---
title: 'Embedded Software Engineer II at FORT Robotics'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/embedded-software-engineer-ii-fort-robotics-philadelphia-nykrtsax4b98'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-06'
---

# Embedded Software Engineer II at FORT Robotics

- **Company:** FORT Robotics
- **Location:** Philadelphia, PA
- **Posted:** 2026-08-24
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-06
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/fortrobotics/jobs/4726890005

## Job description

In today's dynamic worksites, seamless collaboration between people and machines is essential. FORT's platform ensures safe, secure, and dynamic control that surpasses legacy systems and next-generation AI capabilities.

While autonomous machines offer significant advantages, they also introduce new safety challenges. FORT addresses these concerns by providing solutions such as the Wireless E-Stop, which allows operators to instantly stop any machine from a safe distance, enhancing safety during emergencies.

Additionally, FORT's Safe Remote Control enables operators to manage heavy machinery remotely, reducing the risk of accidents and improving visibility.

By ensuring communications integrity across any network, FORT empowers customers to protect their most valuable assets—people, data, and machines—ensuring they remain safe and secure.

As an Embedded Software Engineer II, you will own specific components of our embedded stack, working close to the hardware on the real-time firmware that our safety devices depend on. Most of your time will be spent in RTOS environments (Zephyr and FreeRTOS) and on bare-metal targets, architecting safety-critical systems where reliability is a hard requirement. You will also work with our Embedded Linux platforms where the two worlds meet, so you will be comfortable moving between constrained real-time targets and richer application environments.

## What You'll Do

- Build the Core: Design and implement robust C/C++ firmware for safety-critical embedded devices.
- Real-Time Architecture: Architect and implement RTOS-based firmware on Zephyr and FreeRTOS, including task and scheduling design, ISR handling, inter-task communication, memory and stack budgeting, and deterministic timing analysis.
- Bare-Metal and Drivers: Write low-level peripheral drivers and board support code, and bring up new silicon from reset vector through to a running application.
- Platform Integration: Interface RTOS devices with our Embedded Linux user-space applications, ensuring reliable communication and consistent behavior across the product.
- Pipeline & Quality: Maintain and improve CI/CD pipelines (GitLab) to automate testing, including on-target and hardware-in-the-loop test execution.
- Hardware Integration: Bring up new hardware, debug complex issues using JTAG/GDB, and optimize for latency, power, and memory footprint.
- Safety Compliance: Collaborate with the safety team to ensure code adheres to rigorous standards (IEC 61508) while maintaining development velocity.

## What You Bring

- Experience: 3-5 years of hands-on embedded software development, with a substantial portion on RTOS or bare-metal targets.
- Core Languages: Strong proficiency in C, along with working proficiency in C++.
- RTOS Knowledge: Solid production experience with an RTOS such as Zephyr, FreeRTOS, ThreadX, or similar, including scheduling, synchronization primitives, and interrupt-driven design.
- Microcontroller Fluency: Comfort working directly with MCU peripherals, datasheets, reference manuals, linker scripts, and startup code.
- Linux Exposure: Familiarity with Embedded Linux user-space development, sufficient to integrate and debug across the RTOS and Linux boundary.
- Connectivity: Familiarity with IP networking protocols and standard interfaces (UART, SPI, I2C, USB, CAN).
- Tooling: Experience with Python for scripting/automation and familiarity with CI/CD workflows.
- Debugging: Comfort using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, JTAG, and GDB to troubleshoot hard-to-find bugs.
- Education: B.S. in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent experience.

Bonus Points

- Experience with Zephyr specifically, including devicetree, Kconfig, and west-based workflows.
- Experience with wireless stacks (BLE, ISM, Wi-Fi) on constrained devices.
- Background in Functional Safety (FuSa) or working in regulated industries (Medical, Automotive, Aerospace).
- Low-level Linux knowledge of Board Support Packages (BSP) and device drivers.
- Familiarity with static analysis, MISRA C, or other coding standards used in safety-critical development.

Base Compensation can range from $125,000 to $150,000 based on experience & location.

## About FORT Robotics

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: FORT Robotics provides a safety-rated distributed control platform that enables the safe, secure, and reliable operation of autonomous machines and robots across industries.
- **Entity Type**: Private (VC-funded; Series unknown from public data, $56.9M total funding)
- **Headquarters**: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
- **Founded**: 2018
- **Founders**: Samuel Reeves (CEO), Nathan Bivans (Founding CTO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Automation Machinery Manufacturing; Robotics Safety & Security; Industrial Control Systems
- **Target customers**: B2B — OEMs, machine builders, integrators, and end-users in warehousing, manufacturing, construction, defense, agriculture, mining, transportation, delivery, and turf care. Customers include Fortune 500 companies and leading robotics startups.
- **Mission statement**: "To ensure robots cause no harm."

