Embedded Firmware Lead

Who We Are

Pinaak Aerial Systems Private Limited is a drone technology startup developing indigenous, mission-configurable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms for defence applications. We design modular drone systems with interchangeable payload capabilities for surveillance, reconnaissance and payload-delivery missions.

Pinaak Aerial Systems has collaborated with multiple Indian Army battalions to develop specialized payload-dropping drone systems and deliver mission-specific UAV solutions tailored to operational requirements.

By developing indigenous flight-control systems, secure communication technologies and modular payload architectures, we aim to strengthen Indias self-reliance through secure, scalable and mission-ready drone solutions.

About the role

As the Embedded Firmware Lead, you will own the firmware architecture and technical direction across flight controllers, electronic speed controllers (ESCs), payload-control systems and other onboard embedded systems.

You will lead firmware development from requirement analysis and architecture through implementation, integration, release and flight-test validation. The role requires deep hands-on expertise in real-time embedded systems, flight-control firmware, sensor integration, communication systems, safety-critical design and hardwarefirmware debugging.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role. The successful candidate must be capable of making critical architecture decisions, resolving complex flight and field failures, reviewing the work of other engineers and ensuring that firmware behaves reliably under real operational conditions.

Key Responsibilities

- Own the firmware architecture across flight controllers, ESCs, payload controllers and onboard embedded systems—from requirement understanding through design, implementation, integration, release and flight-test support.
- Lead technical design and architecture decisions for real-time control loops, sensor fusion, state estimation, RTOS task structures, communication buses, failsafe mechanisms, redundancy logic, bootloaders and OTA or field-update flows.
- Translate aircraft-level and mission-level requirements into clear firmware requirements, interfaces, design specifications, test criteria and traceability documentation.
- Identify technical risks, dependencies, design gaps and regression impact early during development, review and release planning, with particular attention to flight safety and mission reliability.
- Design and develop reusable firmware components, peripheral drivers, middleware, hardware-abstraction layers and debugging frameworks that can scale across multirotor, fixed-wing and hybrid-VTOL platforms.
- Review and approve complex firmware changes with focus on real-time behaviour, deterministic execution, code quality, reliability, traceability, maintainability and flight-safety impact.
- Own firmware implementation for flight-control functions, sensor acquisition, actuator control, payload integration, navigation interfaces, health monitoring, event logging, watchdog recovery and system-state management.
- Own the secure firmware pipeline, including signed or secure bootloaders, OTA and field-update strategies, rollback handling, firmware integrity and key-management practices appropriate for defence applications.
- Lead board bring-up and root-cause debugging for new hardware revisions, working closely with hardware and PCB engineers from schematic and interface review through prototype validation.
- Integrate and validate sensors and subsystems such as IMUs, magnetometers, barometers, GNSS receivers, range sensors, telemetry modules, ESCs, servos, payload controllers and communication modules.
- Debug complex device-level, real-time, flight-level and field-level issues using UART logs, JTAG/SWD, logic analysers, oscilloscopes, flight logs, telemetry data and bus or protocol traces.




- Analyse recurring failures, identify root causes and implement systemic corrective actions that prevent recurrence across aircraft platforms and firmware releases.
- Define and assess firmware release readiness based on test coverage, hardware compatibility, regression impact, known issues, rollback readiness, flight risk and deployment dependencies.
- Contribute hands-on to DGCA Type Certification through firmware documentation, requirements traceability, test evidence and validation support for functions such as failsafe behaviour, geofencing and redundancy.
- Make build-versus-buy and architecture trade-off decisions, including PX4 or ArduPilot versus proprietary flight-stack development and custom versus existing drivers or middleware, and own the technical consequences of those decisions.
- Mentor firmware engineers through architecture reviews, code reviews, debugging guidance, test planning and technical problem-solving while continuing to contribute directly to critical development work.
- Work closely with hardware, mechanical, aerodynamics, control systems, QA, product and flight-test teams to achieve end-to-end system integration and technical closure.
- Establish and improve firmware engineering practices covering coding standards, Git discipline, peer reviews, configuration management, build automation, release control and technical documentation.

Technology Exposure

Embedded Platforms and Tools

- STM32 or equivalent ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers, STM32CubeIDE, GCC toolchains, Git, JTAG/SWD, serial debugging tools, logic analyser, oscilloscope, flight-log analysis tools and Python/C-based engineering utilities.

Real-Time and Flight Systems

- Bare-metal firmware, FreeRTOS or equivalent RTOS, real-time scheduling, deterministic control loops, interrupt handling, DMA, timing analysis, sensor fusion, state estimation, flight-control fundamentals, actuator control, failsafe logic and redundancy mechanisms.

