Senior Firmware Engineer at Clera in New York City, NY

ABOUT THE ROLE This is a senior embedded firmware role on the core hardware team of an early-stage wearable AI startup, where you'll architect and ship the firmware powering a next-generation biometric wearable device. You'll work hands-on from prototype through mass production, playing a foundational role in defining how the platform is built and how it performs in the real world. The work sits at the intersection of low-power embedded design, sensor integration, and production engineering — shipping a category-defining consumer product that matters to users. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Architect and develop embedded firmware for battery-powered wearable devices. - Own core systems for low-power wireless connectivity, sensor processing, and real-time data pipelines. - Design and optimize Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connectivity for ultra-low-power operation. - Build robust power management systems to maximize battery life. - Develop multi-core embedded data pipelines for real-time sensor acquisition and processing. - Integrate biometric and environmental sensors via SPI, I2C, UART, GPIO, DMA, and interrupts. - Optimize firmware performance, memory usage, latency, and reliability. - Lead board bring-up, debugging, validation, and manufacturing support. - Collaborate with hardware, algorithms, product, and industrial design teams across the full product lifecycle. - Establish firmware best practices, testing, and CI workflows for the team. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - 6+ years of embedded firmware engineering experience, with a track record of shipping battery-powered wearable or consumer electronics devices to production. - Deep expertise in Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) systems and low-power embedded architectures. - Strong proficiency in Embedded C/C++ and RTOS-based systems (e.g., FreeRTOS, Zephyr). - Hands-on experience with ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers and modern debugging tools. - Experience with multi-core embedded data pipelines and always-on power optimization. - Sensor integration experience using SPI, I2C, UART, GPIO, DMA, and interrupt-driven designs. - Familiarity with secure bootloaders, OTA firmware updates, wireless certification, and production firmware. - Background in sensor fusion, signal processing, or biometric sensing is a strong plus. - Experience with platforms such as Nordic, Qualcomm, Ambiq, or STMicroelectronics is a plus. - Comfortable working in person with a small, fast-moving engineering team. LOCATION This role is on-site in New York, NY. Visa sponsorship is not available.