Manager, Embedded Software Engineering

h3bManager, Embedded Software Engineering /b /h3pbLocation: /b Antwerp or Amsterdambr/bExperience: /b 5+ years in embedded software development, including 2+ years managing embedded or firmware engineers /ph3bLead the firmware that makes our earwear smarter /b /h3pAt Loop, our products are moving beyond passive earplugs into connected and intelligent earwear. Behind every one of them is firmware that has to work flawlessly, from the first board bring-up to the millionth unit off the line and every update after that. /ppAs our Manager, Embedded Software Engineering, you’ll lead the team that makes that happen. You’ll own how firmware gets engineered across Loop’s connected and standalone products, from development and launch through sustaining releases in the field. /ppThis role is for someone who is equally comfortable growing engineers and challenging a firmware design on its merits. You’ll set the standard, build the team, and make sure what we commit to actually ships, on time and at quality. /ph3The Role /h3pYou’ll lead embedded software across Loop’s product portfolio, owning predictable delivery, engineering quality, and team capability. /ppYou’ll combine technical credibility with people leadership. Product defines what we build, Programme Management defines when it lands, and you define how it’s engineered. Detailed architecture and subsystem design authority stay with our senior engineers, and part of your job is growing them into that technical leadership. /ppYou will line manage the growing team of embedded software engineers directly. While the team is small, you’ll stay hands-on where it matters. As the team grows, you’ll delegate more, while making sure you never become the critical-path dependency. /ph3bWhat you’ll do /b /h3ullipLead, coach, and develop a team of embedded software engineers, setting clear level-referenced expectations and addressing performance early. /p /lilipPlan workforce, capacity, tooling, rigs, fixtures, and lab resources to meet commitments, managing priorities and costs within Loop’s approval policy. /p /lilipOwn firmware delivery across development and sustaining work, including bring-up, manufacturing and test firmware, launch readiness, field issues, security updates, and sustaining releases. /p /lilipEnsure clear ownership and acceptance evidence for factory firmware, flashing, provisioning, and version compatibility. /p /lilipEstimate and resource work, surface risk early, and own release readiness decisions, including rollout, pause, and rollback. /p /lilipMaintain strong engineering standards across coding, review, testing, CI, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), security, and traceability, working within Loop’s Requirements and Risk Management Frameworks. /p /lilipRepresent embedded software in programme, design, build-readiness, and sustaining forums, owning firmware estimates, dependencies, risks, and readiness judgement. /p /lilipDrive cross-system decisions with Engineering, Quality, Industrialisation, suppliers, silicon vendors, and manufacturing partners. /p /lilipLead architecture and design reviews that reach a conclusion on trade-offs, and translate roadmap objectives into clear technical direction. /p /li /ulh3bYou won’t /b /h3ullipCommit to milestones without the resourcing and risk picture to back them up. /p /lilipLet a slip surface on the milestone date instead of before it. /p /lilipTake design authority away from the senior engineers who own it. /p /lilipBecome the bottleneck your team has to wait on. /p /lilipTreat manufacturing and test firmware as an afterthought. /p /lilipLet a field defect sit without a severity, a root cause, and a decision. /p /lilipLeave performance conversations for later. /p /lilipStay quiet in a cross-functional forum when firmware has a risk to raise. /p /li /ulh3bHow you’ll succeed /b /h3pYou deliver what you commit to. Firmware milestones land within the agreed window, and when something does slip, people hear it from you early. Manufacturing and test firmware is locked ahead of every design-validation build and stays that way. Critical defects don’t reach production, and every issue reported from the field gets triaged within a sprint with a clear decision to fix or accept it. /ppYour team gets stronger with you. Every critical subsystem has a second engineer who knows it, every engineer has a development plan, and new joiners have their first contribution reviewed and merged within four weeks. People want to stay and grow here. You reason from first principles, work through complex firmware and system issues, and drive cross-functional decisions to a conclusion. You also stay hands-on where it counts, delegate more as the team grows, and review that balance openly along the way. /ph3bWhat you’ll bring /b /h3ullip5+ years of experience developing embedded software, including at least one connected consumer product taken through to mass production. /p /lilip2+ years managing embedded or firmware engineers (3+ preferred),