Interfaces and Peripherals

- UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, ADC, PWM, GPIO, timers, input capture, output compare, RTC, DMA, watchdogs, external flash, EEPROM, SD cards, GNSS modules, IMUs, magnetometers, barometers, telemetry radios, ESCs and servos.

Communication and UAV Protocols

- CAN, UAVCAN/DroneCAN, MAVLink, SBUS, CRSF, serial telemetry, SPI, I2C and other aircraft or payload communication interfaces.

Security and Reliability

- Secure boot, signed firmware, bootloaders, OTA and field updates, rollback mechanisms, cryptographic integrity, key-management fundamentals, watchdog recovery, health monitoring, fault detection, degraded-mode operation and flight-safe state management.

Flight-Stack Exposure

- PX4, ArduPilot or proprietary flight-control stack development; experience with multirotor, fixed-wing or hybrid-VTOL platforms is highly desirable.

Required Skills

- Strong programming expertise in C and Embedded C, including pointers, memory management, structures, state machines, concurrency, interrupt-driven programming and low-level hardware interaction.
- Robust hands-on experience in embedded firmware architecture and development for real-time, safety-critical or mission-critical products.
- Deep understanding of microcontrollers, digital electronics, RTOS concepts, peripheral drivers, communication interfaces and hardware-level constraints.
- Experience designing deterministic real-time firmware involving control loops, sensor acquisition, actuator control and time-critical communication.
- Strong understanding of RTOS task design, scheduling,



synchronization, inter-task communication, resource management and timing-related failure modes.
- Hands-on experience integrating and debugging sensors, actuators, communication modules and custom electronic hardware.
- Ability to design robust firmware with retries, timeouts, watchdog recovery, fault detection, redundancy, failsafe behaviour and controlled degradation.
- Strong debugging capability using firmware logs, flight logs, JTAG/SWD, logic analysers, oscilloscopes and protocol traces.
- Ability to independently diagnose intermittent, timing-sensitive and hardware–firmware integration failures.
- Ability to evaluate technical risks, architecture trade-offs, regression impact and release or flight readiness.
- Understanding of bootloaders, firmware-update mechanisms, rollback strategies and embedded security fundamentals.
- Ability to create and maintain architecture documents, interface specifications, requirements traceability, test evidence and release documentation.
- Ability to lead technical reviews and mentor engineers while remaining hands-on with architecture, coding, integration and debugging.
- Strong problem-solving ability, observation, attention to detail and disciplined engineering judgement.
- Ability to remain calm, structured and decisive during urgent flight-test, field-deployment or mission-critical failures.
- Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Preferred Profile

- B.E./B.Tech or M.E./M.Tech in Electronics, Electronics and Telecommunication, Electrical, Instrumentation, Embedded Systems, Avionics or an equivalent discipline.
- 7 to 12 years of relevant experience in embedded firmware development, including meaningful ownership of firmware architecture or technical leadership.
- Hands-on experience with STM32 or similar ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers and FreeRTOS or an equivalent RTOS.
- Experience developing firmware for UAVs, aerospace systems, robotics, autonomous platforms, defence electronics, automotive control systems or other safety-critical embedded products.
- Practical experience with flight controllers, ESCs, IMUs, GNSS, telemetry systems, payload controllers or actuator-control systems will be strongly preferred.
- Experience with PX4, ArduPilot or proprietary flight-control stacks will be a significant advantage.
- Exposure to control systems, sensor fusion, navigation, state estimation or real-time flight-control algorithms will be preferred.
- Experience with secure bootloaders, signed firmware, OTA or field updates and embedded security practices will be advantageous.
- Exposure to DGCA Type Certification, aviation standards, defence qualification processes, requirements traceability or formal verification and validation will be an added advantage.
- Candidates who are technically strong, ownership-driven, comfortable with ambiguity and motivated to build indigenous UAV technology over the long term.

What We Value

We value technical leaders who combine architecture depth with hands-on engineering ability. The ideal candidate should be equally comfortable reviewing a flight-control architecture, writing and debugging critical firmware, working with hardware on a new board, analyzing flight logs and guiding engineers through difficult technical problems.

This role requires a strong sense of ownership, disciplined engineering judgement and an understanding that UAV firmware must perform predictably not only in controlled testing but also under uncertain and demanding field conditions. We seek someone who can build reliable systems, make well-reasoned technical decisions and grow into a long-term technology leader within Pinaak Aerial Systems.

Additional Information

Role Title: Embedded Firmware Lead
Department: Embedded Systems / Flight Systems
Location: Pune
Experience: 7 to 12 years
Industry: UAV, Aerospace and Defence Technology

📌 Embedded Firmware Lead (Pune)
🏢 Pinaak Aerial Systems Private
📍 Pune