Embedded Software Engineer

The embedded software engineer is a software developer who optimizes his code according to the hardware platform used.

Contents:

Definition
Roles & Responsibilities
Educational Background
Skills
Salary
Job opportunities

Are you looking for a company specializing in embedded software to help you with your project?
Read more about our development services, and then do not hesitate to contact us, so that we can discuss about it together.

We have design centers in Europe (France), Eastern Europe (Serbia) and a branch in the USA (California, in the Silicon Valley).

What is an embedded software engineer?

Let’s start by defining what embedded software is.

Embedded software’s main objective is to control and/or manage a hardware device. Therefore it is optimized to meet the specific needs of embedded systems, all for the benefit of its user.

Thus, even if embedded software engineers work on PCs, they do not code for PCs; their software runs on other platforms (e.g. an electronic board with a microcontroller).

Specifically, embedded software developers flash their binary executable files on an electronic circuit board for example. They do this using debugging tools or through specific ports.

Roles and responsibilities

What embedded software engineers do? It has for mission to develop optimized code for specific hardware platforms.
Moreover, he/she takes into account the additional constraints related to the field of use of the final product (e.g. code for the aerospace industry is not developed the same way as for the multimedia industry).

In short, he can:

Define specifications
Develop software bricks (e.g. drivers) or complete products, potentially with security constraints
Participate in the implementation of a software architecture
Run unit tests of modules and take care of debugging
Ensure the maintenance of the delivered code
Report on his activity

How to become an embedded software engineer?

To become an embedded software engineer at ELSYS Design requires a 5 year engineering/master’s degree in software or embedded systems.

Required skills

The embedded software engineer requirements are several :

Mastering software development in C/C ++ is essential.
Depending on the project, the embedded software development engineer must have worked on one or more architectures using different microprocessors and processors, often with real-time constraints.
This implies the embedded developer must be highly adaptable and fast learning in order to be quickly operational in many different technical environments.
Finally, for non native speakers, being proficient in English is essential.