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techroles

Embedded Software Engineer

Leidos Open · verified Oct 24, 2026
San Diego Full-time Mid-level Embedded & Firmware

At a glance

Mid-level Embedded & Firmware role at Leidos. San Diego · full-time · $87,100–$157,450 base.

SalaryStated by Leidos
$87,100 – $157,450
Base salary for this role, in USD per year, as published in the posting.
This role, from LeidosOur estimate for the market: $123,638–$175,500Median $137,500
The range includes the market median of $137,500 for mid-level embedded & firmware roles in San Diego.
Worked out from 11 postings that stated pay, median $137,500. Last updated Oct 2, 2026.
RoleEmbedded & Firmware
SeniorityMid-level
LocationSan Diego
EmploymentFull-time
Base pay$87,100–$157,450
PostedSep 1, 2026 · 7w ago
Role brief

techroles summary, based on the employer's posting.

What you'll do

  • Build embedded software for DSP, ARM or RISC-V processors, including systems from bare metal through Linux
  • Write low-level C code that connects software to control registers and hardware components
  • Create tests for hardware operation and performance, including checks under typical and stress conditions
  • Prepare test plans and software requirements, then document results against data-plane and control-plane needs
  • Work with software, hardware and systems specialists to develop and explain APIs and test results

What you bring

  • A bachelor's degree in computer engineering, electrical engineering, computer science or a related discipline
  • At least four years developing software, including substantial C or C++ work on embedded systems
  • Experience with embedded hardware interaction, software testing, technical documentation and test-driven development
  • Working knowledge of Linux, version control and build tools, plus an IDE and continuous integration tools
  • An active Secret clearance and the ability to qualify for TS/SCI

Who this fits

This mid-level role suits an engineer who can work across software and hardware in a multidisciplinary team and is ready to learn new technical skills. The position is based in San Diego and requires an active Secret clearance, with eligibility to obtain TS/SCI.

From the employer

Today, Electronic Warfare is a growing enterprise - protecting the warfighter and our national security against ever-adapting threats. Our Electronic Warfare division currently has an exciting opportunity for an Embedded Software Engineer to perform design, development, and hardware/software integration in San Diego, CA.


Leidos is a DOD leader in electronic design and chiplet manufacture. Our division primarily focuses on research & development and advanced prototyping, transforming state-of-the-art processing algorithms into real-time software systems. Projects involve small multi-disciplinary teams of engineers working together in spiral or agile development environments to meet aggressive customer schedules aimed at near-term field demonstrations. Leidos utilizes its proprietary design methodology for hardware software co-design to manufacture custom SoC and IP for high performance applications.

In this role, the Embedded Software Engineer will build high-performance software to meet extreme system requirements. They will be responsible for designing and implementing components to support software development kits that are delivered directly to end users to support quick adoption and ease of use for novel SoC products. This role will require the ability to deeply understand hardware architectures to execute validation and verification testing, a crucial step to ensure hardware and software performance meets customer expectations.

Join a team of experts in implementing high-performance signal processing on custom system-on-chip (SoC) hardware and building the tools that enable analysis, rapid prototyping, and deployment of cutting-edge algorithms.

The successful candidate will be responsible for:

  • Contributing to the design and development of advanced embedded systems as a part of multidisciplinary teams. These teams are made up of other software team members and subject matter experts from the areas of systems engineering, hardware, firmware, RF front-end design, and signal processing.

  • Developing software for a variety of microarchitectures, including DSP, ARM, or RISC-V

  • Developing software for multi-core embedded systems ranging from bare metal to minimal real-time operating systems to Linux environments

  • Reading and comprehending datasheets to understand expected hardware operation

  • Building and documenting test plans, test procedures, and software requirements specifications

  • Writing low level code (e.g. C) to interface with Control Status Registers (CSRs) and hardware components

  • Writing software to validate hardware performance and operation under nominal and stress conditions

  • Building software using test driven development (TDD) methodologies

  • Documenting software performance results against key performance requirements for data-plane and control-plane processing

  • Understanding software use in high-level system design for real time software in operational systems

  • Clearly communicating technical details of software APIs and test results to internal and external engineers

At Leidos we value passion for learning. If you believe you have what it takes to succeed in this role and are eager to learn, we encourage you to apply.

The successful candidate will have the following basic education/experience:

  • Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Computer Science, or related discipline

  • 4+ years of software development experience, including strong experience in C/C++ software development for embedded systems

  • Experience using Integrated Development Environments (e.g. VS Code, Eclipse)

  • Experience with build tools (e.g. GCC, CMake, or Make)

  • Strong understanding of hardware-software interaction and basic computer architecture (e.g. Stack, Heap, Pointers)

  • Experience with version control systems (e.g. Git, Subversion) and continuous integration software tools (e.g. Jenkins)

  • Experience with software testing tools and methodologies

  • Experience in creating and maintaining technical documentation for developed software

  • Ability to communicate and share ideas, concepts, and designs with a team of engineers

  • Understanding of unit test frameworks and test-driven development practices

  • Comfortable working in Linux development environments

  • Demonstrated ability and motivation to continually learn new technical skills and concepts

** Must have active Secret level security clearance with the ability to obtain a TS/SCI **

Bonus education/experience:

  • Master’s Degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent

  • Active security clearance higher than the Secret level

  • Experience with other programming languages such as Python, MATLAB, or another OOP language

  • Ability to debug embedded systems using tools like oscilloscopes and logic analyzers

  • Experience developing drivers for hardware interfaces (e.g. GPIO, I2C, SPI, UART, PCIe)

  • Experience with multiple embedded instruction set architectures (e.g. ESP32, Raspberry PI, Arduino, RISCV)

  • Experience using hardware debugging software and tools such as OpenOCD, J-Link, or SEGGER

NKE

ElectronicWarfare

If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo — because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Original Posting:

September 1, 2026

For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.

Pay Range:

Pay Range $87,100.00 - $157,450.00

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.

Opportunity

Embedded & Firmware work from LinkedIn, X, Reddit and Upwork, in one list.

Each morning you get everything that fits, strongest first.

Embedded & Firmware$80k+

Find me work

By the team behind techroles.

Find me work
Opportunity

Embedded & Firmware work from LinkedIn, X, Reddit and Upwork, in one list.

Each morning you get everything that fits, strongest first.

Find me work

By the team behind techroles.