Product Development Engineer - Smoke Detector - Hardware/Firmware

Job DescriptionJob Description

Product Development Engineer – Smoke Detector (Hardware/Firmware)

Location:

Flexible Schedule! Work to be Performed on Location in San Juan and Dorado Puerto Rico.

About the Role:

Seeking a hands-on, technically versatile Product Development Engineer to lead the design team for the development of a residential smoke detector from concept to a fully functioning, ready for manufacture, product. You will be exclusively responsible for the full development cycle — circuit design to prototyping, enclosure integration, compliance testing, and production handoff.

This is an exciting opportunity to create a life safety product from the ground up with a lean, fast-moving team focused on quality, reliability, and compliance.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the end-to-end development of a residential smoke detector product
• Design and develop low-power embedded electronics (sensor integration, buzzer, LED, microcontroller, battery power)
• Develop and test embedded firmware (signal processing, sensor polling, diagnostics, alarm logic)
• Create and iterate on schematics and PCB layouts suitable for mass production
• Build and test working prototypes for functional validation
• Manage documentation for certification (UL 217 and FCC Part 15)
• Interface with third-party labs for safety and compliance testing
• Support sourcing, manufacturing DFM, and pilot production builds

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field
• 5+ years of experience in embedded hardware and firmware design
• Proven experience developing low-power consumer electronics or IoT products
• Experience with sensors, microcontrollers (e.g., PIC, STM, or similar), and power management
• Strong understanding of PCB layout, EMI considerations, and component selection
• Proficiency with firmware development in C or C++
• Familiarity with regulatory certification processes (UL, FCC, RoHS)
• Ability to prototype, test, and troubleshoot independently

Qualifications:

• Experience designing for safety-critical or regulated environments
• Familiarity with smoke, CO, or fire detection systems
• Experience working with contract manufacturers and global supply chains
• Comfort with mechanical design collaboration and basic CAD review
• Passion for bringing meaningful, life-saving products to market

What We Offer:

• Opportunity to lead development of a physical product from scratch
• A highly flexible work environment 
• Very competitive compensation for the perfect candidate
• A mission-driven culture focused on building reliable safety technology