[Hiring] Staff Embedded Systems Engineer @Torus

Role Description

We’re building energy storage and management solutions that help:

• Homeowners become their own renewable energy provider—saving money and reducing carbon emissions.
• Commercial and industrial businesses reduce their operating costs while increasing reliability.
• Grid operators keep the electricity grid stable and cost efficient.

Torus is hiring a Staff Embedded Systems Engineer to be a senior level individual contributor on our firmware team, working in close partnership with our Firmware Architect. This is a hands-on role where you'll translate architectural direction into well-engineered, production-grade firmware, raise the technical bar across the team, and take deep ownership of the most complex problems in our embedded stack—from serial protocol integrations to fleet-scale deployment and field diagnostics.

Our firmware application layer is Python on Embedded Linux (Yocto)—not C, not C++. This was a deliberate architectural choice: Python gives us speed-to-market, flexibility to respond to changing grid program requirements, and a clean separation between hardware and application logic. Our comms are primarily RS-485, so Python runtime overhead is seldom the limiting factor.

If you've been writing Python to control hardware over serial protocols—in energy, robotics, industrial IoT, or test & measurement—you'll feel immediately at home here. If you've spent your career in C/C++ and are looking for that, this probably isn't the right fit.

Each Torus device generates over a million data points per day and integrates with our cloud platform via MQTT/AWS IoT. Our systems also participate in Virtual Power Plant (VPP) programs, responding to real-time dispatch signals from utilities—which means our firmware decisions have direct, measurable impact on grid operations.

Qualifications

• BS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Embedded Systems, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience developing commercial embedded software or firmware applications.
• Strong Python proficiency and real production experience running Python on Embedded Linux (Yocto or similar).
• Solid understanding of serial communication protocols—RS-485, Modbus, I²C, CAN, Ethernet.
• Experience with real-time embedded systems: multi-threading, inter-process communication, timing constraints.
• Ability to read schematics and PCB layouts to troubleshoot hardware integration issues.
• Proven track record leading or mentoring engineers on technical projects.

Requirements

• Supporting and mentoring a small team of firmware engineers—ensuring technical direction matches the architectural intent, reviewing designs, and building a culture of responsiveness and collaboration.
• Developing firmware features across our energy storage product lines: telemetry, control loops, cloud connectivity, and hardware abstraction layers.
• Owning system integration—working closely with hardware, data, and software teams to ensure seamless interoperability across the full stack.
• Driving quality through design reviews, automated testing, and documentation. (We believe engineers own their own QA.)
• Debugging and optimizing real-time embedded applications and serial communication interfaces in the field and in the lab.
• Supporting scaling operations—deployment tooling, remote monitoring, and root-cause analysis of field issues across a growing fleet.
• Participate in on-call rotation for escalated technical issues.

Benefits

• Employee Rewards Package including Equity
• 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan
• Health Benefits Package: Choice between traditional PPO or HSA eligible medical plans; Dental insurance; and Vision insurance
• Human-centered Paid Time Off including Unlimited Discretionary PTO; 10-days paid company holidays; Waiting period-free 100% paid parental leave
• Torus paid Life and AD&D Insurance with option to purchase additional coverage
• Voluntary Short- and Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Peer Recognition Program