EMBEDDED ENGINEER II

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 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 an Embedded Engineer II, you will independently own firmware subsystems for UAV flight controllers, autopilot systems, payload controllers and onboard embedded computersfrom requirement understanding and design through development, integration, validation, flight testing and release support.

You will work hands-on with STM32 microcontrollers, bare-metal and RTOS-based firmware, ArduPilot/PX4 flight stacks, UAV sensors, communication protocols, state-estimation functions, actuator-control interfaces and embedded Linux platforms.

This position requires independent subsystem ownership, deeper debugging maturity and the ability to resolve complex real-time, hardware-integration and flight-level failures with minimal supervision.

This remains a hands-on individual-contributor role. The Embedded Engineer II will contribute to technical design and guide junior engineers on specific modules but will not own the organisation-wide firmware architecture, final design approvals or team-level technical direction, which remain with the Embedded Firmware Lead.

Key Responsibilities

- Independently own complete firmware subsystems for flight controllers, payload controllers, autopilot systems and onboard embedded computersfrom requirements and design through implementation, integration, flight validation and release support.
- Design, develop and maintain Embedded C/C++ firmware for STM32 H7, F4 or similar ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers.
- Translate aircraft-level requirements into firmware requirements, module designs, interfaces, implementation plans and test criteria for assigned subsystems.
- Design and implement peripheral drivers, hardware-abstraction layers and middleware for UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, USB, ADC, PWM, GPIO, timers, DMA, watchdogs and external memory.
- Independently integrate and validate IMUs such as ICM-42688 and BMI088, barometers, magnetometers, u-blox F9P/M9N GNSS receivers, optical-flow sensors, LiDAR, rangefinders, telemetry modules, ESCs, motors, servos and payload systems.
- Design and debug FreeRTOS, ChibiOS or bare-metal firmware involving task scheduling, interrupts, synchronization, inter-task communication, timing constraints, memory usage and shared-resource management.
- Develop, integrate and customize firmware within ArduPilot, PX4 or proprietary flight-control stacks.
- Implement, configure and tune EKF2/EKF3 state estimators and sensor-fusion functions using flight logs, sensor characteristics and platform behaviour.
- Implement, tune and validate attitude, altitude, position and actuator-control functions for multirotor, fixed-wing and hybrid-VTOL platforms in coordination with control-system and flight-test engineers.
- Develop and debug UAV communication using MAVLink, UAVCAN/DroneCAN, CAN, SBUS, CRSF, serial telemetry and other aircraft or payload interfaces.
- Develop and validate actuator-control interfaces involving PWM, DSHOT, ESC protocols, motors and servos.
- Design firmware reliability features such as sensor-health monitoring, communication timeouts, retries, watchdog recovery, fault detection, failsafe transitions, degraded modes and event logging.
- Independently diagnose complex and intermittent firmware, timing, sensor, communication, hardware-integration and flight-behaviour issues.
- Debug using UART logs, JTAG/SWD, logic analysers, oscilloscopes, flight logs, telemetry data and protocol or bus traces.
- Participate in new-board bring-up, schematic and interface review, peripheral validation and root-cause analysis with hardware and PCB engineers.
- Identify technical risks, interface dependencies, design gaps and regression impact within assigned subsystems before integration or flight release.
- Design and execute Software-in-the-Loop and Hardware-in-the-Loop test environments using ArduPilot SITL, Gazebo or equivalent platforms.




- Develop repeatable SIL/HIL and bench-level regression tests to detect failures before ground and flight trials.
- Plan and support bench testing, ground testing and flight trials for assigned firmware subsystems, including test preparation, log analysis, defect reproduction and technical closure.
- Analyse recurring flight or field failures, determine the root cause and implement corrective actions that prevent recurrence.
- Validate firmware across temperature, vibration, EMI and other environmental conditions in coordination with hardware, testing and certification teams.
- Contribute to DGCA Type Certification activities through firmware documentation, requirements traceability, test procedures, evidence collection and validation support for relevant functions.
- Support bootloader, field-update and OTA mechanisms, firmware-integrity checks, rollback handling and secure-firmware implementation under the architecture defined by the Embedded Firmware Lead.
- Develop or support Embedded Linux applications, services and interfaces on platforms such as Jetson Orin and Raspberry Pi CM4 where required for onboard computing or payload processing.
- Review code written by junior engineers for assigned modules and provide guidance on implementation, testing and debugging.
- Assess the release readiness of assigned subsystems based on functional validation, regression results, hardware compatibility, known issues and flight risk.
- Create and maintain module-design documents, interface specifications, test records, defect analysis, release notes and configuration records.
- Follow and strengthen coding standards, Git practices, peer-review processes, CI/CD workflows, configuration management and controlled firmware-release practices.
- Work closely with firmware, hardware, control systems, mechanical, aerodynamics, QA, certification and flight-test teams to achieve system-level integration and technical closure.

Technology Exposure

Embedded Platforms and Tools

- STM32 H7/F4 or similar ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers, STM32CubeIDE, GCC toolchains, Git, CI/CD, JTAG/SWD, serial debugging tools, logic analyser, oscilloscope, flight-log analysis tools and Python/C-based engineering utilities.

Programming and Real-Time Systems

- C, Embedded C, C++, bare-metal firmware, FreeRTOS, ChibiOS, interrupts, DMA, timers, scheduling, synchronization, inter-task communication, memory management, timing analysis and deterministic real-time behaviour.

Sensors and Subsystems

- ICM-42688, BMI088 and similar IMUs; barometers; magnetometers; u-blox F9P/M9N GNSS receivers; optical-flow sensors; LiDAR; rangefinders; telemetry modules; ESCs; motors; servos; payload controllers and onboard embedded computers.

