Staff Firmware Engineer

At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity. Learn more at .

As guided by Our Credo, Johnson & Johnson is responsible to our employees who work with us throughout the world. We provide an inclusive work environment where each person is considered as an individual. At Johnson & Johnson, we respect the diversity and dignity of our employees and recognize their merit.

Job Function:

R&D Product Development

Job Sub Function:

Robotics

Job Category:

Scientific/Technology

All Job Posting Locations:

Gières, Isere, France

Job Description:

About Orthopaedics

Fueled by innovation at the intersection of biology and technology, we’re developing the next generation of smarter, less invasive, more personalized treatments.

Are you passionate about improving and expanding the possibilities of Orthopaedics? Ready to join a team that’s reimagining how we heal? Our Orthopaedics teams help keep more than 6 million people moving each year while delivering clinical and economic value to surgeons and healthcare systems. Our teams build solutions for joint reconstruction; trauma and craniomaxillofacial; sports, extremities, and elective foot and ankle; spine; and robotics and digital surgery.

Your unique talents will help patients on their journey to wellness. Learn more at

We are searching for the best talent for Staff Firmware Engineer.

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced and highly motivated Staff Firmware Engineer to lead the design, development, verification, and maintenance of embedded firmware for advanced medical devices and robotic systems. This role serves as a technical leader within the R&D organization, driving firmware architecture, technical decision-making, risk management, and cross-functional collaboration throughout the product lifecycle.

The ideal candidate combines strong hands-on embedded software development skills with system-level thinking and the ability to mentor engineers while delivering innovative, high-quality, and compliant products.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership

• Lead firmware architecture and design activities for complex embedded systems.
• Define technical strategies, coding standards, development processes, and best practices.
• Drive design reviews, code reviews, and technical risk assessments.
• Mentor and coach firmware engineers and contribute to the growth of the engineering organization.
• Influence system-level architecture decisions across hardware, firmware, software, cybersecurity, and verification teams.

Firmware Development

• Design, develop, test, debug, and maintain embedded firmware using C/C++.
• Develop firmware for microcontrollers, processors, motor control systems, sensors, communication interfaces, and safety-critical functions.
• Implement and optimize real-time software using RTOS and bare-metal architectures.
• Support bootloaders, firmware update mechanisms, diagnostics, and cybersecurity features.
• Investigate and resolve complex field and laboratory issues through root-cause analysis.

System Integration

• Collaborate closely with Electrical, Mechanical, Systems, Software, Quality, and Manufacturing Engineering teams.
• Define firmware requirements and translate system requirements into technical solutions.
• Support hardware bring-up, integration testing, characterization, and verification activities.
• Participate in design verification, validation, and reliability testing.

Quality & Compliance

• Ensure compliance with applicable standards and regulatory requirements, including: IEC 62304 IEC 60601 ISO 14971 FDA and MDR requirements
• Generate and maintain design documentation, risk analyses, software requirements, architecture documents, and test reports.
• Support audits, CAPA investigations, regulatory submissions, and product lifecycle management activities.

Innovation & Continuous Improvement

• Evaluate emerging technologies, tools, and development methodologies.
• Drive improvements in firmware architecture, development efficiency, automated testing, and product quality.
• Contribute to intellectual property generation and innovation initiatives.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related discipline.
• Typically 8+ years of embedded firmware development experience.
• Expert proficiency in C/C++ for embedded systems.
• Strong understanding of: Microcontrollers and embedded processors RTOS architectures Communication protocols (CAN, CANopen, SPI, I²C, UART, USB, Ethernet) Embedded debugging tools and techniques Software architecture and design patterns
• Experience with version control systems (Git) and CI/CD workflows.
• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in medical device development.
• Experience with robotic systems, motor control, or real-time motion control.
• Knowledge of cybersecurity and secure firmware development.
• Familiarity with wireless communication technologies (BLE, proprietary RF, Wi-Fi).
• Experience with firmware verification automation and test frameworks.
• Master's degree in a relevant engineering discipline.

Leadership Expectations

A successful Staff Firmware Engineer:

• Acts as a technical authority within the organization.
• Drives technical decisions with limited supervision.
• Influences product strategy through engineering expertise.
• Balances innovation, risk, quality, and schedule.
• Builds strong cross-functional relationships.
• Mentors engineers and elevates team technical capability.

Success Measures

• Delivery of high-quality firmware on schedule.
• Reduction of firmware-related defects and field issues.
• Effective technical leadership across multiple projects.
• Successful compliance and audit outcomes.
• Improvement of development processes, test automation, and engineering efficiency.
• Positive impact on product performance, reliability, safety, and customer satisfaction.

"Johnson & Johnson announced plans to separate our Orthopaedics business to establish a standalone orthopaedics company, operating as DePuy Synthes. The process of the planned separation is anticipated to be completed within 18 to 24 months, subject to legal requirements, including consultation with works councils and other employee representative bodies, as may be required, regulatory approvals and other customary conditions and approvals. Should you accept this position, it is anticipated that, following conclusion of the transaction, you would be an employee of DePuy Synthes and your employment would be governed by DePuy Synthes employment processes, programs, policies, and benefit plans. In that case, details of any planned changes would be provided to you by DePuy Synthes at an appropriate time and subject to any necessary consultation processes"

Required Skills:

Preferred Skills:

Computer Programming, Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA), Critical Thinking, Data Science, Industrial Robotics, Industry Analysis, Innovation, Manufacturing Technologies, Problem Solving, Process Improvements, Prototyping, Relationship Building, Research and Development, Robotic Automation, Robotic Control Software, SAP Product Lifecycle Management, Technical Credibility, Technologically Savvy

The anticipated base pay range for this position is:

€53.500,00 - €85.790,00

Benefits:

In addition to base pay, we offer the following benefits*: an annual bonus with set target (% of pay) depending on pay grade / location, where the actual amount is based on the employees’ and companies’ performance of the previous calendar year, or sales commissions. Moreover, we offer vacation days, parental leave for a minimum of 12 weeks, bereavement leave, caregiver leave, volunteer leave, well-being reimbursement, programs for financial, physical and mental health. We also offer service anniversary and recognition awards, and subject to the terms of their respective plans, employees - and in some location’s eligible dependents - can participate in several insurance plans. For more information, visit Employee benefits | Supporting well-being & career growth | Johnson & Johnson Careers.

*This is for informative purposes only. Amounts and actual benefits may vary by location and are subject to change.