Director of Firmware Engineering, Cameras

Who We Are Verkada is transforming how organizations protect their people and places with an integrated, privacy-sensitive AI-powered platform that includes solutions for video security, access control, air quality sensors, alarms, intercoms, and visitor management. We’ve got serious momentum in the market: more than 30,000 customers (including 100+ of the Fortune 500), a $5.8B valuation , more than $1 billion in annualized bookings, and backing from CapitalG, Sequoia Capital, General Catalyst, Felicis Ventures, Next47 and more. Physical AI is one of the most consequential technology shifts of our time, and Verkada is at the center of it. You can look at all kinds of communities to see our platform’s impact in the world. It's the retailer that uses our agentic AI to deter theft before it happens. The warehouse that uses AI-powered alerts to make sure its team is protected on the floor with proper PPE. The school that’s alerted to a threat in real-time and triggers a lockdown in seconds, not minutes. We’re rapidly scaling this impact: today, more than 2 million Verkada devices are deployed across 170+ countries. About the Role The Cameras team is the cornerstone of Verkada's product ecosystem. We are looking for a Director of Firmware Engineering to lead the embedded software organization behind our flagship camera line. In this role, you will oversee multiple specialized firmware groups, driving the development of highly reliable, performant, and secure firmware deployed to hundreds of thousands of devices worldwide. You will manage and mentor a team of engineering managers and senior individual contributors, partnering closely with Hardware, Cloud, Product, and QA teams to define the roadmap and deliver cutting-edge edge-computing and imaging capabilities. What You’ll Do Partner on New Product Development (NPI): Work side-by-side with the Hardware and Electrical Engineering teams from the conceptual phase through mass production. You will co-design system architectures, evaluate new silicon (SoCs, sensors), provide early firmware requirements for board designs, and ensure seamless hardware-software integration for our next generation of cameras. Oversee Core Camera Firmware: the group responsible for the foundation of our camera OS. This includes driving new hardware bring-up, porting vendor SDKs, developing low-level drivers, and managing robust Over-The-Air (OTA) firmware update mechanisms. Oversee Camera Imaging Systems: the team dedicated to maximizing image quality. They guide efforts in Image Signal Processor (ISP) tuning, sensor integration, and optimizing the end-to-end imaging and video encoding pipeline. Drive Firmware Delivery & Quality: Champion the group responsible for deploying new firmware releases at a massive scale. You will oversee the development of release tooling, refine deployment processes, establish CI/CD best practices, and closely monitor fleet health metrics to ensure exceptional reliability. Scale and Mentor the Team: Recruit, hire, and mentor exceptional firmware engineers and engineering managers. Foster a culture of technical excellence, continuous learning, and cross-functional collaboration. What You Bring BS or MS in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field. 8+ years of hands-on embedded software or firmware engineering experience, with a proven track record of shipping high-volume consumer or enterprise hardware products. 4+ years of engineering management experience, including experience managing other managers and leading organizations of 15+ engineers. Technical expertise with Linux and C for embedded systems. Experience with ISP tuning and image processing pipelines is highly preferred. Strong understanding of modern software delivery practices, including CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and fleet-wide release management. Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate complex technical decisions into business impact fo