## Products & Services
- **FORT Distributed Control Platform**: A unified suite of hardware, software, and ecosystem integrations providing communications integrity, wireless safety commands (e-stop), secure real-time control, and SIL 3-certified safety for any machine application. Enables safe human-robot collaboration and machine-to-machine communication.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding of $56.9M (3 prior rounds). Annual Revenue estimated at $9.0M (LinkedIn data).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not named in available sources, but company is VC-funded. Has integrated with NVIDIA Halos for Robotics and supports RAS-G IOP / OpenJAUS for defense compliance.
- **Growth Signals**: 600+ customers globally; headcount of 44 employees (+13.0% YoY); active job postings for multiple senior roles across Sales, Engineering, and Product; LinkedIn followers growing at +49.9% yearly; recent acquisitions (Mapless AI) and executive hires (Rinus Strydom as CRO).

## Competitive Advantages
- **First-of-its-kind safety infrastructure**: Built from the ground up to solve the trust gap in physical AI and autonomy, with a decade of founder experience in landmine clearance.
- **SIL 3 certification**: Provides a certified safety foundation required for autonomous systems to scale in high-stakes environments.
- **Cross-industry applicability**: Platform works across defense, agriculture, logistics, construction, mining, transportation, and more — reducing fragmentation for customers.
- **Trusted by industry leaders**: Hundreds of customers including Fortune 500 companies, with products shipping daily.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling the trust layer for Physical AI**: Extending platform capabilities (e.g., Outside-In Safety with NVIDIA Halos) and expanding into defense and autonomous vehicle markets.
- **Geographic and commercial growth**: Hiring senior account executives across the US, UK, and Canada; growing customer solutions and engineering teams.
- **Acquisition and integration**: Recently acquired Mapless AI to add new capabilities to the trust platform.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Emphasizes building together, delivering customer experience worthy of loyalty, and accomplishing the impossible. Proactively inclusive hiring and team leadership.
- **Work environment**: Flexible work environment; remote roles available for many positions (USA, UK, Canada). Philadelphia HQ for hardware/embedded roles.
- **Compensation & benefits**: Competitive pay, unlimited PTO, 100% paid employee healthcare benefits, 3% 401(k) match, paid life insurance, employee assistance program, stock options.
- **Impact**: Work on mission-critical safety technology deployed in real-world autonomous systems — from warehouse robots to defense vehicles. Join a fast-growing, VC-funded company with 600+ customers and products shipping daily.

## Sources
1. [fortrobotics.com](https://www.fortrobotics.com/) - Company website
2. [fortrobotics.com/about](https://www.fortrobotics.com/about) - Company mission, story, values, leadership
3. [fortrobotics.com/careers](https://www.fortrobotics.com/careers) - Careers page with benefits and open roles
4. [linkedin.com/company/fort-robotics](https://www.linkedin.com/company/fort-robotics) - Employee count, revenue, growth metrics
5. [cbinsights.com/company/fort-robotics](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/fort-robotics) - Total funding, headquarters, patent data

## Other roles at FORT Robotics

- [Manager, Firmware Engineering](https://feeny.ai/job/manager-firmware-engineering-fort-robotics-philadelphia-1qqgzsfvye1h) — Philadelphia, PA
- [Sr. Embedded Software Engineer-Test Automation](https://feeny.ai/job/sr-embedded-software-engineer-test-automation-fort-robotics-remote-fmtcvhrswt82)
- [Sr. Account Executive-Defense](https://feeny.ai/job/sr-account-executive-defense-fort-robotics-remote-ep2aw07j696z)
- [Product Manager, Control & Safety Ecosystem](https://feeny.ai/job/product-manager-control-safety-ecosystem-fort-robotics-remote-xjgghhwbm0st)
- [Sr. Product Manager, Ecosystem & Partnerships](https://feeny.ai/job/sr-product-manager-ecosystem-partnerships-fort-robotics-united-states-8hfw7ssx7fh5) — United States
- [Account Executive, USA](https://feeny.ai/job/account-executive-usa-fort-robotics-united-states-bncg3433vw1a) — United States
- [Senior Account Executive, Canada](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-account-executive-canada-fort-robotics-remote-t55bwfekwveq)
- [Senior Account Executive, Great Lakes Region](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-account-executive-great-lakes-region-fort-robotics-remote-bvcd05dbqmr2)
- [Account Executive-Europe](https://feeny.ai/job/account-executive-europe-fort-robotics-london-eky7myvs857v) — London, United Kingdom
- [Customer Solutions Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/customer-solutions-engineer-fort-robotics-london-7tgtyqsbh6ny) — London, United Kingdom