Senior Embedded Systems Engineer
Tractable is hiring a Senior Embedded Systems Engineer in Salt Lake City, United States. It pays $150k-$180k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Level.
AI in this role
Design and evolve embedded software and firmware for an AI-powered vehicle inspection scanner system.
We combine world-class AI research with real-world applications that make a difference. At Tractable, you’ll collaborate with brilliant minds, work on transformative projects, and contribute to technology that helps people when they need it most.
Tractable is a leader in AI for auto repair and insurance, backed by SoftBank, Insight Partners, and Georgian. LUMA is our internal startup: a small Salt Lake City team building a drive-through scanner that pushes vehicle damage assessment toward real-time AI identification and repair estimation.
Our Salt Lake City office is home to the small team that designs, builds, and produces the LUMA scanner - hands-on work, close to the hardware. Expect startup pace and real ownership, backed by the data and funding of a company that has already proven the model at scale. As a senior engineer, you’ll help shape how the team builds.
About the role
We’re building LUMA, a drive-through vehicle inspection scanner that combines multi-camera capture, active illumination, and multiple sensor modalities to produce high-fidelity vehicle imagery and measurements.
We’re looking for a Senior Embedded Systems Engineer to own and evolve the device-side (edge) software and firmware stack - controlling cameras and sensors, synchronizing capture, and building new measurement capabilities. You’ll set technical direction for the embedded stack, mentor other engineers, and take features from quick prototype through to production-grade reliability on real vehicles. The role sits at the intersection of embedded software, hardware integration, and sensor/vision data processing.
What you’ll do
Architect embedded Linux software and firmware systems for the camera and sensor stack.
Provide technical leadership and guidance across embedded software, firmware, and electrical systems; set best practices and mentor other engineers.
Bring up custom camera and sensor subsystems end to end.
Maintain and improve camera control software: triggering, timing, health monitoring, and error recovery.
Maintain and improve sensor control software: presence/distance/measurement sensors, calibration, and fault handling.
Build signal processing pipelines - e.g. converting laser-triangulation outputs into 2D tread-depth maps, post-processing stereo depth, filtering/denoising, and coordinate transforms.
Prototype fast, then harden to production-grade reliability.
Support integration and deployments: bring up new modules, validate in the lab and on-vehicle, debug issues, and ship fixes.
What we’re looking for
6+ years of embedded engineering experience, with a proven track record of architecting and shipping production-grade systems.
Technical leadership capabilities, including mentoring engineers and driving system architecture decisions.
Production coding in C/C++ and/or Python, backed by strong system design and software fundamentals (OOP, testing, reliability, version control).
Embedded Linux expertise, including system services, supervision, logging, and performance profiling.
Hands-on hardware & sensor integration: safely and cleanly connecting sensors to compute hardware using standard protocols (UART, I2C, SPI, GPIO) and industrial interfaces (RS-485, CAN, or Modbus).
Practical lab & bring-up skills: proficient with test equipment (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, multimeters), soldering, crimping/connectors, board bring-up, and reasoning about board-level schematics/datasheets.
Modern developer workflow: experience using AI coding tools (Cursor, Claude Code, OpenAI Codex) to rapidly iterate high-quality code.
Ownership mindset: ability to navigate ambiguous requirements, solve complex problems, and deliver maintainable systems in a fast-paced environment.
Contract type: Permanent
Compensation: $150-180k + equity
Diversity commitmentAt Tractable, we are committed to building a diverse team and inclusive workplace where people’s varied backgrounds and experiences are valued and recognised.
We encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds and offer equal opportunities without discrimination.
How we rate this
Senior Embedded Systems Engineer at Tractable rates 25 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Little AI (AI Level 1 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.
Little AI. AI is not part of the work.
- ●●●● 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. Open the description and count.
Prepare for this job
A free preview built only from this posting: what it asks for, what you could be asked in an interview, and how to adjust your resume.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Questions you could be asked
- Tell me about a research question you investigated. What did you find?
- 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 sensor integration was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where signal processing was part of your work. What did you do?
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: AI Research, Embedded Systems, Firmware, Sensor Integration, and Signal Processing. 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.
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