Firmware Release & Test Automation Engineer

Employer description

Who We Are

Verkada is transforming how organizations protect their people and places with an integrated, privacy-sensitive AI-powered platform that includes solutions for video security, access control, air quality sensors, alarms, intercoms, and visitor management. 

We’ve got serious momentum in the market: more than 30,000 customers (including 100+ of the Fortune 500), a $5.8B valuation, more than $1 billion in annualized bookings, and backing from CapitalG, Sequoia Capital, General Catalyst, Felicis Ventures, Next47 and more. Physical AI is one of the most consequential technology shifts of our time, and Verkada is at the center of it.

You can look at all kinds of communities to see our platform’s impact in the world. It's the retailer that uses our agentic AI to deter theft before it happens. The warehouse that uses AI-powered alerts to make sure its team is protected on the floor with proper PPE. The school that’s alerted to a threat in real-time and triggers a lockdown in seconds, not minutes. We’re rapidly scaling this impact: today, more than 2 million Verkada devices are deployed across 170+ countries. 

About the Role

As a Firmware Release & Test Automation Engineer, you will own the final mile between embedded code development and physical deployment across our global fleet of connected devices. In this hybrid role, you sit at the intersection of build infrastructure, automated validation, and release governance. You won’t just run test suites or push buttons on a deployment train—you will architect the continuous integration pipelines, design Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) and Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) automation fixtures, define gatekeeping qualification criteria, and orchestrate safe, staged over-the-air (OTA) updates.

You will work closely with firmware engineers, hardware validation teams, and cloud backend developers to ensure that every build that lands on a customer’s wall, ceiling, or door controller is stable, secure, and reliable.

We are committed to a thriving in-office culture. This role requires you to be onsite at our HQ in San Mateo, CA.

What You'll Do

• Own the Release Lifecycle: Define, maintain, and optimize the end-to-end release pipeline for embedded Linux and RTOS builds across our devices.
• Build Automated Validation Systems: Design, build, and scale automated Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) and Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) test harnesses to catch regressions before firmware ever reaches external hardware.
• Set Quality & Gatekeeping Standards: Establish clear go/no-go qualification gates, track test flakiness, and lead triage for release-blocking bugs alongside core firmware developers.
• Orchestrate Safe Deployments: Drive staged fleet rollouts, canary deployments, and automated telemetry monitoring to catch field anomalies early and execute fast rollbacks when needed.
• Drive Developer Productivity: Build tools and CI/CD automation that speed up firmware compile, packaging, and local test cycles.
• Self-motivated problem solver: At Verkada, you will tackle large, complex edge-case bugs spanning silicon, firmware, networking, and cloud services with no clear answers.
• Teach and learn: You will take technical ownership of major validation systems while collaborating with and mentoring peers across software, firmware, and hardware engineering.

What You Bring

• BS or graduate degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 3+ years of experience in software/firmware build infrastructure, embedded test automation, or release engineering.
• Strong programming proficiency in Python and Bash for automation, scripting, and test framework development.
• Working knowledge of C/C++ in embedded Linux or RTOS environments.
• Hands-on experience building or maintaining CI/CD pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, TeamCity) for embedded systems.
• Experience with automated test execution on physical hardware targets (HIL testbeds, serial/UART logging, JTAG/SWD, network power switches).
• Understanding of modern version control workflows (Git branching models, tagging, release trains) and build systems (Yocto/BitBake, CMake, Make, Bazel).
• Must be willing and able to work onsite five days per week at our San Mateo HQ.
• Must be willing to travel at least one week a year to our engineering office in Krakow, Poland.

Nice to Have

• Working knowledge of Go.
• Experience with secure boot workflows, cryptographic firmware signing, and Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) generation.
• Familiarity with over-the-air (OTA) update frameworks and dual-partition (A/B) fallback mechanisms.
• Experience monitoring fleet health telemetry (DataDog, Grafana, Prometheus, or ELK).
• Knowledge of standard embedded communication interfaces (I2C, SPI, UART, CAN, Ethernet) and Wi-Fi/cellular networking.

US Employee Benefits

Verkada is committed to fostering a workplace environment that prioritizes the holistic health and wellbeing of our employees and their families by offering comprehensive wellness perks, benefits, and resources. Our benefits and perks programs include, but are not limited to:

• Healthcare programs that can be tailored to meet the personal health and financial well-being needs - Premiums are 100% covered for the employee under at least one plan and 80% for family premiums under all plans
• Nationwide medical, vision and dental coverage
• Starting January 2027, Verkada will match a portion of an employee’s 401(k) contributions based on eligible earnings. Match vests on 2 year anniversary
• Health Saving Account (HSA) with annual employer contributions and Flexible Spending Account (FSA) with tax saving options
• Expanded mental health support
• Paid parental leave policy & fertility benefits
• Time off to relax and recharge through our paid holidays, firmwide extended holidays, flexible PTO and personal sick time
• Professional development stipend
• Wellness/fitness benefits
• Healthy lunches provided daily
• Commuter benefits

Additional Information

• We do sponsor and take over sponsorship of employment visas for this role. If we make you an offer, we will make every reasonable effort to get you a visa.

Annual Pay Range

At Verkada, we want to attract and retain the best employees, and compensate them in a way that appropriately and fairly values their individual contribution to the company. With that in mind, we carefully consider a number of factors to determine the appropriate starting pay for an employee, including their primary work location and an assessment of a candidate's skills and experience, as well as market demands and internal parity. A Verkada employee may be eligible for additional forms of compensation, depending on their role, including sales incentives, discretionary bonuses, and/or equity in the company in the form of restricted stock units (RSUs)

Below is the annual on-target earnings (OTE) range for full-time employees for this position, comprised of base compensation and commissions (if applicable).

Verkada Is An Equal Opportunity Employer

As an equal opportunity employer, Verkada is committed to providing employment opportunities to all individuals. All applicants for positions at Verkada will be treated without regard to race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.

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