Arkeus builds AI-powered sensing systems that help autonomous platforms detect, track and understand what's happening in the most complex and contested environments. Our technology is deployed across defence and national security applications — already protecting lives and strengthening security across the U.S. and allied markets.

Backed by QIC, Main Sequence, R+VC, Salus Ventures, Folklore Ventures, DYNE Ventures and Beaten Zone Venture Partners, Arkeus is entering a major growth phase. We are a small, quick-moving company with the energy and ambition of a start-up and the technical credibility of a world-class defence technology provider.

We work at the intersection of optics, autonomy, robotics and real-time AI and we deploy what we build. If you want to ship technology that matters, not technology that ships decks, this is where you belong.

Check it yourself on News | Arkeus

We have developed an inclusive, transparent and engaging culture that focuses on building a diverse workforce — realising that to attract the very best, we need to ensure our culture is ready to welcome people from all ages, genders and backgrounds.

About the role

Reporting to the Head of Software, you will be embedded into the Advanced Development Team, designing and architecting the firmware foundations of next-generation electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) payloads. This includes defining firmware architecture across multiple microcontrollers and system components, developing drivers and control software, maintaining bootloaders and interfaces, and making the design decisions that allow complex embedded systems to operate reliably in the field.

You will be trusted with real ownership from the first week.

About you





You are an embedded engineer who enjoys working from system-level architecture down to the code that sits closest to the hardware. You are fluent in C with Rust experience or a strong interest in using it for embedded systems, and you understand what the hardware is actually doing underneath your code — registers, interrupts, DMA, clocks, timing, communications and system interfaces.

You debug methodically. When something misbehaves only at -20°C, only under vibration, or only once every six hours, you do not guess — you instrument, isolate and prove. You treat determinism, safety and testability as design requirements, not afterthoughts.

You work comfortably across firmware, electronics and higher-level software boundaries. You can operate as the most senior specialised firmware engineer in the team, taking ownership of firmware architecture, toolchain and design decisions without relying on a dedicated firmware mentor. You communicate clearly with electronics engineers, document your decisions and are energised by a high-growth environment where what you build today is in a customer's hands tomorrow.

Key responsibilities

Firmware Design & Development

- Embedded Firmware: Design, architect, implement and maintain production-grade firmware for multi-microcontroller and SoC-based systems across ARM Cortex-M/R and related platforms. Define clear software boundaries, interfaces,



timing requirements and failure-handling strategies across the system.
- Drivers & Interfaces: Develop and optimise drivers for sensors, imagers, IMUs, motor drivers and communications interfaces (SPI, I²C, UART, CAN, Ethernet, MIPI CSI-2, USB), while defining the interfaces and abstractions that allow multiple firmware components and processors to work together reliably.
- System-Level Control & Timing: Design deterministic, low-latency control and data paths — including stabilisation, pointing and motor control loops — with clear timing budgets, interrupt strategies, resource constraints and failure modes.
- Boot & Update: Build and maintain bootloaders, secure boot chains and robust field-update mechanisms (A/B images, signing, rollback) for units deployed beyond physical reach.
- System Architecture & Integration: Define firmware architecture across multiple microcontrollers, embedded Linux companion compute on edge hardware. Make architectural trade-offs around processing, communications, timing, memory, reliability, testability and maintainability.

Hardware Collaboration & System Integration

- Hardware Collaboration: Work closely with Electronics Engineers during board design and bring-up, contributing firmware expertise to schematics reviews, interfaces, pin allocation, power sequencing and design reviews. You will collaborate and consult rather than own the electronics bring-up process.
- Lab Debugging & Design Consultation: Diagnose complex hardware/firmware interactions using oscilloscopes, logic analysers, JTAG/SWD debuggers and trace tools, and use those findings to inform system-level design and architecture decisions.
- Design Reviews & Tooling: Contribute to

📌 Firmware Engineer (Melbourne)
🏢 Arkeus
📍 Melbourne