--- title: 'Embedded Systems Engineer at Terranova' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/embedded-systems-engineer-terranova-berkeley-4qhqhpd8pqxx' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-07' --- # Embedded Systems Engineer at Terranova - **Company:** Terranova - **Location:** Berkeley, CA - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-01-29 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/terranova/63800973-e893-4a0c-8968-74ced42ffe68/application **Skills:** C/C++, STM32, ESP32, RP2040, KiCad, Altium, Mixed-signal PCB Design, I²C, SPI, UART, CAN, Hardware Prototyping, DFM/DFT, FreeRTOS, Zephyr, SWD, JTAG, Logic analyzers, Power design, OTA/bootloaders > Develop and debug embedded firmware for microcontrollers, design mixed-signal PCBs, and integrate sensors and radios for robotic systems. The role involves hardware prototyping, validation, and support for field deployment in a fast-paced startup environment. ## Job description Company Description Backed by leading climate and American dynamism investors, Terranova builds intelligent robotic systems to terraform the Earth itself - lifting land, restoring wetlands, and protecting critical infrastructure from floods and sea-level rise. Our mission is to preserve the built environment, create new habitats, and usher in an era of abundance. Our work supports climate resilience, disaster recovery, and defense across the United States and beyond. We’re assembling a world-class team that wants to work on something real, physical, and civilization-scale. If you want your work to reshape the world (literally), this is the place to do it. What to Expect We are looking for a hands-on engineer who can take embedded ideas from schematic to prototype to production. You'll work on low-level firmware for microcontrollers, efficient peripheral interfacing, power-aware circuit design, radio frequency communication, and the software stack and autopilot system that ties it all together; bridging code and hardware to make our systems come alive in the field. ## Key Responsibilities - Develop and debug embedded firmware in C/C++ with FreeRTOS for STM32 or similar ARM Cortex-M systems. - Design and review multilayer mixed-signal schematics / PCBs in Altium Designer. - Integrate sensors, radios, and power electronics with reliable, low-latency interfaces (I²C, SPI, UART, CAN, SDIO). - Design and integrate long-range low-power wireless systems (XBee, LoRa) into deployed platforms. - Build and maintain Yocto Linux images for embedded gateways and edge compute systems. - Contribute to backend services and tooling in Go and TypeScript, including SQL data layers and Vue/React frontends. - Deploy and operate cloud infrastructure on Google Cloud and Cloudflare's serverless platform. - Characterize and optimize power budgets, EMI performance, and manufacturability. - Bring-up, test, and validate hardware prototypes through DFM/DFT cycles. - Support system integration and field debugging of deployed robotic platforms. - Thrive at the pace and intensity of early-stage startup life, including long days, 6-day workweeks, and extended field hours. ## Requirements - Bachelor's degree or higher in Electrical Engineering or a related field. - U.S. permanent residency. ## Preferred Skills & Experience - Multilayer mixed-signal PCB design in KiCad or Altium - ARM microcontroller firmware (STM32/ESP32/RP2040) in C/C++ with FreeRTOS or Zephyr - RF and long-range low-power wireless systems (XBee, LoRa) - Yocto or OpenEmbedded Linux build systems - Go and TypeScript application development - SQL and relational data modeling - Vue and/or React frontend development - Google Cloud and Cloudflare serverless (Workers, Durable Objects, R2) - Working knowledge of internet fundamentals, including DNS - SWD/JTAG, logic analyzers (e.g., Saleae), and oscilloscopes - OTA update systems and bootloaders - DMA-backed peripheral drivers - DFM/DFT methodologies Ideal Archetype - Has worked on and owned entire large, complex robotic systems: multiple sensors, motors, interfaces, and solid PCB design. - Has a maker background: loves building things and finds the work genuinely fun. Would like candidates with a portfolio. ## About Terranova ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Terranova builds car-sized terraforming robots that inject a wood slurry deep underground to lift land out of flood zones, providing permanent elevation without surface disturbance. - **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage) - **Headquarters**: Berkeley, California, United States - **Founded**: Not publicly available - **Founders**: Trip Allen (CEO/Executive Chairman), Laurence Allen (Forward-Deployed CEO) ## Core Business - Primary industry/industries: Robotics Engineering, Climate Adaptation, Construction Technology - Target customers: Real estate developers, infrastructure contractors, government agencies, defense organizations, and