Founding Firmware Engineer

About Drover

Ranching is getting harder. Increased labor costs and a volatile climate are placing mounting pressure to provide for a growing population. Drover (formerly AgX) is empowering ranchers to efficiently and sustainably feed the world by making it cheaper and easier to manage livestock, unlock productivity gains, and reduce carbon footprint with rotational grazing. Not only is this a $46B opportunity, you'll be working on a climate solution with the potential for real, meaningful impact.

We use patent-pending low-voltage electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) to steer and contain cows, replacing the need for physical fences or electric shock. We are building something that has never been done before and have hundreds of ranches on our waitlist.

Drover is founded by Callum Taylor (ex-Harvard) who comes from 5 generations of ranching and Samuel Aubin, both of whom grow up in Australian ranching towns and have an intricate understanding of the problem space. We are well funded and supported by Workshop Ventures, a VC firm with experience in building unicorn IoT companies.

We're looking to assemble a team of exceptional talent with high eagerness to dive head first into understanding the challenges and opportunities within ranching.

About the role

As our founding firmware engineer, you will be working at the intersection of software and hardware on systems which are tested in some of the world's most perilous environments (on bulls in Montana, for instance).

Because we are an early-stage startup, you will have high levels of ownership in what you build. You will play a pivotal part in the development, monitoring, and architecting of the low-level firmware on our devices. We are looking for someone who is excited about joining us at our trial ranches, interacting with our cows, and getting their boots dirty.

This role is hybrid (majority on-site) in Cambridge, MA.

What you’ll do

• Lead the embedded firmware development of a low-power cellular-connected IoT device

• Work across the company to define features and refine firmware architecture

• Write, test, and QA production code

• Implement and maintain a reliable, fail-safe over-the-air firmware update procedure

• Develop proof-of-concept prototypes using development kits and other prototyping tools

• Work closely with our electrical engineering team to perform component selection and board bring-up

• Work with OEM (domestic or overseas) to provide software support during engineering testing and manufacturing

• Support the founding team across all aspects of early-stage development — this is a startup!

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience designing embedded software for consumer or commercial electronics

• Fluent in C, including testing and debugging

• Experience developing firmware for memory-constrained microcontrollers (e.g., ARM Cortex-M series)

• Experience designing low-power connected devices

• Experience with an RTOS and multi-threading

• Experience with serial protocols (UART, I2C, SPI)

• Experience with hardware interfaces (PWM, ADC)

• Experience with Cellular and BLE

Nice to have

• Familiarity with logic analyzers and oscilloscopes

• Full-stack experience (Python, Node)

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field

Note: Even if you don’t have all of the above and still think you’re an excellent candidate for this role, please reach out. We are always open to great people with core skillsets who are willing to push and learn.

Benefits

• Meaningful equity package

• Health, dental, vision Insurance

• Paid family and medical leave

• Unlimited vacation

• Transparency - we overshare all investor and company updates with everyone

• Ownership and responsibility.

• Fun & informal work atmosphere

We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive work environment. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and experiences.