Staff Embedded Engineer (NPI Tech Lead)

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WHOOP is looking for an experienced Staff Embedded Engineer to join our Software Organization as part of the Embedded Engineering team. In this role, you will provide technical leadership across firmware platforms and drive multi-quarter, cross-functional initiatives that are critical to WHOOP’s hardware and software roadmap.

The Embedded team’s mission is to build and deploy stable, accurate, and power-efficient firmware platforms for all in-house developed WHOOP devices, enabling seamless 24/7 connectivity and interaction with our mobile applications across multiple product generations.

At WHOOP, the Embedded team sits at the intersection of the Hardware and Software domains, bridging the physical and digital worlds. As a Staff Embedded Engineer, you will help define how this intersection operates at scale by setting technical direction, aligning teams, and building durable firmware systems that power WHOOP products.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide technical leadership and architectural ownership for firmware platforms and system-level components used across one or more WHOOP product lines.

• Design, develop, and test embedded firmware in C, contributing hands-on to critical areas while ensuring solutions scale across platforms and product generations.

• Autonomously identify, define, and drive solutions to ambiguous, cross-cutting firmware and system-level problems with long-term departmental impact.

• Influence firmware, hardware, and manufacturing roadmaps by identifying technical risks, opportunities, and strategic investments across multiple quarters.

• Lead the resolution of complex, cross-team issues spanning firmware, hardware, manufacturing, and system integration, including root cause analysis and long-term prevention.

• Define and uphold firmware architecture standards, documentation practices, and design review expectations adopted across the Embedded group.

• Lead code and design reviews across teams, setting the bar for clarity, correctness, maintainability, and long-term quality.

• Define and drive scalable testing, validation, and CI strategies that improve firmware quality and developer velocity across teams.

• Influence hardware design decisions by evaluating components, defining firmware-hardware interfaces, and proactively identifying system-level tradeoffs.

• Drive alignment across Electrical, Signal Processing, Mobile, Manufacturing, and Product teams, resolving ambiguity and ensuring cohesive system design.

• Mentor and sponsor senior engineers and emerging technical leaders, multiplying impact by raising the technical bar across teams.

• Identify and drive strategic investments that improve performance, power efficiency, stability, and reliability across firmware platforms.

• Leverage AI and emerging development tools to improve firmware development practices, establishing best practices across the Embedded group.

REQUIREMENTS:

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

• 8+ years of embedded firmware development experience, including ownership of system-level architecture or platform components across multiple products or generations.

• Expert-level proficiency in C and embedded systems development on 32-bit RISC architectures (e.g., ARM Cortex).

• Strong experience with low-power embedded system design and optimization.

• Experience working with operating systems (OS) and real-time operating systems (RTOS).

• Deep understanding of system communication protocols such as I2C, SPI, USART/UART, and BLE.

• Strong experience with electronics debugging tools including oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, multimeters, power supplies, and power measurement equipment.

• Proven experience leading technically ambiguous, cross-team initiatives and influencing technical direction without formal authority.

• Strong understanding of electrical engineering fundamentals, including reading schematics and hardware specifications.

• Experience with version control using git and modern CI/CD workflows.

• Experience with unit, integration, and system-level testing for embedded systems.

• Experience working on high-volume consumer electronics products preferred.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Recognized technical leader who operates as a force multiplier across teams and consistently drives alignment, execution, and long-term technical direction.

Learn more about our Software Org and how to be successful in your engineering career at WHOOP via our Career Framework. Also check out our AI studio blog here.

This role is based in the WHOOP office located in Boston, MA. The successful candidate must be prepared to relocate if necessary to work out of the Boston, MA office.

Interested in the role, but don’t meet every qualification? We encourage you to still apply! At WHOOP, we believe there is much more to a candidate than what is written on paper, and we value character as much as experience. As we continue to build a diverse and inclusive environment, we encourage anyone who is interested in this role to apply.

WHOOP is an Equal Opportunity Employer and participates in E-verify to determine employment eligibility.  It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

The WHOOP compensation philosophy is designed to attract, motivate, and retain exceptional talent by offering competitive base salaries, meaningful equity, and consistent pay practices that reflect our mission and core values.

At WHOOP, we view total compensation as the combination of base salary, equity, and benefits, with equity serving as a key differentiator that aligns our employees with the long-term success of the company and allows every member of our corporate team to own part of WHOOP and share in the company’s long-term growth and success.

The U.S. base salary range for this full-time position is $170,000-$230,000. Salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within each range, individual pay is based on factors such as job-related skills, experience, performance, and relevant education or training. 

In addition to the base salary, the successful candidate will also receive benefits and a generous equity package.

These ranges may be modified in the future to reflect evolving market conditions and organizational needs. While most offers will typically fall toward the starting point of the range, total compensation will depend on the candidate’s specific qualifications, expertise, and alignment with the role’s requirements.

Learn more about WHOOP.