Interfaces and UAV Protocols

- SPI, I2C, UART, CAN, USB, ADC, PWM, GPIO, DSHOT, MAVLink, UAVCAN/DroneCAN, SBUS, CRSF and serial telemetry.

Flight Systems

- ArduPilot, PX4 or proprietary flight stacks; EKF2/EKF3; sensor fusion; state estimation; attitude, altitude and position control; actuator control; failsafe logic; and multirotor, fixed-wing and hybrid-VTOL platforms.

Testing and Simulation

- Software-in-the-Loop, Hardware-in-the-Loop, ArduPilot SITL, Gazebo, automated regression testing, bench testing, ground testing, flight trials, flight-log analysis and environmental validation.

Embedded Linux and Companion Computers

- Embedded Linux fundamentals, Linux command line, user-space applications, device communication, Jetson Orin and Raspberry Pi CM4.

Security and RF Exposure

- Bootloaders, signed firmware fundamentals, OTA and field updates, rollback handling, firmware-integrity checks, AES-256 and cryptographic-protocol fundamentals, SX1280 or similar RF modules.
- Prior hands-on experience in every listed technology is not mandatory. Strong embedded fundamentals, independent subsystem ownership, UAV or real-time system experience and proven debugging maturity are more important than exposure to every individual platform.

Required Skills

- Strong programming expertise in C and Embedded C, including pointers, memory management, structures, state machines, bitwise operations, concurrency and low-level hardware interaction.
- Working proficiency in C++ and the ability to understand and modify an established C/C++ flight-control codebase.




- Strong hands-on experience developing firmware on STM32 or equivalent ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers.
- Ability to independently design, implement, integrate and validate complete firmware modules or subsystems.
- Strong understanding of bare-metal and RTOS-based firmware architecture.
- Practical knowledge of RTOS task design, interrupts, scheduling, synchronization, inter-task communication, timing constraints and resource management.
- Hands-on experience developing or modifying peripheral drivers and integrating sensors, actuators or communication modules.
- Practical experience with SPI, I2C, UART and CAN; exposure to USB, PWM and DSHOT will be advantageous.
- Hands-on exposure to ArduPilot, PX4 or another real-time control, robotics or autonomous-system platform.
- Understanding of sensor fusion, state estimation and control-system fundamentals, with the ability to interpret EKF and flight-control logs.
- Ability to diagnose complex, intermittent and timing-sensitive firmware and hardware-integration failures.
- Strong debugging capability using firmware logs, flight logs, JTAG/SWD, logic analysers, oscilloscopes and protocol traces.
- Ability to design robust firmware using timeouts, retries, watchdog recovery, sensor-health checks, fault handling and failsafe mechanisms.
- Ability to assess technical dependencies, regression impact, test sufficiency and release risk for assigned subsystems.
- Experience with structured testing, regression validation and defect root-cause analysis.
- Ability to create clear technical documentation, test evidence, defect analysis and release records.
- Ability to guide an Engineer I through code reviews, integration support and debugging without requiring formal people-management responsibility.
- Strong problem-solving ability, observation, attention to detail and disciplined engineering judgement.
- Ability to remain calm, systematic and accountable during urgent flight-test or field failures.
- Good communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Preferred Profile

- B.E./B.Tech in Electronics, Electronics and Telecommunication, Electronics and Computer Engineering, Electrical, Instrumentation, Aerospace, Aeronautical, Robotics and Automation, Embedded Systems or an equivalent discipline.
- 3 to 6 years of relevant experience in embedded firmware, UAV systems, aerospace electronics, robotics, autonomous systems or other real-time embedded products.
- Demonstrated ownership of at least one substantial firmware module or subsystem from development through integration and validation.
- Hands-on experience with STM32 H7/F4, FreeRTOS, ChibiOS or an equivalent real-time embedded platform.
- Practical experience with ArduPilot, PX4, MAVLink, UAVCAN/DroneCAN or proprietary flight-control systems will be strongly preferred.
- Experience integrating IMUs, GNSS receivers, ESCs, motors, servos, telemetry systems or payload controllers will be advantageous.
- Experience working with EKF2/EKF3, sensor fusion, state estimation or flight-control tuning will be preferred.
- Experience with SIL/HIL simulation, Gazebo, ArduPilot SITL, automated testing or flight-log analysis will be advantageous.
- Exposure to Embedded Linux, Jetson Orin, Raspberry Pi CM4, RF firmware, secure firmware or cryptographic protocols will be beneficial.
- Exposure to PCB bring-up, environmental testing, DGCA Type Certification, aviation documentation or requirements traceability will be an added advantage.
- Candidates who are technically curious, ownership-driven, disciplined and motivated to build a long-term career in indigenous UAV and defence technology.

What We Value

We value engineers who can convert strong embedded fundamentals into reliable aircraft behaviour. The ideal candidate should be capable of independently owning a firmware subsystem, understanding how it interacts with sensors, actuators, communication systems and the flight stack, and pursuing failures until the actual root cause is established.

This role requires more than the ability to write code. It requires sound engineering judgement, careful validation, disciplined documentation and the maturity to understand the potential flight-safety impact of every firmware change.

We seek someone who can operate with limited supervision, support Engineer I team members on defined technical problems and gradually develop toward senior technical or firmware-architecture responsibilities while remaining strongly hands-on.

Additional Information

Role Title: Embedded Engineer II
Department: Embedded Systems / Flight Systems
Location: Pune
Experience: 3 to 6 years
Industry: UAV, Aerospace and Defence Technology

Employment Type: Full time, Permanent

📌 Embedded Engineer 2 (Pune)
🏢 Pinaak Aerial Systems Private
📍 Pune