Director of Embedded Software Engineering

At WHOOP, we're on a mission to unlock and inspire performance for life. WHOOP empowers members to perform at a higher level and live longer through a deeper understanding of their bodies and daily lives.

WHOOP is seeking a Director of Embedded Software Engineering to lead our Firmware organization and the embedded software at the core of every WHOOP device. This leader will set the technical and organizational direction for Firmware, develop engineering managers and senior technical leaders, and ensure the organization delivers reliably across an ambitious roadmap of new products, platform investments, and continuous improvements to products already in the field.

Firmware sits at the intersection of WHOOP’s hardware, sensing, algorithms, mobile software, manufacturing, and member experience. This role will lead multiple teams responsible for building stable, accurate, and power-efficient firmware platforms that operate continuously in highly constrained wearable devices. You will translate business and product priorities into clear technical strategies, build an organization capable of executing at scale, and strengthen the processes and platforms through which WHOOP develops and delivers firmware.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead and scale multiple Firmware teams with clear ownership and accountability, hiring and developing engineering managers, technical leaders, and senior individual contributors.
• Set the multi-year strategy for firmware in alignment with product and business priorities.
• Own predictable delivery across new products, platform investments, and sustaining work.
• Raise the firmware development and quality bar through strong planning, architecture and design reviews, CI/CD, automated testing, validation, release practices, and field feedback.
• Guide system architecture and major technical decisions that account for tradeoffs across member experience, power, performance, quality, cost, schedule, and long-term platform health.
• Partner across Hardware, Sensor Intelligence, Algorithms, Mobile, Product, Manufacturing, Quality, and Program Management to bring products from concept through production and continuous improvement.
• Establish meaningful engineering metrics and adopt tools and AI-enabled practices that improve quality and productivity.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Proven experience leading multiple firmware or embedded software teams through engineering managers and senior technical leaders.
• Extensive experience shipping firmware for high-volume, constrained products.
• Deep technical fluency in C/C++, RTOS-based architectures, microcontrollers, device drivers, connectivity, low-power systems, and hardware-software integration.
• Track record of setting firmware architecture and improving development practices, including planning, design reviews, CI/CD, automated testing, release management, and quality measurement.
• Strong communication and leadership skills, with the ability to align Product, Hardware, Algorithms, Manufacturing, and senior leaders around clear priorities and decisions.
• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.

  Experience developing battery-constrained wearable products, physiological sensing systems, or other products in which firmware directly affects data accuracy preferred.

• Familiarity with embedded security, secure boot, over-the-air updates, device identity, and production provisioning preferred.
• Experience scaling engineering organizations in a high-growth environment and working with global suppliers or contract manufacturers preferred.