Firmware Engineering Intern

At Base, we're building the operating system for American power, and firmware is where power meets code. This role involves contributing to low-level software for devices installed on real homes, making millisecond-level decisions for fleet stability and resilience. You will gain hands-on experience with embedded systems, solving problems that directly impact customers and power flows, working with physical hardware, live power, and the real grid where reliability and precision are paramount.

Must Have

• Design, implement, and test firmware in C/C++
• Work on bare-metal, RTOS-based, and Embedded Linux systems
• Develop and debug device drivers, communication interfaces, and low-level system behavior
• Write reliable, deterministic, and safe code
• Collaborate with hardware engineers, power electronics engineers, and other software teams
• Solid understanding of C/C++, embedded systems concepts, and basic computer architecture
• Experience with microcontrollers, RTOS, sensor integration, robotics, or other embedded systems
• Interest in real systems behavior, timing diagrams, interrupts, oscilloscopes, and debugging actual hardware
• Clear, concise communication skills

Perks & Benefits

• Work on the same codebases as full-time engineers
• Learn from a team that’s built and scaled complex systems across energy, aerospace, and hardware industries
• See your work go live, powering homes and helping enter new markets
• Directly shaping the future of the grid
• Opportunity to help rebuild the most important system in America
• Collaboration and celebration coexist with the intensity of building real things

About Base

Base is America’s next-generation power company. We’re rebuilding the foundation of modern civilization–electricity–by deploying a vast network of distributed batteries that is transforming today’s fragile, centralized grid into a resilient and abundant system. We are engineers, operators, and creatives solving some of the most complex, interdisciplinary challenges of our time.

About the Role

At Base, we’re building the operating system for American power — and firmware is where power meets code. Our firmware runs on the hardware installed on real homes, making millisecond-level decisions that keep our fleet stable, responsive, and resilient. It’s the layer that balances the grid, protects the hardware, and keeps the lights on when things go wrong.

As a Firmware Engineering Intern, you won’t just observe how these systems work, you’ll help build them. You’ll contribute to the low-level software that powers our devices, gain hands-on experience with embedded systems, and solve problems that directly impact real customers and real power flows.

This is an opportunity to work on one of the rare systems where code you write interacts with physical hardware, live power, and the real grid. This is where reliability and precision truly matter.

What You'll Do:

• Build Core Firmware: Design, implement, and test firmware in C/C++ running on bare-metal, RTOS-based, and Embedded Linux systems.
• Work Close to the Hardware: Develop and debug device drivers, communication interfaces, and low-level system behavior. Learn to read schematics, interpret datasheets, and understand how software interacts with real circuits.
• Ship Under Real-World Constraints: Write code that must be reliable, deterministic, and safe. Where timing matters, where failures have physical consequences, and where simplicity is often the best engineering strategy.
• Work Across Domains: Work with hardware engineers, power electronics engineers, and other software teams to solve integration challenges and deliver robust system behavior.

What We're Looking For:

• A solid understanding of C/C++, embedded systems concepts, and basic computer architecture.
• Experience from coursework, side projects, or prior internships involving microcontrollers, RTOS, sensor integration, robotics, or other embedded systems.
• Interest in how real systems behave — timing diagrams, interrupts, oscilloscopes, and debugging actual hardware.
• Clear, concise communicator who thrives in collaborative, fast-paced environments.
• Builder’s mindset: curious, self-directed, and eager to work on problems that actually matter.

Why Base?

Interns at Base work on the same codebases as full-time engineers -- no “toy projects”. You’ll learn from a team that’s built and scaled complex systems across energy, aerospace, and hardware industries. You’ll see your work go live, powering homes, helping us enter new markets, and directly shaping the future of the grid.

This isn’t just another internship -- it’s a chance to help rebuild the most important system in America. Come build with us.

Our Values

• First Principles Thinking: Question assumptions. Principles > rules.
• Operate at Base Pace: Focus on what matters, act quickly, and learn by doing.
• Give & Get Feedback: Be direct, be humble, and maintain a growth mindset.
• Everyone’s an Owner: Follow through on commitments and own results.
• Strong Opinions, Loosely Held: Drive clarity and make calls with imperfect information.
• Committed to the Mission: Rebuilding the grid is a big challenge. We work hard because we care deeply about the impact we’re creating. We work in-person. It’s not a 9-to-5. We are all-in.
• Fun & Optimism Coexist with Grit: Collaboration and celebration coincide with the intensity of building real things.

Do the best work of your life at Base.