Embedded Engineer

Physical Intelligence is hiring an Embedded Engineer in San Francisco, United States. Level rates it ; you can apply on Physical Intelligence.

Level's read on this job

On Level's scale, this role is Works on AI ●●●○: the daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
Tools and skills the posting cites include Linux, C and Python.
Level classifies it as a mid-level role.
Level lists 43 other open roles at Physical Intelligence.

AI in this role

Develop embedded firmware and integrate sensors for physical AI robotic devices and data collection platforms.

LinuxCPythonBash

embedded-systemsfirmwarehardware-bringuprobotics

Physical Intelligence is bringing general-purpose AI into the physical world. We are a team of engineers, scientists, roboticists, and company builders developing foundation models and learning algorithms to power the robots of today and the physically-actuated devices of the future.

The team

This role is part of the Runtime team, but will include deep collaboration with the Research, Hardware, and Fleet teams.

In this role you will:

Drive the architecture and implementation of embedded firmware for devices crucial to PI’s data collection goals
Work with hardware and software teams to ensure the new devices we are building work seamlessly with existing and future data pipelines
Embedded Linux System Bring-up: Lead the integration of embedded Linux devices with real-time sensor processing. This includes developing drivers for high-speed sensors, BSP development and customization, kernel configuration and debugging, hardware bring-up, and performance tuning across the hardware/software boundary.
Hardware/Software Debugging: Use hardware abstraction tools and laboratory equipment to identify and resolve complex timing issues, race conditions, and hardware-software interface bugs.
Power Optimization: Analyze and reduce power consumption for battery-operated devices, including on radio sleep states and sensor low-power modes.

What we hope you'll bring:

BS/MS in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field.
Strong software engineering and infrastructure skills, including building data pipelines, evaluation frameworks, and tools for rapid iteration.
Comfort working hands-on with hardware.
Strong communication skills for collaborating with hardware, software, and research teams
Demonstrated experience leading initiatives from concept to production on aggressive schedules, and turning ambiguous product goals into functional requirements
Experience leading initial board bring-up and software design for first-of-their-kind embedded devices.
Hands-on experience with SPI, I2C, UART, USB, and the ability to debug complex hardware-software interactions.
Experience architecting, implementing and debugging concurrent and multithreaded firmware services
Deep understanding of modern operating systems, computer architecture, and trade-offs between compute, memory, and storage.
Experience bringing up and integrating sensors on embedded systems; camera system bring-up, integration, and tuning is a plus.
Proficiency in C++
Familiarity with Bash scripting and Python for tooling and automation.

Bonus points if you have:

Nice to have: Direct experience with Linux Kernel development, including writing or debugging drivers, managing device trees, or optimizing kernel-space performance.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

How we rate this

Embedded Engineer at Physical Intelligence rates 65 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Works on AI (AI Level 3 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Works on AI. The daily work is on AI products, without building the model.

●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
●○○○ Little AI0 to 39

Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.

Key facts

Embedded Engineer is an open job at Physical Intelligence.
Level rates this role AI Level 3 of 4: Works on AI.
The role is based in San Francisco.
The job was posted on September 12, 2026.
Seniority: mid.
Applications are handled by Physical Intelligence. Apply on Physical Intelligence

Prepare for this job

Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.

Skills and AI tools this role asks for

Embedded SystemsFirmwareHardware BringupRoboticsLinuxCPythonBash

Questions you could be asked

Tell me about a project where embedded systems was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where firmware was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where hardware bringup was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where robotics was part of your work. What did you do?
Walk me through how you've used Linux in your day-to-day work.

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Embedded Systems, Firmware, Hardware Bringup, Robotics, and Linux. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
Show where AI is part of your daily process, not a one-off project. This role expects it to be a running habit.

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