Embedded Systems Engineer Hardware and Firmware

AJJAS HPS LAB DESIGNS PVT. LTD.Job Description: Embedded Systems Engineer Hardware & Firmware

Role: Firmware Developer

Company: Ajjas (HPS Lab Designs Pvt. Ltd.)Location:Navi Mumbai (on-site)

Experience:Hands-on. Youve designed boards and written firmware that shipped

Reporting to:Co-founder

Job Type:Full-time

About AjjasAjjas is a full-stack AIoT design house building connected safety and intelligence products for vehicles, assets, and infrastructure. We are the market leader on Amazon and Flipkart for two-wheeler safety devices (GPS tracking, accident detection - Patent No. 540443, SOS alerts, remote lock). Our B2B verticals span EV OEM telemetry, battery manufacturer IoT, NBFC/vehicle finance, cold chain/FMCG asset monitoring, fleet telematics, and weather/AWS data logging.
We design our own hardware, write our own firmware (picoOS - a proprietary RTOS), and run our own cloud backend. Our tech stack includes CAN 2.0B/CAN-FD, eUICC/eSIM, AES-256 encryption, BLE, and self-managed microservices on Indian servers.

We are hiring an embedded engineer who can own hardware design and firmware development end-to-end. This is a hands-on, build-things role - not a management, architecture-only, or firmware-only position.

Critical Role Requirement - End-to-End PCB Ownership:
This is the most important requirement for the role. The candidate must have personally designed complete embedded PCBs, not merely integrated firmware with boards designed by another hardware team.Commercial IoT / connected-device experience is also non-negotiable. We need someone who has worked on real connected products that operate in the field, not only standalone embedded systems or academic/personal IoT prototypes.

• Personally created complete PCB schematics and PCB layouts for embedded products.
• Personally selected key components and made BOM decisions using datasheets, electrical requirements, cost, availability, and performance.
• Taken at least one personally designed PCB through fabrication, assembly, board bring-up, debugging, and design iteration.
• Been able to explain specific Rev-A failures, how they were debugged, and what was changed in the next revision.
• Strong preference for candidates whose boards have reached production or field deployment.

PCB exposure alone is not sufficient. Reviewing another engineer's schematic, modifying an existing board, or designing only a small subsection such as a power supply or sensor interface does not count as end-to-end PCB ownership for this role.

What You Will Do:
Hardware Design

• Own PCB schematic design and layout for new product SKUs and revisions of existing products.
• Select components and define BOMs - evaluating MCUs, sensors, power management ICs, GNSS/GSM modules, CAN transceivers, and passives for cost, availability, and performance.
• Design and integrate sensor interfaces: temperature (NTC, one-wire, RS485), humidity, wind speed, rain gauge, IMU/accelerometer.
• Design relay and control circuitry for applications like compressor controllers (cold chain).
• Design power-supply sections and make practical decisions on grounding, decoupling, protection, thermal considerations, trace widths, and critical routing.
• Work with the testing team to validate prototypes, perform board bring-up, debug hardware issues, and iterate to production-ready designs.
• Work with PCB fabricators / EMS partners on DFM, assembly, and production issues as required.
• Manage the full cycle from schematic to prototype to production-ready board.

Firmware Development

• Write, maintain, and extend firmware in C/C++ on ARM Cortex-M and similar MCUs.
• Work with our existing RTOS (picoOS) - adding new peripheral drivers, sensor integrations, and communication protocols.
• Implement and maintain CAN/CAN-FD protocol stacks for vehicle and BMS integrations.
• Handle OTA/DFU firmware update mechanisms for devices deployed in the field.
• Implement power management, sleep modes, and battery optimisation for field-deployed IoT devices.
• Debug device-side issues: sensor data anomalies, communication failures, field edge cases.

Collaboration & Documentation

• Work closely with the software team to define firmware-to-server data protocols and ensure clean handoffs between device and backend.
• Document every design decision, schematic, BOM, firmware architecture change, and integration. If it is not documented, it did not happen.
• Participate in weekly team meetings and proactively share progress, blockers, and technical context with the broader team.
• Support procurement with technical specifications and alternate-part recommendations.

