Principal Embedded Software Engineer

Build your best future with the Johnson Controls team!

As a global leader in smart, healthy, and sustainable buildings, our mission is to reimagine the performance of buildings to serve people, places, and the planet. Join a winning team that enables you to build your best future! Our teams are uniquely positioned to support a multitude of industries across the globe. You will have the opportunity to develop yourself through meaningful work projects and learning opportunities. We strive to provide our employees with an experience focused on supporting their physical, financial, and emotional well-being. Become a member of the Johnson Controls family and thrive in an empowering company culture where your voice and ideas will be heard – your next great opportunity is just a few clicks away!

What we offer:

• Competitive Salary

• Paid vacation/holidays/sick time

• Comprehensive benefits package including 401K, medical, dental, and vision care

• On the job/cross training opportunities

• Encouraging and collaborative team environment

• Dedication to safety through our Zero Harm policy

Our global Fire Detection product group located in Westford, MA, offers you the possibility to interact with other development centers and teams around the world! The opportunity for professional development and career opportunities are endless, given our broad portfolio of products and services within Fire Detection. Work/life balance is important to us, and we offer a flexible hybrid work model. You will also get exposure to leading edge technology, exciting projects, and life-saving products that promote global safety of not only facilities, but people. We need your talent and ideas, as we continue to grow and expand our strategic focus and build state of the art fire detection systems. To learn more about our Principal Embedded Software Engineer opportunity, keep reading!

Position Summary

We are seeking a highly experienced Principal Embedded Software Engineer to provide technical leadership in the design, development, and delivery of embedded software solutions for complex products and systems. This role serves as a recognized technical expert, driving software architecture, technology strategy, and engineering excellence across multiple programs. The ideal candidate combines deep hands-on embedded software expertise with strong leadership, mentoring, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership

• Define and drive the embedded software architecture, design standards, and development best practices.

• Lead technical decision-making for embedded systems, including RTOS, Linux-based platforms, device drivers, middleware, networking, and application software.

• Serve as the highest level of technical escalation for complex software issues.

• Evaluate and introduce emerging technologies, tools, and methodologies to improve product quality and development efficiency.

• Drive software quality, reliability, safety, security, and maintainability throughout the product lifecycle.

Software Development

• Participate in requirements analysis and system-level tradeoff decisions.

• Lead implementation of complex features and critical software components.

• Perform code reviews and ensure adherence to coding standards and software development processes.

• Optimize software performance, memory utilization, power consumption, and system reliability.

• Ensure scalability, reuse, and long-term maintainability of software platforms.

Project & Team Leadership

• Mentor senior and junior engineers across the organization.

• Lead technical planning, risk management, and estimation activities.

• Influence engineering roadmaps and strategic technology direction.

• Support project execution by identifying technical risks and mitigation strategies.

• Foster a culture of innovation, technical excellence, and continuous improvement.

• Collaborate with hardware, firmware, systems, validation, cybersecurity, and product teams.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.

• 10+ years of embedded software development experience.

• Extensive experience programming in C and C++.

• Strong expertise in embedded system architecture and software design principles.

• Experience with Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) and Embedded Linux.

• Strong understanding of microcontrollers, processors, memory architectures, and hardware/software interfaces.

• Experience with communication protocols such as:

• Ethernet, TCP/IP, CAN/CAN-FD, SPI, I2C, UART, USB

• Proficiency with debugging tools, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and software analysis tools.

• Experience with software version control systems (GitHub preferred).

• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.

• Experience with safety-critical or regulated systems.

• Knowledge of cybersecurity principles for embedded systems.

• Experience with model-based design and auto-code generation tools.

• Familiarity with Agile/Scrum development methodologies.

• Experience leading geographically distributed engineering teams.

• Knowledge of cloud-connected and IoT-enabled embedded devices.

• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and DevOps practices.

Technical Expertise

The successful candidate will demonstrate expertise in several of the following areas:

• Embedded Linux

• FreeRTOS, VxWorks, QNX, ThreadX, or similar RTOS platforms

• Device driver development

• Board Support Packages (BSP)

• Bootloaders and secure boot

• Networking and communications protocols

• Multi-threaded and concurrent programming

• Cybersecurity and secure software development

• Software architecture and design patterns

• Functional safety standards (IEC 61508, ISO 26262, IEC 62304, etc.)

• Software verification and validation

Leadership Expectations

• Recognized technical authority within the organization.

• Influences engineering strategy and technology roadmaps.

• Guides architectural decisions across multiple product lines.

• Mentors engineers and develops technical talent.

• Drives engineering best practices and continuous improvement initiatives.

• Builds strong partnerships across software, hardware, systems, quality, and product management teams.

Success Metrics

• Delivery of high-quality, reliable embedded software solutions.

• Successful implementation of scalable software architectures.

• Reduction in software defects and technical debt.

• Improved engineering productivity and development efficiency.

• Growth and development of engineering talent.

• Achievement of project, product, and business objectives.

SALARY RANGE: $117,000 - $196,000 (Salary to be determined by the education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, and alignment with market data.) This role offers a competitive Bonus plan that will take into account individual, group, and corporate performance. This position includes a competitive benefits package. The posted salary range reflects the target compensation for this role. However, we recognize that exceptional candidates may bring unique skills and experiences that exceed the typical profile. If you believe your background warrants consideration beyond the stated range, we encourage you to apply. To support an efficient and fair hiring process, we may use technology assisted tools, including artificial intelligence (AI), to help identify and evaluate candidates. All hiring decisions are ultimately made by human reviewers. For details, please visit the About Us tab on the Johnson Controls Careers site at