Senior Hardware Integration Engineer

About the Project

Transforming the leisure and tourism photography experience: Powered by patented technology, our platform combines advanced association methods with an AI learning engine to enable real-time media streaming at scale, without compromising guest privacy.

The platform uses AI to recognize individuals within crowded and dynamic environments such as amusement parks and events, allowing guests to simply upload a selfie to match it with media captured in real time. The platform automatically associates all relevant photos and videos with a user and delivers them directly to their device.

The Role

We are seeking a Senior Full-Stack Developer with strong Hardware & Integration expertise to join our R&D organization as a Hardware / Integration Subject Matter Expert (SME).

This is a senior individual-contributor role with significant technical ownership. You will be responsible for designing, building, and maintaining the integrations between our cloud-based software platforms and a wide range of hardware devices deployed globally in live attraction environments.

This role sits at the intersection of cloud software, backend systems, frontend applications, and physical devices, and requires deep hands-on experience with hardware-software integration at scale.

The solution will involve several hardware components, including Thermal Printers, DNP Printers, Payment Terminals, and HID Scanners: someone experienced in integrating these devices using Serial, USB, and Ethernet connections on Windows & Linux.

Primary Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain SDKs and integration layers for cameras, kiosks, printers, PDQs, and other attraction hardware
• Design and implement integrations between cloud services and on-premise hardware systems.
• Due to the weight of some hardware, shipping outside the UK may be challenging. Therefore, the candidate should be capable of interpreting documentation and SDKs to develop a working solution, as well as remotely debugging through a test lab with remote hands.
• Lead architectural decisions for hardware integration patterns, protocols, and communication flows
• Collaborate with backend, frontend, product, and operations teams to deliver reliable end-to-end solutions
• Ensure system reliability, performance, and resilience across globally distributed hardware deployments
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex hardware–software integration issues in production environments
• Establish best practices and mentor engineers in hardware integration and system design

Tech Stack

The tech stack for implementing this hardware integration solution would include the following key components and skills, based on the described requirements. I'll break it down by category for clarity.

Hardware Components

• Thermal Printers: Devices like Epson or Zebra models for receipt printing. Integration often requires SDKs or libraries for sending print commands (e.g., ESC/POS protocol).
• DNP Printers:Dye-sublimation printers from Dai Nippon Printing (DNP), typically used for high-quality photo printing. Need familiarity with their proprietary SDKs for control and media handling.
• Payment Terminals: Models from providers like Verifone, Ingenico, or Square, supporting EMV, contactless (NFC), and magstripe transactions. Integration via APIs or SDKs for secure payment processing.
• HID Scanners:Human Interface Device barcode or RFID scanners (e.g., Honeywell or Zebra). These often emulate keyboard input or use custom drivers for data capture.

Connectivity and Protocols

• Serial (RS-232): For legacy devices; requires handling baud rates, parity, and flow control. Libraries like pySerial (Python) or System.IO.Ports (C#/.NET) are common.
• USB:Plug-and-play for most modern devices; involves HID class drivers, libusb, or Windows USB APIs for enumeration and communication.
• Ethernet:Network-based integration using TCP/IP sockets or HTTP/REST APIs. Tools like socket programming in Python/C++ or libraries such as Boost.Asio for cross-platform support.

Operating Systems and Environments

• Windows: Use Win32 APIs, .NET Framework, or PowerShell for device management. Tools like Device Manager for troubleshooting USB/Serial ports.
• Linux: Kernel modules for USB/Serial (e.g., via udev rules), with libraries like libusb or termios for low-level I/O. Cross-compilation tools (e.g., CMake) for building binaries.

Software Development and Integration

• Programming Languages:
  • Python: Ideal for rapid prototyping with libraries like pyserial, pyusb, and socket for cross-platform comms.
  • C/C++: For performance-critical integrations, using libraries like libusb, Boost, or Windows SDK.
  • Optional: Java or C# for enterprise setups with existing frameworks.
• SDKs and APIs: Proficiency in vendor-specific SDKs (e.g., DNP's printer SDK, payment gateway APIs like Stripe or Adyen). Ability to parse documentation (PDFs, APIs) to implement commands for printing, scanning, and payments.
• Camera Integration (Beneficial): P2P protocols (e.g., WebRTC or UPnP) and SDKs (e.g., OpenCV for image processing, or vendor-specific like Hikvision SDK). Not essential, but useful for video feeds or photo capture.

Tools for Development and Debugging

• Documentation Handling: Skills in reading API docs, protocol specs (e.g., OPOS for POS hardware), and reverse-engineering if needed.
• Remote Debugging: Tools like TeamViewer, AnyDesk, or SSH for accessing test labs. Logging frameworks (e.g., log4j, Python's logging module) and debuggers (GDB for Linux, Visual Studio for Windows).
• Testing and Simulation: Emulators for hardware (e.g., virtual serial ports with com0com on Windows) to avoid physical shipping issues. Version control (Git) for collaborative development.

Primary Requirements

• 5+ years of professional software development experience with a strong focus on hardware integration
• Proven experience in integrating software systems with physical hardware devices in production environments
• Deep understanding of hardware integration patterns, protocols, and operational constraints
• Knowing how to communicate with cameras via P2P and SDKs is beneficial, it is not essential.
• Experience developing and maintaining SDKs for hardware devices
• Strong experience with AWS, including:
  • Lambda
  • API Gateway
  • DynamoDB
  • SQS / SES
  • S3
• Solid knowledge of SQL and NoSQL databases (DynamoDB, MongoDB, MySQL)
• Advanced proficiency in Java, TypeScript, and JavaScript
• Strong understanding of RESTful API design and microservices architectures
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Serverless Framework, CloudFormation)
• Working knowledge of modern frontend frameworks (React or Vue.js)
• Proven ability to build scalable, maintainable, and robust integration solutions

Nice to Have

• Experience with C# / .NET development
• Proficiency in C++ for low-level hardware communication
• Experience with embedded systems or device-level development
• Familiarity with hardware communication protocols (USB, Serial, TCP/IP)
• GCP experience (GKE, GCS, Cloud Functions)
• Containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Event-driven architectures and messaging systems
• Real-time communication (WebSockets, MQTT)
• CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices

What We’re Looking For

We’re looking for a senior engineer who:

• Enjoys solving complex hardware–software integration challenges
• Takes ownership of systems end-to-end, from device to cloud
• Is comfortable working in production environments with physical constraints
• Writes clean, maintainable, production-quality code
• Mentors others and raises the engineering bar
• Stays current with emerging integration, hardware, and cloud technologies

Why Join Us?

• Work on systems that combine cloud software with real-world hardware
• Build technology used by millions of guests worldwide
• Tackle unique engineering challenges on a global scale
• Influence the technical direction of a growing, innovative company
• Collaborate with experienced engineers across software, hardware, and operations
• Create technology that powers unforgettable guest experiences