded systems, including advanced understanding of memory management, concurrent programming, and performance tuning
- Extensive experience defining and working with communication protocols (e.g., Ethernet, CAN, SPI, I2C, UART) and data logging/telemetry systems
- Strong understanding of hardware-software integration, including schematic review, datasheet interpretation, and low-level peripheral driver development
- Proven ability to document and communicate complex architectural concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences
Preferred Qualifications
- Master’s degree or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
- Experience with safety-critical systems or industry compliance standards (e.g., IEC 61508, ISO 26262, DO-178C)
- Experience in the design and optimization of battery management systems (BMS), motor control, power electronics, or energy grid technologies
- Familiarity with model-based design and code generation tools (e.g., MATLAB/Simulink)
Does your experience not meet all of our posted requirements? Studies have shown that some people are less likely to apply to positions unless they meet every listed requirement. At Mainspring, we are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, flexible, and collaborative environment, so if you want to help us transition the world to clean and affordable electricity, and don’t meet all posted requirements for a particular role, we’d still love to hear from you. Mainspring can sometimes be flexible enough to shift responsibilities for the right person, or otherwise identify open or upcoming roles that may better fit your professional background.
In more traditional words, Mainspring Energy, Inc is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.
This compensation and benefits information is based on Mainspring Energy's estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future. We generally do not negotiate on salary once we have made an offer. The level of pay within the range will depend on a variety of job-related factors that may include location, relevant prior experience and/or education, or particular skills and expertise. New hires joining the company tend to be paid within the starting base pay range noted above, with opportunities to increase pay over time based on development of additional skills, competencies, and company-specific knowledge.
We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.
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