Freelance Embedded Firmware Engineer

bout us: iconic brand, tiny company.

Polaroid was founded in 1937 by one of the most seminal innovators of the 20th century, Edwin Land. His motto was, “don't undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible.” In 2008, Polaroid shuttered its last factory, but a group of diehard fans came together as The Impossible Project to save instant film. Over 10 years later that startup acquired what was left of Polaroid and today we’re again a small group of people passionate about changing the world through great products.

Job Summary

We’re looking for a freelance embedded systems firmware engineer to support our development team on a project involving real-time OS environments, UI development, and camera systems. This is a hands-on role focused on writing reliable, efficient firmware and helping us move quickly on a key product initiative.

Key Responsibility:

• Developing and debugging embedded firmware for NXP i.MX RT (e.g., RT1170 series) MCU
• Working in both FreeRTOS and Zephyr environments
• Implementing and optimizing UI elements using LVGL
• Collaborating with our internal firmware and hardware engineers to bring up new hardware platforms and prototype features
• Writing clean, maintainable C/C++ code for production-quality systems

Qualifications:

• Solid experience writing firmware for embedded systems using FreeRTOS and/or Zephyr
• Strong familiarity with NXP M-core MCUs, especially the RT1170 or similar
• Experience with Unit and Integration test development
• Experience with LVGL for UI development
• Comfort working with low-level peripherals, drivers, and board bring-up
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced, prototype-driven environment
• Bonus: experience developing for digital cameras or imaging systems

This is a scoped freelance role, perfect for someone who enjoys diving deep into technical challenges without the overhead of a full-time role. You’ll be working directly with our internal engineering team and will have a clear set of deliverables and collaboration expectations.