---
title: 'Head of Firmware at Base Power Company'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-firmware-base-power-company-austin-j5q356mp97ea'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-10'
---

# Head of Firmware at Base Power Company

- **Company:** [Base Power Company](https://feeny.ai/companies/base-power-company)
- **Location:** Austin, TX
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-04-23
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-10
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/base-power/396ea381-f4ef-4dc7-b79a-9c6ce8783897/application

**Skills:** C, C++, CUMC, Embedded Linux, Real-time control, BMS firmware, Inverter firmware, OTA systems, Modbus, MQTT, Cellular backhaul, Firmware architecture, Power electronics, Energy storage, EVs, Industrial controls, UL certification, Grid-edge systems, Utility-scale energy, Ancillary-services participation

> The Head of Firmware will own the technical direction, architecture, and team leadership for all firmware systems running on Base's battery networks. This role involves designing platform platforms, ensuring compliance with safety standards, and building a high-reliability engineering team.

## Job description

## About Base

Base is America’s next-generation power company. We’re rebuilding the foundation of modern civilization–electricity–by deploying a vast network of distributed batteries that is transforming today’s fragile, centralized grid into a resilient and abundant system. We are engineers, operators, and creatives solving some of the most complex, interdisciplinary challenges of our time.

## About the Role

We're hiring a Head of Firmware to own every line of code that runs on a Base battery. You'll design and build firmware systems and set the direction for the team that delivers it. You'll design the platform, hire the team, and ship the firmware. If you'd rather review RFCs than write them, this isn't the role. If you'd rather only write code, this also isn't the role. This is for someone who wants to do both, and build an organization while they do it. You'll report to the Head of Software and work most closely with the hardware, power electronics, and energy-markets teams.

## What You'll Do

Set the technical direction

- Own firmware architecture end to end — from the MCU on the BMS, up through edge gateways, and into the telemetry pipeline in the cloud.
- Choose the platform: processor and SoC selection, RTOS vs. embedded Linux, toolchains, CI, HIL, OTA, observability, and security.
- Write the high-leverage code. Review the hard PRs. Own the technical bar.
- Keep firmware compliant with UL 1973, 1741, 9540, and 9540A — without slowing the fleet down.

Own the systems that run the fleet

- Real-time grid-balancing firmware and safe participation in ancillary services.
- Sub-second telemetry from battery to cloud, in partnership with the software org.
- Automated fault detection, isolation, and recovery across the fleet — because every truck roll is a loss.
- Bidirectional comms: Modbus, MQTT, cellular backhaul, and a commissioning flow a field tech can run in under 10 minutes.
- OTA update and rollback for a fleet that can never go dark.

Build the team

- Hire the firmware org. Define levels, interview loops, and the bar.
- Coach engineers — not as a full-time manager, but as the person who sets the standard.
- Partner with hardware and software to staff the right problem at the right time.

## What You'll Bring

- 10+ years writing production firmware for high-reliability embedded systems — ideally in power electronics, energy storage, EVs, industrial controls, or other safety-critical domains.
- Deep experience with C/C++ on MCUs and embedded Linux, real-time control loops, BMS or inverter firmware, and OTA systems running on installed fleets.
- You've built and scaled a firmware team before, or you've been the most senior firmware IC at a company that scaled around you. Either works — but you've done this once.
- A strong architectural point of view, and the humility to change it when the data says so.
- Fluency with the tradeoffs between speed and rigor on a fleet that's both shipping fast and running 24/7 in someone's home.
- Based in Austin, or willing to relocate. This role is in-person.

## Preferred Skills

- You've shipped hardware through UL certification.
- Background in grid-edge systems, utility-scale energy, or ancillary-services participation.
- You've built HIL infrastructure from scratch.
- Prior founding-engineer or founding-director experience at a hardware-forward startup.

## About the Team

America's power grid is failing—electricity costs have risen even as generation gets cheaper, and blackouts are becoming more common. We're building the software that fixes it. Our team owns the entire stack: firmware that controls batteries in thousands of homes, trading algorithms that buy and sell power in real-time markets, distributed commanding systems that orchestrate a growing fleet as a single grid asset, factory software for our Austin manufacturing line, and the product experience that makes it all invisible to homeowners. If you want to write code that physically moves electrons, ships hardware, and reshapes critical infrastructure, this is the job.

Please note: Base is a startup, which means priorities shift and evolve quickly. Your role may expand or change based on the needs of the business at any given time, so the responsibilities listed may not be exhaustive.

## Our Values

- First Principles Thinking: Question assumptions. Principles > rules.
- Operate at Base Pace: Focus on what matters, act quickly, and learn by doing.
- Give & Get Feedback: Be direct, be humble, and maintain a growth mindset.
- Everyone’s an Owner: Follow through on commitments and own results.
- Strong Opinions, Loosely Held: Drive clarity and make calls with imperfect information.
- Committed to the Mission: Rebuilding the grid is a big challenge. We work hard because we care deeply about the impact we’re creating. We work in-person. It’s not a 9-to-5. We are all-in.
- Fun & Optimism Coexist with Grit: Collaboration and celebration coincide with the intensity of building real things.

Do the best work of your life at Base.

