Manager, Firmware Engineering

About the role:

Samsara's AI has helped prevent accidents that would have harmed an estimated 380,000 people per year. Every model we ship runs in the real world, on real roads, protecting real drivers.

Every Samsara dash cam, gateway, and industrial sensor runs AI at the edge. These models detect distracted driving, prevent collisions, and keep workers safe, all in real time on constrained hardware. As Engineering Manager, you'll own how AI moves from a trained model to firmware running reliably on devices in the field across Samsara's customer fleet.

You will drive Samsara’s edge AI strategy while mentoring engineers and delivering high-impact solutions. You will oversee the deployment of next-generation intelligent safety features and video processing by integrating high-performance camera systems and real-time edge computing into Samsara’s fleet and industrial products. In addition, you will establish the technical strategy, cross-functional relationships, and operational cadence required to launch low-latency, high-quality hardware programs at scale.

This is a remote position open to candidates residing in the US. Relocation assistance will not be provided for this role.

Scale: Millions of AI dash cams, 100B+ miles/year (~99% of U.S. roads), 25T+ data points.

You should apply if:

• You want to impact the industries that run our world: The software, firmware, and hardware you build will result in real-world impact – helping to keep the lights on, get food into grocery stores, and most importantly, ensure workers return home safely.
• You are a life-long learner: We have ambitious goals. Every Samsarian has a growth mindset as we work with a wide range of technologies, challenges, and customers that push us to learn on the go.
• You believe customers are more than a number: Samsara engineers enjoy a rare closeness to the end user and you will have the opportunity to participate in customer interviews, collaborate with customer success and product managers, and use metrics to ensure our work is translating into better customer outcomes.
• You are a team player: Working on our Samsara Engineering teams requires a mix of independent effort and collaboration. Motivated by our mission, we’re all racing toward our connected operations vision, and we intend to win – together.

• Lead a team of ~5 firmware and ML engineers. Your team builds, optimizes, and deploys AI models on Samsara's fleet and industrial devices. Your work directly affects whether a driver gets a warning before a collision, not after.
• Provide hands-on technical leadership. Lead from the front technically, contributing directly to the design, implementation, and optimization of high-performance production systems.
• Set the technical bar for edge ML and embedded systems. You'll guide architecture decisions on latency, power, memory, and model performance, and mentor engineers to go deep on problems most teams never touch.
• Turn new AI capabilities into shipped products. You'll partner with Product, Hardware, and Full-stack teams to take features from concept to deployment on devices. You'll also keep improving the ones customers rely on every day.
• Shape the roadmap. You'll work with leadership on quarterly plans that balance product ambition with engineering health, and make the tradeoffs that deliver the most customer impact.
• Build a team people want to join and stay on. You'll create a culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement, with a high bar for execution quality and room for people to grow.
• Scale Samsara's culture as we grow globally. You'll champion and role model our principles as the team expands across new offices: Focus on Customer Success, Build for the Long Term, Adopt a Growth Mindset, Be Inclusive, and Win as a Team.
• Hire and develop top talent. You'll grow an inclusive, engaged, high-performing team, and help define what great edge AI engineering looks like at Samsara.

Minimum requirements for the role:

• 3+ years of hands-on execution-oriented technical management experience.
• 8+ years of experience in embedded systems and edge machine learning development.
• Proven track record managing a team of engineers that has shipped a mass production product.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work well in a diverse fast paced customer-focused environment.
• Experience deploying CV/ML models on edge devices in real-world applications.

An ideal candidate also has:

• Experience working on products from concept to mass production.
• Proficiency in C/C++, Rust, or similar programming languages.
• Proficiency in gstreamer, Google MediaPipe, or similar edge AI/Media frameworks.
• Experience with data analysis using tools such as Databricks, SQL queries, Tableau.
• Bachelors or Masters degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or equivalent field.