Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Work Arrangement: Onsite
Company: MedTech Startup, HQ in Boston with development hub in Kuala Lumpur
Product Area: Medical device, cancer screening, capsule endoscopy platform
Seniority: Senior / Lead-level individual contributor
About the Company
Equitable Technologies is an MIT-founded medical technology startup headquartered in Boston, with a fast-growing product development hub in Kuala Lumpur. We’re currently operating in stealth mode as we develop a breakthrough approach to cancer screening - a mission that has the potential for massive real-world impact.
We’re supported by a world-class advisory board with leaders from MIT, Harvard, the US FDA, and Cleveland Clinic- and we’re now growing our team in KL to shape and deliver this technology to the world.
Our product combines miniature hardware, embedded firmware, wireless communication, sensor integration, and AI-enabled analysis in a battery-powered capsule endoscopy device.
The engineering team works across firmware, electronics, system integration, verification, and productization. This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys solving complex embedded systems problems at the boundary of firmware, hardware, and low-power device design.
Role Overview
We are looking for a Senior Embedded Systems / Firmware Engineer to own and drive firmware development for a battery-powered medical device platform.
This is a firmware-first role. The ideal candidate has strong experience in embedded C/C++, ARM-based MCU/SoC platforms, RTOS or bare-metal development, hardware bring-up, system debugging, and low-power optimization. You will work closely with hardware, electronics, mechanical, AI, and product teams to bring a complex medical device from prototype through productization.
You do not need to be a dedicated RF engineer or PCB designer, but you should be comfortable working with hardware teams, reviewing schematics, debugging board-level issues, and making firmware decisions that affect power consumption, wireless performance, reliability, and manufacturability.
Key Responsibilities
- Architect and develop embedded firmware for ingestible medical devices
- Design and optimize BLE-based wireless communication systems
- Drive ultra-low-power system design (sleep modes, power cycling, energy optimization)
- Work on sensor integration and signal acquisition pipelines
- Develop and optimize RF communication systems (BLE and sub-GHz where applicable)
- Own end-to-end system design from sensor → firmware → wireless transmission → data reliability
- Collaborate closely with hardware teams on MCU selection, BSP, and driver development
- Debug complex issues across firmware, RF, and hardware layers
- Make architectural decisions for constrained embedded systems used in medical environments
Must-Have Requirements
- 8+ years of professional embedded firmware or embedded systems experience.
- Strong embedded C/C++ development experience.
- Hands-on experience with ARM-based MCU/SoC platforms, such as STM32, Nordic nRF, Renesas, NXP, Qualcomm, or similar.
- Experience with RTOS and/or bare-metal firmware development.
- Strong understanding of low-level embedded concepts, including interrupts, DMA, memory management, peripheral drivers, timing, concurrency, and multitasking.
- Experience developing or debugging drivers for interfaces such as I2C, SPI, UART, CAN, GPIO, ADC, PWM, timers, sensors, or similar peripherals.
- Hands-on hardware bring-up and system debugging experience.
- Proficiency using embedded debugging tools such as JTAG/SWD, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power analyzers, and serial/debug consoles.
- Experience working closely with hardware or electronics engineers.
- Practical understanding of low-power firmware design for battery-operated devices.
- Ability to work onsite in Kuala Lumpur.
Strong Advantages
- Experience with battery-powered medical devices, wearables, IoT devices, wireless sensors, automotive electronics, test equipment, or other safety-critical embedded products.
- Experience defining or optimizing power modes, sleep states, wake sources, duty cycles, and battery-life trade-offs.
- Experience with BLE, WiFi, sub-GHz, 433 MHz, or other wireless communication systems.
- Ability to review schematics and identify firmware, power, signal integrity, or interface risks.
- Experience supporting PCB bring-up, schematic review, and hardware design trade-off discussions.
- Experience with cameras, image sensors, high-throughput sensor data, data streaming, or constrained memory systems.
- Experience with manufacturing test, production diagnostics, bootloaders, firmware update mechanisms, or field diagnostics.
- Experience with medical-device software standards such as IEC 62304, ISO 14971, or regulated product documentation.
- Experience with automotive or safety-critical standards such as ISO 26262, ASPICE, MISRA C, or similar.
- Experience mentoring junior engineers or leading firmware modules across multiple product phases.
Nice-to-Have Skills
- PCB design experience using Altium, KiCad, OrCAD, Eagle, or similar tools.
- Deeper RF design or antenna debugging experience.
- Embedded Linux experience.
- HIL testing, automated firmware testing, CI/CD, Jenkins, Python-based test automation, or hardware test frameworks.
- Experience with Zephyr, FreeRTOS, SafeRTOS, RTX, ThreadX, or similar RTOS environments.
- Experience working in a startup or early-stage product environment.
- Experience taking a product through EVT, DVT, PVT, pilot build, or manufacturing transfer.
What Success Looks Like
In the first 3 months, you will be expected to:
- Understand the device architecture, firmware stack, hardware design, and current prototype status.
- Contribute to firmware development and debugging for core device functions.
- Support board bring-up and hardware/firmware integration.
- Identify key power-consumption bottlenecks and propose firmware-level improvements.
- Improve documentation, debug visibility, and development practices where needed.
In the first 6–12 months, you will be expected to:
- Own major firmware modules or subsystem architecture.
- Improve battery-life performance through measurable low-power optimization.
- Help stabilize the firmware platform for verification, validation, and productization.
- Support design reviews, risk assessments, test strategy, and production-readiness activities.
Candidate Profile We Are Looking For
- The ideal candidate is a senior firmware-first embedded engineer who enjoys working close to hardware.
- You may come from medical devices, automotive, semiconductor, wireless IoT, consumer electronics, test equipment, robotics, or industrial embedded systems.
- You are not expected to be the sole expert in firmware, PCB design, RF design, and medical regulation.
- However, you should be strong enough in embedded systems to collaborate effectively across these areas and make sound technical decisions for a compact, battery-powered medical device.
What We Offer
- Be part of a MedTech startup shaping the future of healthcare technology.
- Work in a collaborative environment with software, hardware, and AI experts.
- Opportunity to work on cutting-edge medical technology with global impact.
- Fast-paced startup environment with significant ownership and technical influence.
- Competitive compensation for top-tier talent.
How to Apply
Send your CV and Cover letter about your experience to *************