## About Base Power Company

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Base Power is a technology-driven energy provider deploying a network of distributed home batteries in Texas to provide reliable, affordable backup power and grid-balancing services.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series C, $1.3B+ raised to date)
- **Headquarters**: Austin, Texas, United States
- **Founded**: 2023
- **Founders**: Zach Dell (CEO & Co-Founder), Justin Lopas (COO & Co-Founder)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Energy Technology (Energy-as-a-Service, Grid Storage, Distributed Energy)
- **Target customers**: B2C (Texas homeowners), B2G (grid operators / ERCOT)
- **Mission or purpose statement**: "Build the future of American power." — The company aims to protect American families from outages, strengthen the aging U.S. grid, and move toward energy abundance by deploying a large-scale network of home batteries.

## Products & Services
- **Home Battery + Energy Membership**: A vertically integrated service where Base installs a large battery (25–50 kWh) at a customer's home for a low one-time fee ($695–$995). Customers pay a fixed energy rate (8–4¢/kWh) and a small monthly membership ($19–$29/mo). Base earns revenue from the grid (grid-balancing services), not from customer bills, enabling rates legally guaranteed to stay below market average. The system provides whole-home backup, protecting against 97% of outages.
- **Grid Services Platform**: Proprietary software that orchestrates the distributed battery network — charging when demand is low and discharging when the grid needs support — generating revenue and grid resilience.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed (Private company with $1.3B+ total funding)
- **Key Metric (Funding)**:
  - **Series A** (May 2024): $68M led by Thrive Capital
  - **Series B** (April 2025): $200M led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, and others
  - **Series C** (November 2025): $1.0B from 26 investors
  - **Total raised**: ~$1.27B (converted from 1,268,000,000)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Thrive Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz (also key talent source: 42 former Tesla employees, 6 from SpaceX, 4 from Anduril Industries)
- **Growth Signals**:
  - **Headcount**: 266 (as of mid-2026), with **+186.4% YoY growth** and a rapid monthly growth rate of +12.6%
  - Named one of **TIME's 10 most influential energy companies of 2026**
  - Operating in 5 countries (primarily US, with presence in Canada, Philippines, France, India)
  - 100+ active job postings with +104% increase YoY
  - 12,500+ batteries installed; serving thousands of monthly customers
  - CEO cited in the careers page as saying the company has 400+ team members ("400+" likely includes contractors and field installation/service workforce)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Vertically Integrated Model**: Base designs, manufactures, and installs every battery system itself, controlling the full stack from hardware through software to field operations.
- **Unique Business Model / No-Customer-Profit**: Base earns revenue from grid balancing, not from customer energy bills. This allows guaranteed-below-market rates and a low-cost battery membership, making it dramatically cheaper than competitors (e.g., Tesla Powerwall equivalents).
- **Strong Investor and Talent Backing**: World-class VC backing combined with a heavy talent influx from Tesla, SpaceX, and Anduril (companies known for high-velocity hardware/software execution).
- **Massive Capital Advantage**: $1B+ Series C provides a significant moat for scaling hardware production, dealer network, and software.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale distribution in Texas**: Continue deploying home batteries at a rapid pace across Texas, entering new zip codes and neighborhoods.
- **Grid partnership expansion**: Deepen relationships with ERCOT to expand the value of grid-balancing services.
- **Product development**: Improve battery technology (safety, capacity, cost), increase whole-home backup coverage (currently 97%), and develop new hardware/firmware generations.
- **Geographic expansion**: potential to move beyond Texas into other states (currently operating in 5 countries for support functions, but service is Texas-focused).

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Described as "intense, fast-paced, and deeply mission-driven." The company demands high output, ownership, and a bias toward action. It's explicitly stated as "not for everyone, and that's by design." This is a high-ownership, low-ambiguity environment.
- **Work Model**: **On-site at Base HQ in Austin, Texas.** Proximity to the product and team is central to how they move fast. "Do I need to be based in Texas? Yes."
- **Hiring Speed**: Fast process — aim for 1st conversation to offer in ~2 weeks.
- **Interview Process**: 3-4 hour on-site including technical assessments and behavioral/team conversations. Focus on "how [you] approach problems, communicate tradeoffs, and collaborate."
- **Non-traditional backgrounds**: Explicitly welcome: "We care about what you've built and how you think, not the logos on your resume. Some of our best people came from non-traditional paths."
- **Engineering Culture**: Heavy focus on hardware + software + field operations. Talent sources heavily from Tesla, Anduril, SpaceX — firms known for hardcore engineering and manufacturing excellence. Roles span hardware engineering, firmware, software, manufacturing, field installation/service, operations, growth, and design.
- **Team Composition**: ~29% of employees are in technical roles; ~15% in operations; significant representation of trades workers (11).
- **Notable Perks**: Opportunity to work on physical infrastructure deployed at scale; chance to contribute meaningfully to grid modernization and American energy resilience.

## Sources
1. [Base Power Careers Page](https://www.basepowercompany.com/careers)
2. [Base Power About Page](https://www.basepowercompany.com/about)
3. [Base Power Home Page (Product & Pricing)](https://www.basepowercompany.com/)
4. [Base Power LinkedIn Company Page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/basepowercompany)
5. [Base Power Open Roles (Ashby)](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/base-power)

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