---
title: 'Firmware Engineer at Hargrave Technologies'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/firmware-engineer-hargrave-technologies-bella-vista-hzb67t6yf6jv'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-28'
---

# Firmware Engineer at Hargrave Technologies

- **Company:** Hargrave Technologies
- **Location:** Bella Vista
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-09-20
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-28
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/hargravetechnologies/8f35e8aa-d294-45dd-b520-ab29f4a663e7

## Job description

Firmware Engineer This role would be the best fit for you if you want to work on genuinely difficult engineering problems and see your work end up in real and unique products across other specialised applications. A significant part of our work supports defence and military applications, where reliability, performance and engineering quality genuinely matter. You’ll be working on physical products and embedded systems that are built for serious real-world use. As the Firmware Engineer, you will be the bridge, the key connection between the hardware team and the engineering team, building high-performance systems from the ground up. This isn’t the role where you would spend your time maintaining legacy code or sitting away from the actual products - you will be involved in the decision-making, the debugging, the testing and the final outcome.

You will be working on:

- Developing and optimising embedded C, Python wrapping for build tooling firmware for microcontrollers.
- Designing bare-metal and embedded firmware architectures.
- Building device drivers as well as HALs for sensors, memory and communication interfaces such as I2C, SPI, CAN and more.
- Working directly with hardware engineers during prototype development and validation.
- Debugging issues using oscilloscopes, logic analysers, multimeters and JTAG/SWD tools, etc.
- Investigating firmware bugs, field failures and hardware-software integration and any issues during said integration.
- Helping to improve firmware reliability, testing and product performance.

## Why Hargrave

Hargrave is named after Lawrence Hargrave, the Australian aviation pioneer. We are an Australian engineering company designing and building high-performance electronics, motors and control systems for demanding applications and industries. A lot of the work is genuinely mission-critical, technically difficult and used in environments where reliability matters. Our technology can end up in drones and other military applications and missions, where the work you do has a direct impact on how the final product performs in the real world. If you want to work on engineering with real-world purpose and see your work end up in serious physical products, this is the kind of work we do. We are still small enough that your voice and your work matter and you will be able to see real influence on the products, but we’re scaling and big enough to be working on serious, high-impact projects around the world. Real ownership is a core part of how we work. Engineers are trusted to take responsibility for their work from concept through delivery, make informed decisions, challenge existing approaches and follow problems through to resolution. Less bureaucracy. More ownership, accountability and quality. As Hargrave continues to grow, there’s plenty of room for good people to shape not only the products, but also how we work as a team.

The ideal candidate would have experience in:

- Embedded C, Python and microcontrollers.
- Bare-metal or embedded firmware development.
- Device drivers and hardware interfaces.
- I2C, SPI, UART and CAN.
- Hardware debugging and board bring-up/prototyping.
- Experience with motor control, power electronics, RTOS, embedded Linux or electronics manufacturing would be highly regarded.

Pre-employment screening Due to the nature of our work, including Defence-related projects, successful applicants will be required to complete pre-employment screening, including a National Police Check.

## About Hargrave Technologies

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Hargrave Technologies is a leading Australian developer of mission-critical power electronics solutions, specialising in electronic speed controllers (ESCs) for brushless electric motors used in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), defence, automotive, and space applications.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Privately Held) — bootstrapped momentum with a single known grant
- **Headquarters**: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- **Founded**: 2015 (began life as Advanced Power Drives, later renamed Hargrave Technologies)
- **Founders**: Not publicly disclosed

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Power electronics for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), defence, aerospace, automotive, and space
- **Target customers**: B2B, focused on commercial and defence aerospace primes, tier-1 integrators, and UAS platform manufacturers
- **Mission/purpose**: To beat the forces of gravity; to develop the smallest, lightest, highest-performance UAS power electronics that enable longer flight times, greater payloads, and faster, more agile missions

## Products & Services
All products are designed and manufactured in Australia, NDAA-compliant, and support open standards (DroneCAN, ARINC 825, DShot, PWM). They offer both off-the-shelf and heavily customised solutions.

- **microFLUX4LP** – 4-channel smart power supply for avionics and payloads, with DroneCAN telemetry and protection
- **nanoDRIVE4LPi** – Lightest IP67 nano ESC for demanding sUAS applications; DroneCAN + FOCAL algorithm
- **microDRIVELP** – Low-voltage, high-power bare-board ESC, ultra-light, 60A continuous / 110A burst
- **microDRIVEMP** – Medium-power 120A ESC, IP67, DroneCAN + FOCAL algorithm
- **microDRIVEHP** – High-power 200A burst controller
- **microFLUX2LP / microFLUX2MP** – Dual-channel smart power supplies for power distribution and telemetry
- **microDRIVELPi** – Low-voltage, high-power DroneCAN controller, IP67
- **Custom engineering services** – Rapid development of bespoke ESC variants and integrated power electronics

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding USD 610,203 (grant, 2025-08-01)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: No institutional investors listed; the company states it works with "the largest aerospace companies in the world"; alumni have moved to Zipline, Tesla, Breaker, EY
- **Growth Signals**:
  - 21 employees (as of early 2026), +17.9% yearly growth
  - LinkedIn followers growing +45.6% year over year (2,799 followers)
  - Awarded a grant in 2025
  - Expanding into automotive and space verticals

## Competitive Advantages
- **Full vertical integration**: Proprietary firmware (FOCAL algorithm) developed in-house, combined with complete hardware control and on-site SMT manufacturing in Australia
- **NDAA-compliant** – all products meet US defence sourcing requirements, a critical moat for defence contracts
- **Smallest and lightest in class** – e.g., nano ESC base weight 5g, IP67 rating
- **Proven in mission-critical environments** – already deployed in commercial and defence aerospace
- **Rapid customisation** – ability to deliver bespoke designs in weeks, not months

## Strategic Focus
- Growing presence in defence and government aerospace programs, both in Australia and globally
- Extending product lines for automotive (EV motor controllers) and space applications
- Maintaining leadership in UAS power electronics through continued R&D on efficiency and miniaturisation
- Scaling manufacturing capacity to support larger defence contracts

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: "Freedom and resources to innovate" – solves complex, real-world challenges in power electronics and aerospace
- **Team**: Small, multidisciplinary team (16 technical staff out of 21) — high impact per person
- **Global reach**: Products used by major aerospace companies worldwide
- **Remote-friendly**: Careers page explicitly welcomes overseas candidates ("if you’re based overseas … we’d love to hear from you")
- **Location**: Sydney-based, with a state-of-the-art SMT production line; on-site presence expected for hardware roles, but flexible for software/remote
- **Notable**: Inspired by Australian aviation pioneer Lawrence Hargrave; strong emphasis on "beating gravity" and continuous performance improvement

## Sources
1. [Hargrave Technologies Homepage](https://www.hargravetechnologies.com/)
2. [Hargrave Technologies Careers](https://hargravetechnologies.com/company/careers)
3. [Hargrave Technologies About](https://hargravetechnologies.com/company/about-hargrave-technologies)
4. [LinkedIn Company Profile](https://au.linkedin.com/company/hargravetechnologies)
5. [Australian Business Register ABN Lookup](https://abr.business.gov.au/ABN/View?id=45670453120)

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