Senior Software/Firmware Developer

Reftek Systems is looking for a sharp, hands-on Senior Software/Firmware Developer to join our engineering team in Burnside, Nova Scotia.

You’ll work at the edge of embedded systems, instrumentation, and seismic technology—turning ambitious ideas into working hardware and software. Working alongside senior firmware and electrical engineers, you’ll have significant ownership in architecting, prototyping, and building the software and firmware behind our next generation of products.

This is not a role where you’ll simply implement someone else’s design. You’ll be expected to dig into difficult problems, move quickly from concept to prototype, work directly with hardware, and figure out what works. You’ll have the freedom to experiment, challenge assumptions, and build solutions that may ultimately redefine how our instruments operate.

If you like small teams, hard technical problems, rapid prototyping, and seeing your code come to life on real hardware, this is the kind of work you’ll enjoy.

About Reftek Systems

At Reftek Systems, we design and build precision seismic instrumentation used around the world to capture signals that most instruments never see. Reftek has a skunkworks mentality : small teams, fast decisions, technical curiosity, and a bias toward building rather than presentations and paperwork.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and develop clean, efficient, modular firmware and software for embedded products and instrumentation systems.
• Break complex engineering problems into manageable work units and carry them through implementation, testing, debugging, and documentation.
• Collaborate with firmware and electrical engineers on system architecture, hardware integration, board bring-up, and new product development.
• Diagnose and resolve software, firmware, communications, and system-level issues.
• Develop unit, integration, and system-level tests to maintain software quality and reliability.
• Build automated tools and test systems to accelerate firmware development and hardware validation.
• Develop and troubleshoot network communications and telemetry for distributed, bandwidth-constrained edge systems.
• Contribute to communication protocols and system architectures where existing approaches don't fit the application.
• Use scripting and automation to improve engineering workflows and eliminate repetitive tasks.
• Document software and firmware architecture, interfaces, product features, development processes, and test procedures.
• Participate in technical reviews and contribute to engineering decisions throughout the product development cycle.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of experience developing firmware for embedded systems.
• 5+ years of professional experience with C/C++.
• Solid understanding of embedded software architecture and hardware/software interfaces.
• Knowledge of TCP/IP and network stack programming.
• Experience with bandwidth-constrained telemetry or edge communications is preferred.
• Working knowledge of Python, Bash, or similar scripting languages.
• Experience with Git and modern software development practices.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to learn unfamiliar technologies quickly.

Preferred Skills

• Microcontrollers, embedded processors, and RTOS environments.
• Hardware bring-up and low-level debugging.
• Oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, JTAG/SWD debuggers, and related development tools.
• Embedded communication protocols including I²C, SPI, UART, and CAN.
• Networked embedded systems and distributed instrumentation.
• Automated hardware and firmware testing.
• Database programming.
• Virtualization and container technologies such as Docker, VirtualBox, or Xen.
• Experience with scientific instrumentation, sensors, data acquisition, telemetry, or other field-deployed systems.

What We Value

• Curiosity — challenge assumptions and explore better ways to solve difficult problems.
• Ownership — take a problem from first idea through prototype, test, and deployment.
• Practical engineering — build, measure, test, and learn rather than over-design on paper.
• Independence — work effectively with minimal direction while knowing when to involve the team.
• Systems thinking — understand how software, electronics, communications, and the physical environment interact.
• Competitive salary and benefits package.
• RRSP Matching Program.
• Collaborative and technically driven work environment.
• Hands-on involvement with novel embedded systems and seismic instrumentation.
• Opportunity to take products from early concepts and prototypes through field deployment.
• Small-team environment where your work has a direct impact on the product.

For parts or maintenance of current or obsolete REF TEK products, please email View email address on click.appcast.io .