Director of Firmware Architecture & Delivery, SharkNinja
$220-250k
+ ESPP
3 days a week in office (Needham, MA)
Home devices and appliances
Be an early applicant
Home devices and appliances
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
$220-250k
+ ESPP
3 days a week in office (Needham, MA)
1001+ employees
Company mission
To positively impact people's lives every day in every home around the world.
Role
Who you are
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related discipline required
- Master's degree preferred
- 12+ years of embedded software and firmware engineering experience
- 5+ years leading engineering organizations, including direct people leadership of senior engineers and managers
- Demonstrated experience owning both technical standards and delivery accountability, with a track record of holding standards under schedule pressure
- Demonstrated experience defining architecture executed by ODM/JDM partners and enforcing standards against outsourced development
- Proven track record establishing CI/CD, static analysis, and automated test infrastructure for embedded programs
- Experience developing firmware for consumer electronics, home appliances, robotics, IoT devices, or related high-volume industries
- Embedded firmware architecture, HAL/API design, and platform reuse
- Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS)
- OTA software update architecture
- Build systems and toolchains (gcc, CMake, headless builds), Git-based source control, static analysis
- Test automation frameworks and hardware-in-the-loop validation
- Requirements definition, design review, and acceptance criteria for outsourced development
- Hardware-software integration and product bring-up
- Technology Leadership
- Standards and Governance Discipline
- Delivery Execution and Accountability
- Vendor and Partner Technical Management
- Cross-Functional Influence
- Talent Development
- Executive Communication
What the job involves
- The Director of Embedded Firmware is a senior US-based firmware leader, accountable for both the technical direction and architecture that governs firmware across SharkNinja's global portfolio, and the delivery of firmware for SharkNinja products
- On the architecture side, this leader defines the interfaces, hardware abstraction standards, and engineering practices that every firmware program is built and gated against — internal and partner-executed alike — ensuring all firmware is held to a consistent technical standard and delivered with integrity
- On the delivery side, this leader is responsible for overseeing the US firmware development organization including managing both internally and externally generated embedded firmware across the complete SharkNinja product portfolio
- This role is a peer to the Connected Firmware director, who owns connected embedded architecture and delivery, and coordinates with the Embedded Firmware director in Asia on embedded firmware delivered in that region
- Architecture & Technical Direction
- Own firmware architecture, interface definitions, and hardware abstraction (HAL/API) standards across all product categories, globally
- Establish architectural standards for real-time operating systems, connectivity frameworks, device intelligence, and edge processing
- Drive technical decisions on microcontroller and processor architecture, wireless technologies, display technologies, and software ecosystems in partnership with Hardware Engineering
- Maximize reuse of proven internal code, vendor SDKs, and reference designs to meet speed-to-market demands; reserve in-house development for durable differentiation, safety, security, and IP
- Translate architecture into clear, enforceable requirements that development partners execute against without interpretation
- Standards, Governance & Enforcement
- Define and maintain the engineering standards applied to internal developers and third-party suppliers alike — source control, build systems, branch and merge strategy, and release requirements
- Own the technical requirements embedded in supplier agreements, including the pre-production reproducibility deliverables: source, toolchain, and signed build manifest sufficient to independently rebuild shipping binaries
- Establish design review and gating checkpoints that partner deliverables clear before integration
- Partner with Systems Engineering and NPD to define product operation, key components, and critical firmware behavior at design time, closing hardware/software integration gaps before they surface at integration
- US Delivery Leadership
- Own delivery commitments for internally developed firmware — schedule, quality, and scope
- Lead the US embedded firmware organization; build capability, capacity, and technical bench strength
- Ensure firmware integrates cleanly with hardware, cloud services, mobile applications, and user interfaces
- Partner with other global firmware leadership to deliver programs spanning all sites and on shared platform work
- Test Automation & Development Infrastructure
- Own the embedded test automation framework: CI pipeline design, static analysis tooling, and the test-harness infrastructure that makes regression testing repeatable across categories
- Own embedded Bitbucket integration, headless build requirements, and per-commit enforcement of code quality across internal and supplier repositories
- Build the mechanism Quality gates against — this function builds the scaffolding; acceptance criteria and gate authority remain with Embedded QA & Governance
- Team & Cross-Functional Leadership
- Build and lead a senior technical team spanning architecture and delivery, with proven experience directing ODM and JDM partners
- Develop technical leadership talent and strengthen the architect and engineering career paths within Firmware Engineering
- Serve as a senior technical voice in partner capability assessment and consolidation decisions
- Communicate technical direction, delivery status, and risk to Firmware and EE executive leadership
Our take
With more people looking for home products that work harders and smarter, SharkNinja has become a household name. Through its Shark line of cleaning and home care tools and Ninja range of kitchen appliance the company creates solutions that simplify daily routines and overall enhance modern living.
SharkNinja has been in operation since 1994, which is testament to the quality and popularity of its products. Since its initial launch in Canada, the company has expanded into the US and the UK. In 2017 SharkNinja was bought by CDH Private Equity for over $1.5 Billion, further proof of its impressive market value. Perhaps more evidence is that it brings in annual revenues of around $4B.
It continues to hold a strong position in the home appliance market too, competiting with big brands like Dyson. Its Shark line lead the US upright vacuum, segment, while its presence in robotics vacuums reflects steady growth in a compeititve space. Since going public, the company has m,aintained a rapid pace of innovation, launching numerous new products eacxh pear and expanding into adjecent categories such as outdoor coolers and grills. With a growing global footprint and a focus ons mart design, usabiluity, and category expansion, SharkNinja is very well positioned to continue shaping the futur of home appliances.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
10% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Company HQ
Needham Heights, Needham, MA
Leadership
Mark Rosenzweig
(Founder)Founded SharkNinja in 1994. Has won three Red Dot Awards for product Design.
Mark Barrocas
(CEO)Mark joined SharkNinja in 2008 as CEO. Prior to this, he spent 3 years at Aramark Uniform Services as the President of the WearGuard Division. Prior to that, he spent 4 years at Broder Bros as the President and 2 years at Perry Ellis International as VP of Corporate Sales.
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