Position Summary
The successful candidate will design, develop, integrate, and validate embedded systems used throughout our marine propulsion control products.
This is a hands-on engineering role focused primarily on embedded software development for microcontroller-based control systems, with opportunities to contribute to hardware design, system integration, testing, and product validation depending on experience.
Working closely with electrical, mechanical, and systems engineers, the successful candidate will take embedded products from concept through production, including requirements development, implementation, debugging, verification, documentation, and field support.
Responsibilities
· Design, develop, and maintain embedded software in C/C++ for microcontroller-based marine propulsion control systems.
· Develop software that interfaces with sensors, joysticks, displays, CAN networks, and electro-mechanical equipment, including diagnostics, fault handling, and communication with other vessel systems.
· Participate in system architecture, requirements development, software design, implementation, integration and verification.
· Perform hardware/software integration, board bring-up, laboratory testing, troubleshooting, root-cause analysis, and occasional sea trials.
· Develop and maintain Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) systems, automated test equipment, engineering tools, and manufacturing test systems.
· Design, implement, and maintain automated verification infrastructure, including unit testing, regression testing, code coverage, build systems, continuous integration, and release automation.
· Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, manufacturing, and field-service teams to support product development, production, and continuous product improvement.
· Depending on experience, contribute to electronic circuit design, component selection, schematic capture, PCB development, and prototype evaluation.
· Take ownership of engineering projects from concept through production, delivering practical, reliable, and well-documented solutions.
· Support manufacturing, production testing, and customer field support as required.
· Prepare engineering documentation including requirements, design specifications, interface documents, test procedures, and verification reports.
Desired Qualifications
· B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a closely related engineering discipline. M.S. degree is a plus.
· 3+ years of professional experience developing embedded systems.
· Strong proficiency in embedded software development using C/C++.
· Experience developing software for real-time, microcontroller-based systems.
· Experience with communication protocols such as CAN, J1939, NMEA 2000, Ethernet, RS-232, RS-485, SPI, I²C, and UART.
· Experience debugging embedded hardware and software using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, protocol analyzers, JTAG/SWD, and other laboratory equipment.
· Experience developing automated test systems, engineering tools, or PC-based applications using C#, Python, or similar languages.
· Familiarity with software engineering best practices, including version control, unit testing, continuous integration, automated builds, code reviews, and code coverage analysis.
· Experience developing or maintaining Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) systems or other automated verification environments is highly desirable.
· Experience with embedded software build systems, release management, and configuration management.
· Experience with electronic circuit design, schematic capture, PCB development, board bring-up, and hardware debugging is a plus.
· Excellent analytical, troubleshooting, communication, and technical documentation skills.
· Self-motivated engineer capable of working independently while collaborating effectively within a multidisciplinary team.
Preferred Technical Experience
Experience with many (not necessarily all) of the following technologies and disciplines is desirable:
Embedded Software
· Embedded C/C++
· Bare-metal and real-time embedded systems (FreeRTOS or similar)
· Microcontroller-based system design (STM32, TI, NXP, Microchip, Renesas, or similar)
· Device drivers, hardware abstraction layers (HAL), bootloaders, and firmware update mechanisms
· Embedded software architecture and modular design
· Debugging using JTAG/SWD, GDB, ST-Link, or similar tools
· Familiarity with applicable engineering standards (IEC, IEEE, ISO, MISRA, or similar)
Verification & Development Tools
· Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) systems and automated test equipment
· Unit testing, regression testing, code coverage analysis, static analysis (e.g. MISRA-C), and continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD)
· Git, Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or similar source control and build systems
· Python, C#, or similar languages for engineering tools, test automation, and manufacturing utilities
Hardware & System Integration
· Electronic circuit design, schematic capture, PCB layout, and prototype development
· Altium Designer, Autodesk Eagle, KiCad, Cadence OrCAD, or similar PCB design tools
· Oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, protocol/bus analyzers, multimeters, and data acquisition equipment
· Board bring-up, hardware/software integration, troubleshooting, and root-cause analysis
· CAN, CAN-FD, J1939, NMEA 2000, Ethernet, USB, RS-232, RS-485, SPI, I²C, UART, 1-Wire, Modbus, or similar communication protocols
· EMC/EMI awareness
Why Join Vector Controls?
At Vector Controls, you'll work on complete embedded control systems—from requirements and embedded software development to hardware integration, testing, and sea trials. As part of a small multidisciplinary engineering team, you'll have significant technical ownership and the opportunity to develop products that directly impact the performance, reliability, and safety of operational marine systems.
Experience in the marine industry is not required. We value strong embedded systems engineering fundamentals and welcome candidates from aerospace, robotics, automotive, industrial automation, medical devices, defense, and other industries where embedded hardware and software play a central role in the product.
Pay: $150,000.00 - $180,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- Dental insurance
- Paid time off
- Retirement plan
Work Location: In person
