Firmware Engineer

About us: iconic brand, tiny company.

Polaroid was founded in 1937 by one of the most seminal innovators of the 20th century, Edwin Land. His motto was, “don't undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible.” In 2008, Polaroid shuttered its last factory, but a group of diehard fans came together as The Impossible Project to save instant film. Over 10 years later that startup acquired what was left of Polaroid and today we’re again a small group of people passionate about changing the world through great products.

Job Summary

At Polaroid, we are dedicated to pushing the boundaries of innovation and are currently seeking a talented Firmware Engineer to join our team. As a member of the engineering department, you will participate in the development of firmware systems for Polaroid analog instant film cameras. You will collaborate with Product Management, Marketing, Industrial Design, other product development teams, and external engineering partners to design, implement, and maintain firmware systems and hardware solutions for analog cameras, playing a critical role in driving the progress of our products. If you are a hands-on problem solver with a passion for firmware systems in analog instant film cameras and a desire to grow your skills in a dynamic environment, we warmly invite you to join us on our journey!

Objectives of the role:

• Design embedded firmware solutions to meet the product requirements of Polaroid analog instant film cameras.

• Responsible for firmware development, including bring-up, verification, exposure debugging of new hardware platforms, and maintenance of existing platforms and products, ensuring firmware designs are delivered on time and achieve product development goals.

• Develop firmware, drivers, and algorithms for microcontrollers to enhance and optimize the performance of new hardware platforms and existing platforms.

• Develop and execute firmware test plans covering functional, integration, system, performance, stress, and regression testing scenarios, including camera performance validation and subsystem/module functional testing.

• Conduct feasibility studies and verification of platform solution selection, key components, modules, and electromechanical systems, ensuring solution convergence.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support hardware product development and software implementation, ensuring complete delivery from feasibility study to mass production.

• Test, evaluate, modify, and re-test products; manage firmware version releases; and perform issue debugging, log analysis, benchmarking, and regression testing.

• Serve as the communication point for firmware development progress, reporting updates to senior management and engineers, highlighting risks, and proposing corrective actions.

• Work with the Validation team and Production Engineering team to validate new features, fix issues, and execute regression tests based on changes.

• Collaborate with external resources, contract manufacturers (CMs), and ODM suppliers to optimize designs during the design phase and for mass production.

The ideal candidate

• Possess a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science and Information or a related field, or equivalent qualifications.

• 3–5+ years of experience developing highly integrated consumer electronics products, preferably with imaging and camera functionalities.

• Experience in embedded systems and microcontroller firmware coding.

• Proficient in C/C++ programming and related debugging techniques.

• Knowledge of communication protocols such as UART, SPI, I2C, MIPI

• Familiar with version control systems (e.g., Jira/Git) and issue tracking tools.

• Knowledge of camera imaging algorithms and firmware platform structures is a plus.

• Strong programming, coding, and debugging skills.

• Experience using debugging tools such as oscilloscopes and logic analyzers.

• Understanding of basic electronics principles.

• Passionate about photography and interested in how analog camera systems work.

• Strong analytical skills: attention to detail and the ability to work independently. Passionate about teamwork and project delivery, with the ability to collaborate in cross-functional, multi-geographical teams.