The world’s first Awareable™ that connects the dots between your mental and physical health with advanced health tracking disguised as a classic watch.
NOWATCH is seeking a Senior Embedded Engineer with expertise in C, Zephyr RTOS, and Nordic nRF platform to develop robust firmware for wearable devices, focusing on BLE communication, low-power design, and embedded architecture.
Job Description Senior Embedded Engineer Hybrid Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands R&D
We are looking for a
Senior Embedded Engineer
with proven experience in developing robust, production-grade firmware in
C
and
Zephyr RTOS .
Company Description NOWATCH is an Amsterdam-based health innovation company for the curious. By blending cutting-edge technology with the leading science around mental health, we explore the frontiers of wellbeing. WATCH pioneers in the wearable market with new algorithms and sensors. Our hardware and software solution is part of a large and growing wearable industry.
Job Description We are looking for a
Senior Embedded Engineer
with proven experience in developing robust, production-grade firmware in
C , using
Zephyr RTOS
and the
Nordic nRF platform . You bring expertise in
BLE communication ,
low-power system design , and
embedded architecture , and you have a structured, modular approach to building scalable systems.
You’re comfortable working close to the hardware— bringing up new boards, writing and optimizing device drivers , and ensuring smooth integration between hardware and software components. You take a system-level view, understanding how design decisions affect
power consumption, performance, and maintainability .
In this role, you’ll work across the entire firmware lifecycle: from
requirements and system architecture
to
implementation, testing, and optimization . You’ll collaborate closely with our
R&D, data science, QA, and mobile teams
to bring
new sensing technologies, algorithms, and user experiences
to life on our wearable devices.
Your development philosophy emphasizes
clean code, modularity, maintainability, and thorough testing . You know how to leverage Zephyr’s capabilities (RTOS primitives, device tree configuration, and build system) to design
scalable and testable firmware architectures . You’re proactive in debugging and comfortable using
oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and hardware debuggers
to trace complex issues down to the root cause.
Job requirements What You’ll Be Doing As our new
Senior Embedded Engineer , you’ll be at the core of designing and building the next generation of our
NOWATCH firmware . You will:
Contribute early to the
system architecture and design
of our next-generation embedded platform.
Develop
highly modular and maintainable firmware
using the
Zephyr RTOS .
Implement efficient and reliable BLE communication
between the watch and our mobile applications, ensuring optimal performance, stability, and power efficiency.
Write and optimize
device drivers
for cutting-edge ICs based on datasheets, reference implementations, and custom hardware.
Debug and validate our hardware using
oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, JTAG, and other low-level tools .
Dive deep into
low-power optimizations , ensuring our watches deliver exceptional battery life with high performance.
Bring our
hardware-in-the-loop (HIL)
and into the CI/CD pipeline for automated testing and validation.
Collaborate with our data scientists to
deploy algorithms, signal processing pipelines, and machine learning models
directly on our devices.
Work
closely with R&D, QA, and mobile teams
to ensure a seamless end-to-end experience from firmware to user interface.
Implement
production / factory testing setups
and scripts to ensure a
high level of quality control
in our factory.
Every day will bring a mix of
technical challenges, creative problem-solving, and cross-disciplinary collaboration , all while helping shape the future of wearable health technology.
What You Bring We’re looking for someone who combines strong technical capability with curiosity, ownership, and a drive for quality. You bring:
Proven experience in
firmware development
for wearables, IoT, or other compact consumer electronics with a focus on
low-power systems .
Strong experience with
C ,
Zephyr RTOS , and
Nordic nRF SoCs
(nRF Connect SDK).
Knowledge of
Zephyr’s kernel services
and working with
threads ,
synchronization primitives ,
tasks ,
workqueues , and
message queues .
Extensive knowledge of
Zephyr’s build system: CMake ,
KConfig ,
west
and
sysbuild
- and how to bring it into
CI/CD (docker) .
Deep understanding of
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) .
Experience with
hardware interfaces
such as
I²C, SPI, UART, and I²S .
Experience with
bootloaders
(MCUBoot) ,
image signing ,
DFU/OTA
processes.
Familiarity with
digital signal processing (DSP)
and
machine learning deployment
on embedded systems.
Ability to read and interpret
datasheets, schematics ,
and PCB
documentation.
Strong
debugging and profiling skills
using
JTAG, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers , and other diagnostic tools.
Nice To Have’s These skills aren’t required, but they’d make you stand out:
Experience with
Rust
in embedded contexts (C/Rust interop, FFI, cbindgen, corrosion, no_std, async, embassy) or
modern
C++.
Experience with
Python
for scripting, testing, and tooling.
Experience with
TinyML
/
TensorFlow Lite
for inference on the edge.
Basic knowledge of
electrical engineering
for
schematic review , and/or
PCB design
review.
Mindset Above all, we value a mindset that aligns with our mission.
Entrepreneurial spirit with a “founder’s mindset” – authentic, proactive, resourceful, and ownership-oriented.
Comfort with ambiguity and an ability to pivot strategies as needed.
Passion for health technology and excitement to contribute to a mission-driven startup.
Why NOWATCH? When you join our team, you’re not just taking a job—you’re embarking on a journey with like-minded individuals who care deeply about:
Collaboration : We thrive together in our Amsterdam office.
Growth : Opportunities to learn, evolve, and challenge yourself.
Impact : Contributing to something bigger than ourselves.
Diversity : Be part of a young and ambitious team of internationals.
What We Offer At NOWATCH, we believe in supporting our team with:
A laptop and NOWATCH of choice.
A great office in the heart of the Jordaan, Amsterdam, with the ability to partly work from home.
Great team, culture and place to work with quarterly team events.
The Team We are a small team of very enthusiastic, hard-working people. We go at the speed of trust and make our own rules to create the best possible environment for our team. You'll definitely fit in if you have a hands-on and pro-active approach, think outside your own department, and want to join our movement in helping people get more from each moment in life.
Let’s build something extraordinary together.
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Senior Embedded Engineer in Amsterdam werkgever: Startup Atlas
Zeno is een uitstekende werkgever die zich richt op innovatie en groei binnen de juridische AI-sector in Rotterdam. Met een sterke focus op teamwork en persoonlijke ontwikkeling, biedt Zeno medewerkers de kans om te werken met geavanceerde technologieën en bij te dragen aan impactvolle projecten. De open en inclusieve werkcultuur stimuleert creativiteit en samenwerking, waardoor je niet alleen kunt groeien in je rol, maar ook een waardevolle bijdrage kunt leveren aan de toekomst van juridische technologie.
