Senior Embedded Systems Architect

Job description

Location: Ottawa, ON (on-site) Employment type: Full-time permanent Salary range: $130,000 – $165,000 CAD per year; competitive salaries will be negotiated commensurate with experience — this range is a guideline About Q-Block Computing: Q-Block Computing builds quantum systems that operate in the real world. The company develops quantum timing, quantum-secure communications, and quantum computing platforms engineered for the performance, reliability, and environmental resilience that mission-critical applications demand — systems designed to be deployed, maintained, and trusted by operators who cannot afford ambiguity about whether the technology works. The long-term vision is deeper than any single platform. Q-Block is pursuing a mission to decode Nature's foundational model — to build instruments of sufficient precision and coherence that they become tools for understanding the physical universe at its most fundamental level. Commercialization and science reinforce each other by design. About this role: The Senior Embedded Systems Architect shapes the embedded control platform that drives Q-Block's quantum hardware — the firmware architecture, subsystem interfaces, and engineering standards that let a distributed, real-time control system scale reliably across products and generations. The role carries the architectural authority for a platform that has to be deterministic, maintainable, and manufacturable at once. The successful candidate is a senior embedded engineer with the judgment to make architectural decisions that hold up over years of delivery, and the discipline to build the abstractions, standards, and review practices that make those decisions real across a growing team. They are equally comfortable drafting an interface control document, reviewing a peer's DMA configuration, and making a defensible build-versus-buy call on an RTOS. The role reports into and works closely with the Technical Lead — Orchestration Control and senior leadership, and sets the technical direction for the Embedded Firmware Engineers on the team. Responsibilities Define and maintain the firmware and embedded systems architecture for a distributed, real-time control platform. Establish subsystem interface specifications, communication protocols, and data pipeline architectures that enable deterministic, low-latency coordination across control units. Evaluate and select microcontroller families, peripheral ICs, bus architectures, and real-time scheduling strategies based on system-level performance, scalability, and reliability requirements. Design reusable firmware libraries, hardware abstraction layers, and board support packages that decouple application logic from hardware specifics. Architect synchronization and timing distribution subsystems to support coherent multi-unit operation at sub-microsecond precision. Lead firmware design reviews and establish coding standards, testing frameworks, version control practices, and development workflows for the embedded team. Collaborate with hardware, FPGA, platform, and systems teams to translate system-level requirements into clean embedded design specifications. Mentor and develop Embedded Firmware Engineers and related technical staff; conduct code reviews, guide architectural decisions, and raise the standard of engineering practice across the group. Identify and mitigate technical risks proactively; lead root-cause analysis for system-level failures and ensure corrective actions are durable rather than cosmetic. Contribute to technical proposals, architecture documentation, and IP capture processes as appropriate. Stay current on emerging embedded architectures, real-time operating systems, and mixed-signal control techniques; bring useful advances into the platform deliberately. Contribute to a culture of ownership, rigor, and honest technical discussion across the engineering organization. Required qualifications Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Engineering Physics, Physics, or a closely related field; Master's degree preferred. 8+ years of professional experience in embedded systems design, with at least 3 years in a system architecture or technical leadership role. Expert-level C/C++ for embedded systems; proven track record architecting multi-module firmware platforms that have shipped and been sustained. Deep knowledge of ARM Cortex-M architecture, DMA subsystems, memory-mapped I/O, and real-time scheduling (bare-metal and RTOS-based). Strong experience designing hardware abstraction layers and reusable driver frameworks across multiple IC families. Demonstrated experience leading or mentoring teams of embedded engineers, including code review, architectural guidance, and engineering-standards development. Excellent written and verbal communication; ability to produce clear architecture documents, interface specifications, and design rationale. Preferred qualifications Experience with precision timing and synchronization architectures (PTP, hardware-assisted synchronization, deterministic clock distribution across multiple nodes). Deep familiarity with mixed-signal systems, including ADC/DAC integration, analog front-end control, and timing-sensitive control paths. Experience integrating FPGA-based co-processing with MCU firmware — AXI-style interfaces, shared memory, soft-core processors, or comparable patterns. Experience with high-speed serial interfaces, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and automated firmware validation. Experience with structured firmware release, CI/CD for embedded software, static analysis, and formal coding-standard enforcement. Experience working in scientific, defense, or deep-tech hardware organizations, including the documentation and process discipline those environments require. Experience recruiting and growing an embedded engineering team in a deep-tech hardware company. Security and compliance requirements Must be eligible to obtain and maintain Government of Canada security clearance, if required for assigned projects. Must be eligible to comply with requirements of the Controlled Goods Program, if required for assigned projects. Must be willing to participate in background screening, documentation, and compliance processes associated with security-sensitive work. Ability to work effectively within security, export-control, and compliance-sensitive technical environments is an asset. Personal attributes Strategic mindset paired with execution discipline — able to hold architecture and delivery in mind at the same time. Strong attention to detail, authenticity, and a sense of responsibility in all tasks. Critical thinking and a strategic problem-solving mindset grounded in measurement and evidence. Clear technical judgment and the confidence to make calls with incomplete information when the work requires it. Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to lead through influence as well as authority. Benefits Extended health care (including dental and vision) Life insurance Equal opportunity Q-Block Computing is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to treating all employees and applicants with respect and dignity. Accommodations are available on request during the application and recruiting process. Canadian citizens and permanent residents are strongly encouraged to apply. All interested candidates are encouraged to apply.