wetland conservation groups operating in flood-prone regions - Mission or purpose statement: “To terraform the earth and usher in a new era of resilience and societal abundance” — Laurence Allen, CEO ## Products & Services - **Terraforming Robot System**: A fleet of three car-sized injection robots and one “mothership” that can lift one acre by one foot per day. The robots inject a wood slurry deep underground to permanently elevate land with minimal surface disturbance. - **Site Suitability Predictor**: An AI-driven tool that analyzes soil composition and flood risk to determine optimal project locations. - **AI Injection Campaign Designer**: Machine learning reasoning models that design the precise injection pattern needed to achieve a desired surface topology. ## Market Standing - **Valuation**: $25.1 million (post-seed round) - **Key Metric**: $7 million in seed funding (closed three times oversubscribed) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Outlander VC (co-lead), Congruent Ventures (co-lead), GoAhead Ventures, Gothams, Ponderosa (Galvanize Climate fund), and angels including Palmer Luckey - **Growth Signals**: Emerging from stealth in 2025 with a $7M seed round; targeting costs up to an order of magnitude less than levees or seawalls; actively hiring across robotics, embedded systems, and business development roles ## Competitive Advantages - **Cost advantage**: Targeting costs up to 10x cheaper than traditional levees or seawalls - **Speed**: Projects completed in 2–8 weeks versus 3–36 months for conventional methods - **Minimal environmental impact**: Uses waste biomass (wood slurry) as fill; no surface disturbance; minimal ecological disruption compared to surface fill or seawalls - **Permanent solution**: Elevation is permanent, providing proactive flood protection rather than reactive defense - **Unique technology moat**: Proprietary combination of heavy robotics, geotechnical engineering, and AI/ML for subsurface injection ## Strategic Focus - Scaling from prototype to full-scale production of robot systems - Beginning first commercial elevation projects in flood-prone regions (e.g., San Rafael, CA) - Growing core engineering and field deployment teams - Expanding into multiple verticals: real estate development, infrastructure, defense, mining, and wetlands restoration ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: Mission-driven climate tech startup tackling a massive global problem (flooding costs the U.S. economy over $180B/year) - **Work model**: In-office, based in Berkeley, CA (HQ) with a secondary office in Miami Beach, FL - **Team size**: ~22 employees (as of mid-2025); tight-knit, early-stage environment - **Engineering focus**: Heavy emphasis on robotics, controls, embedded systems, and mechanical engineering — a hardware-heavy startup building physical robots - **Recent job openings**: Robotics Controls Engineer, Embedded Systems Engineer, Senior Mechanical Engineer, Director of Business Development, and multiple intern positions - **Growth trajectory**: Early-stage with strong investor backing and clear product-market fit; opportunity to shape the company’s technical direction and culture ## Sources 1. [terranova.inc](https://www.terranova.inc/) 2. [LinkedIn - Terranova](https://www.linkedin.com/company/terranova-inc) 3. [Built In - Terranova Careers](https://builtin.com/company/terranova) 4. [The Robot Report - Seed Funding](https://www.therobotreport.com/terranova-gets-seed-funding-deploy-terraforming-robots/) 5. [Ashby Jobs Page](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/Terranova) ## Other roles at Terranova - [Mechanical Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/mechanical-engineer-terranova-berkeley-4m3dv96n0e1v) — Berkeley, CA - [Software Engineering Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineering-intern-terranova-berkeley-86ykdj3chn6h) — Berkeley, CA - [Government Programs & Proposal Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/government-programs-proposal-lead-terranova-berkeley-n690j5n0b6j8) — Berkeley, CA - [Shop Apprentice](https://feeny.ai/job/shop-apprentice-terranova-berkeley-wqahb12mtsqa) — Berkeley, CA - [Mechanical/Test Engineering Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/mechanical-test-engineering-intern-terranova-berkeley-m8yaxgtmxsy2) — Berkeley, CA - [Drop Out Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/drop-out-engineer-terranova-berkeley-ab6wbn6gz4y6) — Berkeley, CA - [VP of Ops](https://feeny.ai/job/vp-of-ops-terranova-berkeley-8mzfk1d3knkn) — Berkeley, CA - [Forward Deployed Operator](https://feeny.ai/job/forward-deployed-operator-terranova-berkeley-q7a8f9f0nx69) — Berkeley, CA - [Controls/Robotics Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/controls-robotics-intern-terranova-berkeley-jxm04qgs5vck) — Berkeley, CA - [Embedded Systems Intern](https://feeny.ai/job/embedded-systems-intern-terranova-berkeley-9xhyfdx9g665) — Berkeley, CA