Senior/Staff Embedded Software Engineer, Horizon Surgical Systems
Advancing eye care with assistive surgical robotics
Open for applications
Advancing eye care with assistive surgical robotics
21-100 employees
Open for applications
21-100 employees
Company mission
To transform cataract care with robotics and AI and make eye surgery more precise, consistent, and accessible - because restoring clear vision changes lives.
Role
Who you are
- The ability to optimize code for a true RTOS on a microcontroller as well as for PREEMPT_RT Linux, and to design protocols between these environments, is especially valuable for this role
- Bachelor's, Master’s or Ph.D. degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field
- Strong proficiency in modern C++ (at least C++11) is a must
- Ability to write real-time C / C++ on a bare-metal embedded system, or with FreeRTOS / SafeRTOS / QNX
- Ability to implement and optimize control loops that integrate servo drives
- 5+ years of developing C++ robotics software that interfaces with hardware
- 5+ years deploying and testing Linux software and RTOS or bare-metal firmware environment
- Prior experience working on mission-critical software
- Prior experience with medical device development is a plus
- Ability to independently implement Linux user-space drivers and custom wire interface protocols for controls data. (Kernel development experience is not required, but you should be comfortable designing a servo drive control daemon from scratch.)
- Ability to analyze latency and jitter of high-frequency data in a distributed system
- Working knowledge of typical embedded protocols (I2C, SPI, CAN, etc.)
- Experience with CANOpen (DS-402) servo drive control, or EtherCAT, strongly preferred
- Experience with some formal software or motion control safety standard (e.g., ISO 26262, IEC 61800-5-2), and/or software verification by an independent safety certifying body, is advantageous
- Experience with motor control for serial robotic manipulators is preferred
- Experience with kinematics and rigid-body dynamics is helpful for collaborating on control algorithms which use the servo drives that you integrate
- Ability to read electrical schematics in collaboration with PCB design engineers
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and organizational abilities
- Good communication skills to collaborate with interdisciplinary teams, including software engineers, electrical/mechanical engineers, and product managers
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic work environment and adapt to new challenges
- Comfortable working in a lab or workshop environment alongside surgical robotic systems
- Ability to work on-site for hands-on software integration
What the job involves
- In your role as an Embedded Software Engineer at Horizon Surgical Systems, you will contribute to the architecture and design of a cutting-edge surgical robotics system, implementing and verifying mission-critical software modules
- The ability to enforce deterministic timing, and fail-safe behaviors, in the controls software is paramount to its clinical efficacy and regulatory approval
- You will be responsible for supporting a robotic system with EtherCAT servo drives and redundant control-diagnostic checks, and so you will be debugging issues with peripheral hardware, Linux kernel latency, and real-time safety
- Working closely with the hardware team, you will work to bring up new peripherals, and you will need to consider the fail-safe implications in the event of motor controller failure
- Your development and testing will be performed primarily with Linux, and embedded targets where required to interface with hardware
- Designing, implementing, and testing embedded and Linux controls software for multiple generations of surgical robotic systems
- Performing device failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) for the hardware / software boundary, and implementing appropriate diagnostics to mitigate risks
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure high performance of software modules
- Engage in pair programming, code reviews, and design discussions to maintain high coding standards
- Test your software with and without hardware, implementing the appropriate virtual fixtures where it saves time and aids in automation
- Strive for the simplest possible, most easily testable software design, to make unit- and integration-test coverage seamless
Our take
With approximately 1 in 4 people developing cataracts over their lifetime, surgical procedures to remove them require delicate precision. The high demand for these surgeries means there are longer waiting times than ever before, and patient outcomes are inconsistent due to human error and limitations in dexterity.
Founded by faculty members at the University of California, Horizon Surgical Systems is a microsurgical robotics company aiming to pioneer the next generation of precision surgery to combat the condition and help minimise failures and waiting times for cataract treatment.
Horizon Surgical Systems’ flagship product Polaris merges advances in robotics, medical imagery and AI to elevate surgical precision in cataract surgery. And in 2025, the company reached a landmark milestone with the world's first cataract surgery performed using the Polaris platform, marking a huge step toward establishing a new standard of precision, consistency and safety in ophthalmic surgery as it advances further clinical studies and regulatory pathways.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Company
Funding (1 round)
Oct 2024
$30m
SERIES A
Total funding: $30m
Company HQ
Sunset Park, Santa Monica, CA
Leadership
Jean-Pierre Huschman
(Co-Founder & CEO)Previously a Professor at UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science and a Member of the Faculty at UCLA Department of Bioengineering.
Jacob Rosen
(Co-Founder & CTO)Also a Professor at UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science and Co-Founder at Applied Dexterity, Inc.
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