Firmware Engineering Manager at Mill
San Bruno, CA
$245,000–$280,000from the description
Jul 5, 2026
San Bruno, CA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A hybrid engineering manager and individual contributor role focused on firmware for connected consumer and commercial hardware products. The position involves leading a small team of firmware engineers while personally writing low-level C code for MCU platforms, covering wireless connectivity, OTA updates, sensor integration, and communication stacks. Close collaboration with hardware, cloud, and mobile teams is central to the work.
Senior level · 5+ years · San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
Posted 2 times — it's one opening, so apply once.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Roughly 25 people in the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (computer and information systems managers). range 10–40
Applicant volume Moderate — A normal amount of company. The rare requirements below are what will separate a shortlisted application from the rest.
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $238,011 (middle half $208,323–$320,108). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (7)
This role is a genuine hybrid: the JD explicitly requires both people management (team leadership, hiring, performance reviews) and substantial hands-on firmware IC work. 11-3021 (Computer and Information Systems Managers) is chosen as primary because managing and growing the team is listed first and framed as a core responsibility; 15-1252 (Software Developers) is the strong runner-up given the explicit IC firmware contribution requirement.
The degree requirement is 'Bachelor's degree … or equivalent experience', so no formal degree is hard-gated.
Location is not explicitly stated in the posting. Mill is headquartered in San Mateo/San Francisco Bay Area, CA; the CBSA is assigned on that basis. Remote status is unspecified but the role's hands-on hardware nature and team-management duties make fully remote unlikely — marked not remote.
The title 'Firmware Engineering Manager' carries no seniority level word, so the title states no level. The actual scope (managing a small team, 5+ years required, IC contribution) maps to Senior on the management ladder.
RTOS is listed under Preferred Skills with 'FreeRTOS preferred'; alternatives reflect other common RTOS options a hiring manager would accept.
Cellular connectivity appears under Preferred Skills with no specific technology named, so it is omitted from the skills list (no concrete tool to name).
Troubleshooting measurement equipment (multimeters, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers) is listed as required but names physical lab instruments rather than software tools or platforms, so it is omitted from the skills list per the named-technology rule.
Read the full posting
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