- Embedded Systems Engineer
- University of Glasgow reference: 096089
- Grade/pay scale: UoG G8 £46,047 to £53,353
- Closing date: 25 September 2022
We’re looking for an Embedded Systems Engineer to join the team at CENSIS. Details of the post are below and you can also read about the post on the University of Glasgow’s website.
To apply for this post, you can go straight to the University of Glasgow vacancies page, and search using the reference number above or simply type ‘CENSIS’ into the keyword search.
About the post
CENSIS is hosted by the University of Glasgow and works with universities, industry, and Scotland’s economic development agencies to encourage innovation within Scottish industry through collaborative projects. This innovation adoption process typically leads to the development of new products and services or the use of technology to improve business operations.
Reporting to the CENSIS Technical Director, you will work with colleagues in the CENSIS technical team together with industrial and academic partners to deliver commercially viable solutions in response to challenges posed by industry. The scale of these projects will typically range from £20K to £300K across multiple projects with durations from weeks to greater than 12 months. You may be expected to work on up to five projects simultaneously.
You’ll be responsible for developing embedded systems software for IoT connected devices as part of highly innovative R&D projects. Focused on cutting edge early-stage prototype, MVPs through to pre-manufacture designs, the embedded systems development will be at the IC level working across different micro-controllers and radio chipsets with challenging power management, memory computational and cyber-security requirements. You’ll provide support to innovation projects to develop rapid proof of concept solutions, prototypes and commercially viable software. Knowledge transfer shall be supported by supporting both academic and industrial partners using latest commercial software packages to develop solutions for IoT and connected devices.
The benefits package
This post is full time and open ended, with funding to 31 July 2024 in the first instance. As an employee of the University of Glasgow your benefits package will include a 35 hour flexible working week, 41 days’ leave (including public holidays) and a generous pension scheme, all within an inclusive, friendly working environment. Take a look at the many other staff benefits offered by the University of Glasgow.
Main duties and responsibilities
- Rapid and agile development of embedded software for connected sensor devices to create proof of concept IoT systems or prototypes to support early testing and trials to progress products and services towards commercialisation. The software will typically be deployed in embedded micro-controllers and may include RTOS, interfacing to sensors, other peripherals and radio modules. Experience should extend to hardware debugging.
- Knowledge of embedded devices and communications, bringing an awareness of IoT based development solutions from major vendors, including TI, ST, NXP, Espressif, Nordic, Silicon Labs, Quectel, RAK, Murata and ARM in order to ensure rapid implementation of solutions on projects resulting in short time to market, proof of concept or prototype solutions.
- Knowledge of software quality management and version control of the embedded system solution meeting commercial requirements to ensure customer needs for software quality are considered from an early stage in the development life cycle.
- Working collaboratively with partners (academics and industry) in rapid / agile embedded software development for IoT/connected device solutions, helping partners to quickly learn new technology and latest software development practices, including knowledge of open source and licencing. Delivering a range of specialist services, resolving issues independently and where, appropriate recommending alternative courses of action to maximise quality, efficiency and continuity.
- Perform manipulation and analysis of data, highlighting and prioritising issues for further investigation and providing reports to Project Managers in support of identifying tasks, resources and risks.
- Produce relevant documentation on the technologies and products resulting from the development work, including design, test and user documentation.
- Advise CENSIS staff on trends in software platforms, tools and techniques.
Knowledge, qualifications, skills and experience – essential
- A1 BEng / BSc / MSc in electronics, physics, computer science, or similar field
- A2 Knowledge of Wireless embedded systems development
- A3 Knowledge of C / C++ software development
- A4 Experience of commercial RTOS– FreeRTOS, Windows Embedded, Linux, Mbed OS
- A5 Knowledge of Communication and network protocols including TCP, UDP, MQTT, COAP, HTTP
- A6 Knowledge of software debugging technique
Knowledge, qualifications, skills and experience – desirable
- B1 MSc or higher degree in electronics, computer science, wireless network or similar field
- B2 Knowledge of Bluetooth, Zigbee, LPWAN (LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, CATM) and cellular
- B3 Knowledge of Data security – SSL, PKI, cryptograph, hashing and network protocols
- B4 Knowledge of Software Life Cycle Management and version control
- B5 Knowledge of Software test strategies
- B6 Knowledge of coding standards e.g. MISRA C
- B7 Knowledge of Edge processing frameworks including uTensor and Tensor Flow Lite.
Skills – essential
- C1 The ability to prioritise work based on both the needs of users, whilst bearing in mind the clients key strategic priorities
- C2 Problem solving ability
- C3 Communication skills, ability to convey complex technical data in simple manner.
- C4 Presentation skills, confident presenting an demonstrating technical concepts and products
- C5 Good interpersonal skills are required for working directly with end users and project stakeholders
- C6 Ability to demonstrate an understanding of user requirements including conceptualising and interpreting wider service requirements.
Experience – essential
- E1 Minimum of 4 years relevant post-degree industrial work experience including development experience with real time embedded systems for senior role.
- E2 Experience of hardware debugging tools and techniques
- E3 Experience of bus protocols, SPI, I2C, UART, CAN
Experience – desirable
- F1 Linux software development and configuration
- F2 Go, Python, Javascript development
- F3 Electronics design experience – schematic capture and PCB layout
- F4 Experience in Imaging and Machine Vision Systems
- F5 Industrial experience in defence, oil & gas, aerospace, industrial control systems, manufacturing automation.
Job Features
Dimensions
- Working alongside a cross-discipline technical team of hardware and software engineers
- Software development supporting up to 5 collaborative R&D projects simultaneously
Planning and organising
- Required to plan own work for rapid application development of embedded software applications and provide detailed breakdown of tasks and duration to project management.
- High level of organisational skills required to maintain software version control and produce well structured, maintainable software suitable for commercial release.
Decision making
- Responsible for deciding order in which assigned tasks are performed, maximising output and meeting critical deadlines.
- Responsible for making software design choices and implementation for specific projects.
Internal/external relationships
- Functional reporting to the Technical Director.
- Technical oversight by Systems Architect and Principal Software Engineer.
- Supporting Project Managers in identification of tasks, resources and risks.
- Networking with key suppliers of server-based software and analytics.
Problem solving
- Provide solutions to software design related problems, optimising systems to meet required performance criteria.
- Apply rapid problem-solving techniques to overcome challenges throughout the software development life cycle.
Standard Terms & Conditions
Salary will be on the Management, Professional and Administrative Grade, level 8, £46,047 to £53,353 per annum.
Appointments may be considered at a more junior grade level, (grade 7 £37,474 – £42,155) dependent on levels and depth of professional experience. Appointments at grade 8 level will require to demonstrate a substantial and broad range of relevant professional experience, commercial awareness and a track record of delivery in a similar complex environment.
Apply
To apply for this post, please go to the University of Glasgow vacancies page, and search using the reference number 096089 or simply type ‘CENSIS’ into the keyword search.