Our Mission at Scythe

Humanity has lost touch with nature - we’ve traded dirt and trees for asphalt, and we rely on loud, polluting, gas-powered machines to care for our limited natural spaces.

Scythe is forging a new future by building intelligent, all-electric machines that unlock a new superpower: the ability to care for the outdoors pollution-free at enormous scale. From today’s first steps in landscape maintenance to full-fledged re-terraforming in the future, Scythe is pioneering autonomous machinery that supports the ingenuity of humans, multiplying our power to nurture our planet.

At Scythe, you’ll work with a team of world-class experts in everything from computer vision to mechanical engineering, pushing the limits of possibility and growing by overcoming hurdles along the way.

The world needs what we’re building—come join us in making it a reality.

Firmware Engineer at Scythe Robotics

Scythe is seeking an experienced Firmware Engineer to help bring the future of outdoor power equipment to life. Our autonomous mower, M.52, depends on multiple embedded systems responsible for tasks like power management, sensor management, user interfaces, and more. As a Firmware Engineer at Scythe, you will be instrumental in developing the firmware that powers these microcontroller-based embedded systems and allows them to communicate with each other and the main robot "brain" system. You’ll be responsible for creating and maintaining low-level, mission-critical embedded software deployed on every Scythe mower.

You’ll work in concert with teammates across engineering, manufacturing, and field operations to design, build and maintain the vital subsystems that power Scythe's autonomous mower. We expect you to be broadly experienced to be able to “see around corners”, to thrive in a fast-paced, self-managed engineering environment, and to be a collaborative, low-ego teammate who helps Scythe realize its big mission.

What you’ll do at Scythe

• Develop, test, deploy, and support Scythe's firmware for various mission-critical subsystems, including power management, sensing hardware management, user control interface and more
• Contribute to system architecture design, emphasizing safety and reliability
• Collaborate with electrical engineers for board bring-up and troubleshooting
• Work closely with robot software engineers to ensure seamless integration of firmware with higher-level robot software

What you know well

• Firmware development in C/C++ for microcontroller-based embedded systems
• ARM-based microcontrollers, specifically the ARM Cortex-M series
• Build systems like Make and CMake
• Communication protocols such as CAN, I2C, SPI, UART, and USB
• Debugging firmware using JTAG/SWD interfaces and GDB
• Debugging hardware using benchtop equipment such as DMM, oscilloscopes, and logic analyzers
• Distributed version control systems (we use Git)
• Python and shell scripting

What you’ve maybe done

• System architecture for complex embedded systems
• GUI development for embedded systems
• Software infrastructure development for automated build and test as well as in-field telemetry and failure reporting
• Over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates
• Hardware-in-the-loop testing
• FPGA programming in Verilog
• CANOpen or other CAN communication stacks
• Programming in Rust

Why Scythe?

• Scythe is an early-stage but well-capitalized startup. Have a huge impact alongside an awesome team of experts shipping something the world has never before seen
• Competitive salary and equity compensation
• Fully-sponsored medical, vision, and dental insurance, including 75% funded dependent coverage
• 401(k) retirement plan (non-matching today)
• Headquarters near beautiful Boulder, CO. Enjoy the bounties of nature and open spaces close to home with mountain biking, hiking, skiing and more
• Satellite offices in Austin, TX and Vero Beach, FL
• Flexible paid time-off and remote work to let you do your best work where and when you want
• Highly collaborative learning culture where personal freedom, growth, and responsibility are valued
• An opportunity to have an incredible positive impact on the world

Closing

Scythe is a total compensation company, which provides employees a comprehensive salary, equity, and benefit package. However, only the minimum salary amounts are listed here. Scythe carefully considers a wide range of compensation factors, including education, years of experience, competencies and other relevant business considerations. These considerations can cause your compensation to vary along with your compensation mode preferences. The Firmware Engineer position has an expected minimum annual cash salary of $85,000. The actual pay may be higher depending on your skills, qualifications, and experience. Equity and benefits packages are NOT included in this estimate. Please note that this information is provided for those hired in Colorado only, and this role is open to candidates outside of Colorado as well.

Scythe is an Equal Opportunity employer committed to diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status or any other factor protected by applicable local, state or federal laws.