What We Are Looking ForMust have

• Demonstrated hands-on experience in embedded systems - both hardware design and firmware development. We care about what you have personally built and shipped, not how many years you have spent.
• Proven end-to-end PCB ownership: complete schematic design, PCB layout, fabrication/assembly, board bring-up, debugging, and iteration.
• Proficiency in PCB schematic design and layout using Altium Designer, KiCad, or equivalent.
• Strong embedded C/C++ firmware development skills on ARM Cortex-M or similar architectures.
• Experience with RTOS-based development (FreeRTOS, Zephyr, or custom RTOS).
• Working experience with CAN / CAN-FD protocols.
• Hands-on experience interfacing sensors over I2C, SPI, UART, RS485, and one-wire.
• Experience with GSM/LTE cellular modules and GNSS receivers.
• Solid understanding of power supply design, battery management, and low-power optimisation.
• Ability to read datasheets, evaluate components, and make BOM decisions independently.
• Hands-on experience developing and shipping commercial IoT / connected-device products, including embedded hardware, firmware, communication interfaces, and field deployment. Academic/personal IoT projects or development-board integration alone are not sufficient for this role.
• Hands-on use of lab equipment for board bring-up and debugging, including oscilloscope, multimeter, bench power supply, logic analyser, or similar tools.
• Proficiency in using AI tools for engineering work. This is not optional - it is core to how we work at Ajjas. Must-have AI skills:
• AI reasoning and research: Claude and/or ChatGPT - for schematic review, datasheet analysis, protocol debugging, component selection, and technical decision-making.
• AI-assisted firmware development: Cursor (AI-native IDE) and/or GitHub Copilot - for writing, editing, and refactoring embedded C/C++ code with AI inline assistance.

Strongly preferred

• Experience specifically in automotive telematics / connected-vehicle products.
• Familiarity with OBD-II protocols and vehicle data.
• Experience with BLE and BMS (Battery Management System) integrations.
• Knowledge of OTA/DFU mechanisms for field-deployed devices.
• Exposure to EMI/EMC considerations and regulatory compliance (BIS, CE).
• Experience taking a product from prototype through production and field deployment.
• Experience with AI-assisted PCB/EDA tools - any of the following:
• Flux AI - cloud-native PCB design with AI-driven layout and automation.
• Quilter AI - autonomous PCB routing and layout generation.
• ProtoFlow - AI-assisted schematic capture (free, exports to KiCad).
• Cadence Allegro X or Altium AI features - AI-driven placement, DRC, and routing assistance.
• Experience using Claude Code or similar agentic AI tools for complex, multi-file firmware tasks and architectural refactoring.

Why Ajjas

• You will own the hardware and firmware layer of a product line that is already market-leading in B2C and expanding into B2B.
• You will work with a lean, high-ownership team where your decisions directly shape the product.
• Real products in the market, real customers, real revenue - not a pre-product startup.
• Patented technology (accident detection) and a proprietary RTOS - technically interesting problems.
• Opportunity to define and build new product SKUs across cold chain, weather monitoring, EV/BMS, and fleet telematics.

Compensation bracket: 12-22 LPA, based on what you have built and what you bring.

To ApplySend your resume and a brief note on what you have built (not managed - built) to [email removed], with CC to [email removed]. If you have a portfolio of hardware designs, schematics, PCB layouts, board photographs, or firmware projects that you are legally permitted to share, include it.

Please also answer these questions:
1. How many complete PCBs have you personally designed from schematic through layout?

2 Of these, how many were fabricated and successfully brought up by you?

3 How many reached production or field deployment, and approximately how many units were manufactured?

4 For the most complex PCB you personally designed, briefly describe the MCU, power architecture, communication interfaces, number of layers, and your exact responsibility.

5 Describe one commercial IoT / connected-device product you personally worked on: what the device did, the connectivity used (for example LTE/GSM/BLE/Wi-Fi), your exact hardware/firmware responsibility, whether it was field-deployed, and approximate deployment scale.

6 Please share a portfolio / schematic / PCB layout / board image / GitHub link that you are legally permitted to share, if available.