Firmware Team Lead - ESP32 / IoT (Hands-On)

GrowDirector builds wireless, modular greenhouse automation controllers - climate, irrigation, and fertigation - running in active greenhouses in worldwide. We're hiring a Firmware Team Lead to own embedded development end to end: a player-coach role where most of your week is spent writing ESP32 firmware, and the rest leading a small hardware and software team.

What you'll own

• The embedded roadmap and firmware delivery for our ESP32-based controllers, reporting directly to [CTO / VP R&D]

• A team of engineers across hardware and software, including hardware deliverables (ECOs, ATE)

• Architecture: you set the technical direction for new controllers, sensor integrations, and connectivity as we build toward OTA and scale - you don't inherit someone else's standards, you define them

What you'll do

• Design, build, and maintain firmware for ESP32-based controllers, hands-on in the codebase daily

• Implement and harden IoT communication (MQTT, HTTP, TCP/UDP networking)

• Optimize firmware for reliability, performance, memory footprint, and power efficiency

• Set the bar for code quality: Git workflows, code reviews, testing, and documentation

• Drive architecture decisions with backend and product, and grow the engineers on your team

What you bring

• 2+ years leading embedded/firmware engineers as their direct lead (not only Scrum Master or mentoring), within 5+ years of embedded development

• Production firmware shipped on ESP32 or a similar wireless MCU, in C/C++

• Solid grasp of hardware interfaces (GPIO, I2C, SPI, UART) and sensor/peripheral integration

• Practical knowledge of MQTT, HTTP, and embedded networking

• Comfort with Git, PlatformIO or Arduino IDE, and reading unfamiliar codebases

• Strong communicator who works well across hardware, backend, and product

Nice to have

• FreeRTOS or other RTOS experience

• OTA update mechanisms

• Unit testing for embedded systems and CI/CD exposure

• Experience with ECO processes and automated test equipment (ATE)

Why this role

Your code and your team's code run on physical devices in real greenhouses, where a crash means a grower's crop, not a 500 error. Small company, direct customer feedback, real authority over architecture and process.

This position is open to all candidates.