Controls and Firmware Engineer

We're looking for a Controls & Firmware Engineer to make our exoskeleton walk.

You'll own everything that runs on the device: the low-level firmware, the controls algorithm that decides how much torque to give and when, and the full pipeline that trains it, from data collection to model deployment. You'll take over firmware and controls, with a hands-on handover from the current team in the first weeks. From then on, you're the lead on firmware and controls, sitting next to the units and the soldiers who use them.

You'll report to our Engineering Lead and work daily with the software engineer and the field team. This is a lead role: you decide, ship and take responsibility for what is on the device. You'll thrive in a fast-paced environment and make decisions on your own.

What you'll do

• Make the exoskeleton feel right in every situation a soldier is in, on the move and under load
• Improve our machine-learning controls, retrain them with new data, and ship a release every week with notes on what changed and how to test it
• Write and maintain the embedded firmware: motor control over CAN, IMU and sensor reading, fault handling, battery and thermal limits, logging, Bluetooth to the app, over-the-air and USB updates
• Put reliability first: a unit in the field must never do something unexpected to the person wearing it
• Run data collection in Kyiv (treadmill, stairs and ramps, cameras for ground-truth labeling, wearable IMUs, new subjects every week) and make the collect, label, train, release loop fast
• Own the full data-to-model-to-firmware pipeline: the training server and its historical dataset, training infrastructure, dataset management and model deployment
• Take over our motor driver firmware, test it, make it reliable and own it going forward
• Work with the software engineer on what the device records and how the data gets off it, so the app and fleet dashboard can show every test and every unit
• Support the field: flash and update units, read logs from tests, explain what the firmware is doing to the field team, and turn what soldiers say into the next release
• Join the firmware sync with engineering twice a week
• Take ownership and make fast, practical decisions without waiting for detailed direction

What you'll take over

The full firmware repo and build environment (ESP32, C), the control models and training pipeline, the training server with its complete historical dataset, the data collection setup, the flashing procedure, the bench logging tool and the test playground. You take ownership of the complete data-to-model-to-firmware pipeline, including server administration, training infrastructure, dataset management and model deployment.

What you bring

• Has shipped firmware on a robot, drone, exoskeleton, prosthetic or similar: a real device with motors, sensors and a battery, used by people
• Strong in embedded C on a microcontroller (ESP32 or similar), motor control, CAN, IMUs and real-time loops, and comfortable with a scope and a soldering iron
• Strong in controls, and comfortable with machine learning in a control loop
• Can run data collection, training and the training server on your own, end to end, in Python
• Senior: decides, ships and takes responsibility for what is on the device
• Willing to grind: weekly releases, fixes in hours when a test is blocked, and going to the field when needed
• Working English for daily work with international engineers
• Based in or willing to relocate to Kyiv, full-time on-site. Any nationality

Nice to have

• Gait, biomechanics or legged robotics experience (a big plus)

Good to know

Hardware reaches real operators within days, and we release every week. We're a small team with one owner per category. Occasional extended hours, weekends and field visits may be needed. Start as soon as possible, with a one-month paid trial. Relocation to Kyiv is covered.