Senior Embedded Firmware Engineer - Contract (1099)

About Very (Remote – North America)Very is a fully distributed technology firm led by expert problem-solvers who create efficient, scalable solutions that move commercial, industrial, and consumer products from pilot to production in record time.

We believe that real innovation happens in the grind — working shoulder to shoulder with clients who are building the future. Our team thrives on that energy.

When we’re not helping clients deliver business-critical outcomes, we’re refining our craft and celebrating what it means to do hard things well. We’ve built a collaborative, tight-knit culture that thrives in both remote and in-person settings.

We’ve won numerous workplace awards over the years, including Great Place to Work certification and recognition from Parity.org as a Best Company for Women to Advance.

Our clients include well-known brands like Vizio, Peloton, Clear, iHeart Radio, and Fellowes — all determined to leverage connected devices and AI to drive meaningful impact. Our job is simple: help them win.

About This Role We are seeking a senior firmware engineer with 10+ years of professional embedded development experience who has gone deep on Matter protocol implementation specifically on Espressif's ESP32 platform using ESP-IDF.

This person should be able to own a device firmware stack end-to-end — from schematic review and board bring-up through production firmware, OTA, and certification.

What You’ll Be Working On We dedicate each engineer to a single project in order to promote focus and minimize context switching. You will be developing production-grade firmware for connected devices and working on Matter-enabled IoT devices from bring-up to certification.

You will own firmware development across the full device lifecycle, including schematic review, board bring-up, driver integration, OTA updates, and certification readiness.

You will also participate in hardware debugging and validation using tools such as JTAG/SWD, logic analyzers, and protocol sniffers to diagnose low-level issues across firmware, hardware, and network layers.

You’ll collaborate closely with hardware engineers and cross-functional teams to deliver production-ready devices.

Must-Haves Experience 10+ years professional embedded/firmware engineering in C/C++Significant experience with ESP-IDF — not Arduino wrappers, but real ESP-IDF work: CMake/Kconfig build system, partition tables, NVS, OTA frameworks, FreeRTOS task management, and low-level driver integration (I2C, SPI, UART, ADC, GPIO)Direct, demonstrable work implementing Matter on ESP32-series silicon (ESP32, ESP32-C3, ESP32-S3, or ESP32-H2) using Espressif's ESP-Matter SDK or the upstream Connectedhomeip stackHands-on with at least one Matter transport at the firmware level — Wi-Fi or Thread (802.15.4)Experience debugging commissioning flows, interop failures, and protocol-level issues across ecosystems (Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa)Familiarity with secure boot, flash encryption, and device attestation in the Matter contextComfortable reading specs (Matter, Thread, 802.15.4) and translating them into working firmwareLocation and Residency Must reside in the continental US (to facilitate overnight shipping to our clients and the majority of our software team).Must be authorized to work in the US without sponsorshipStrong SignalsContributions to open-source Matter or ESP-IDF repositoriesExperience taking a Matter device through CSA certificationBackground in adjacent protocols — Zigbee, Z-Wave, BLE Mesh — demonstrating breadth across the connected device landscapeHistory of working in a consultancy or product development firm where they've shipped across multiple product lines, not just one internal productComfort with hardware debug toolchains — JTAG/SWD, logic analyzers, protocol sniffersExperience standing up CI/CD for firmware builds and automated test harnessesSkills Client Obsessed: Keeps the client’s success front and center.

Measures technical choices by their business impact.Communicates Effectively: Expert communicator who informs, engages, and aligns diverse audiences.Sets the Bar: Holds themselves and others to exceptionally high technical and delivery standards.Thrives in the Grind: Finds energy and satisfaction in complex, high-stakes work — and helps others do the same.Leads Through Complexity: Brings clarity and direction when projects are messy, high-pressure, or uncertain.This Role Is Likely NOT a Fit IfYour ESP32 experience is limited to Arduino IDE or PlatformIO hobby projectsYour Matter knowledge is purely theoretical or limited to running the chip-tool demoYou don’t have experience with real-time debugging or protocol-level troubleshootingYou have only worked on a single long-lived product with no exposure to bring-up or new platform workCompensation USD $100 per hour.

Contract & Scope Contract for hire (1099) engagementExpected weekly hours (e.g., 30–40 hrs/week)Why Work for VeryWe do not promise an easy ride — we promise meaningful work.

We work hard because our clients’ success depends on it, and we take pride in delivering when others can’t. We collaborate closely, move fast, and stay grounded in results.

We take joy in the process — in the problem-solving, the iteration, and the shared wins that come from doing the hard things well.

If you’re looking for a place where every project matters, where the standards are high, and where you’ll grow by pushing yourself and others — welcome to Very. Interviewing for a new company is a serious time commitment for all parties involved.

Please take the time to read this and thoughtfully consider if we would be a good fit for one another. No agencies. Seriously. #LI-Remote