Software Engineer - Embedded Systems

About the role

In this role, you will design, develop, and port autonomous software modules across heterogeneous system-on-chip platforms in close collaboration with cross-functional teams. You will be an early member of the fast-growing autonomy team in Stuttgart, carrying broad ownership and exercising direct influence on program direction and technical decisions. You will bring up new embedded hardware and software in parallel with engineers from machine learning, vehicle applications, and Vehicle OS, navigating aggressive timelines without compromising quality. If you are hands-on, enjoy solving complex low-level challenges, and want a multiplying effect on making autonomous vehicles a reality, Applied Intuition is the place for you. You will work with cutting-edge tools to accelerate development cycles while maintaining the rigor required for safety-critical physical AI systems in diverse operational environments.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Develop and debug our autonomous software stack on embedded compute platforms spanning diverse form factors and performance envelopes.
• Work closely with machine learning engineers to optimize perception models for embedded performance, focusing on latency, accuracy, and resource utilization.
• Interface with automotive middleware and communication protocols such as IPC, Ethernet, and DDS to ensure robust and deterministic message passing.
• Support vehicle operations across Software-in-the-Loop and Hardware-in-the-Loop setups, designing test scenarios and instrumentation to validate behavior.
• Leverage AI-accelerated development tools and workflows to prototype, iterate, and refine embedded algorithms with high efficiency.
• Implement low-level drivers and firmware integrations that expose hardware capabilities to higher-level autonomy components.
• Collaborate with system architects to define software modules, interfaces, and integration strategies that align with product roadmaps.
• Diagnose and resolve complex issues in real-world and simulated environments, translating high-level requirements into stable embedded implementations.
• Contribute to the creation of reusable libraries, tools, and frameworks that enhance the productivity of the embedded autonomy team.
• Mentor and collaborate with peers to uphold coding standards, best practices, and knowledge sharing across the Stuttgart office.

Requirements

You must possess 5+ years of hands-on experience in C/C++ on POSIX and RTOS environments, demonstrating consistent delivery of reliable low-level software. You need direct experience with automotive System-on-Chips such as NVIDIA Orin, Qualcomm Snapdragon Ride, or similar platforms, including boot flow, memory, and peripheral initialization. A strong low-level understanding of hardware accelerators including encoders, DSPs, and GPUs is essential to effectively optimize compute-intensive workloads. You must have deep knowledge of operating systems, specifically QNX and Linux, including kernel internals, drivers, and real-time scheduling considerations. Hands-on experience with microcontrollers, hardware debuggers, and flashing interfaces is required to diagnose board-level issues and validate firmware behavior. You should be proficient in version control, build systems, and debugging tools commonly used in embedded development and automotive contexts. Your background should include a solid grasp of computer architecture, concurrency models, and memory management as they apply to resource-constrained systems. You must be comfortable working within regulated environments, understanding the implications of safety, reliability, and traceability in autonomous vehicle software.

Nice to have

• Advanced degree such as an MSc or PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, Electronics, or a closely related technical field.
• Experience with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems or autonomous driving stacks, including perception, planning, and control layers.
• Machine learning experience, ideally focused on perception, model optimization, and deployment on embedded hardware.
• Full product cycle experience, guiding features from initial prototype through to series production and field deployment.
• Familiarity with ISO 26262, ASIL concepts, and safety-oriented practices, as well as coding standards such as MISRA C++.

Practical notes

This is an in-office role, and the expectation is that employees primarily work from their Applied Intuition office 5 days a week. However, flexibility is recognized, allowing occasional remote work, such as starting the day with morning meetings from home before heading to the office or leaving earlier to accommodate family commitments. The position is based in Stuttgart, and candidates should be prepared to work from the office as the primary work location. No specific travel frequency or visa information is provided in the job description.