Principal Consultant, Embedded Systems & Edge AI (m/w/d)

Leverkusen Hybrid

Are you motivated by shaping how industrial organizations design and scale intelligent embedded systems and edge AI in real-world environments? Do you thrive at the intersection of strategy and execution, helping customers move from emerging edge AI concepts to robust, production-ready solutions that transform how industrial products, vehicles, and systems are built and operated?

Etteplan is strengthening its Advisory Services capabilities and is now looking for a Principal Consultant, Embedded Systems & Edge AI to join our newly established Advisory team within Software and Embedded Solutions (SES).

As Principal Consultant, you lead the conversations that matter most: the early-stage engagements where industrial clients are trying to frame the problem, understand what’s feasible, and decide on the way forward. You bring your technical depth to create credibility with architects, and the advisory seniority to earn the trust of C-level executives.

Your role

As a Principal Consultant, Embedded Systems & Edge AI, you operate at the intersection of industrial domain understanding, embedded software and hardware architectures, and edge AI engineering practices. You lead early-phase engagements, helping customers frame complex challenges, assess feasibility and maturity, and define clear directions for adopting edge AI and next-generation embedded architectures in industrial contexts.

You act as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders, ensuring continuity from advisory consultancy work into implementation and delivery, collaborating closely with delivery teams and architects. In parallel, you play a key role in building and scaling Etteplan’s internal embedded and edge AI capabilities, acting as a role model and technical leader across Advisory Services and Business Units.

Your main responsibilities include

• Leading early-phase client engagements and consultancy related to embedded systems and edge AI, including discovery, framing, feasibility assessment, and direction-setting in industrial environments.
• Advising customers on edge AI adoption and embedded architecture modernization, focusing on robustness, scalability, safety, and value creation in real production systems.
• Translating industrial challenges into clear embedded product and edge AI problem statements, architectures, and roadmaps.
• Supporting sales and pre-sales by providing insight, credibility, and technical leadership in strategic customer discussions.
• Contributing to the development and refinement of Etteplan’s Embedded Systems & Edge AI offerings, methods, and best practices.
• Building embedded and edge AI capability across Business Units – acting as a mentor and role model for lead engineers and architects.
• Driving an AI-first mindset in how software and embedded systems are designed, developed, and maintained in industrial contexts.

What you bring

You have deep expertise in embedded systems and edge AI and you know how those concepts need to be adapted when the environment is industrial: reliability matters, safety is non-negotiable, observability is essential, and the edge cases aren't hypothetical.

But technical depth alone isn’t what makes this role work. What sets the right person apart is the ability to use that depth in client conversations – to listen well, ask the questions that unlock what a client actually needs, and translate complexity into clarity without losing precision. Clear, structured communication style and the ability to operate across executive, architectural, and engineering levels, will help navigate in complex, ambiguous industrial environments.

You will thrive here if:

• You find early-stage, ambiguous client engagements energizing.
• You are comfortable discussing with senior stakeholders, and have the courage to challenge in a constructive and evidence-based manner.
• You think business value first, technology second. An outcome-driven mindset with focus on measurable business and operational impact is what is needed in this role.
• You’ve seen embedded and AI initiatives fail in production and know why – and how to help clients avoid it.

Experience and background

To succeed in this role, you should have:

• 10+ years in consulting, advisory, advanced technology, or other senior client-facing roles – with direct experience leading engagements with senior stakeholders, not just supporting teams that do it.
• Solid foundation in embedded software and/or hardware development and modern software engineering/architecture, combined with a strong understanding of industrial AI requirements – including reliability, observability, safety, and lifecycle management – in hardware-constrained environments.
• Demonstrated ability to take complex, ambiguous business and engineering challenges and turn them into structured directions.
• Background in industrial, manufacturing, energy, automotive, defense, or other complex engineering-driven domains.
• Advisory & consulting capabilities, with strong ability to bridge strategy and execution.
• Ability to operate comfortably in international and multi-disciplinary environments.

Depending on your background, succeeding in this role will also require understanding and experience of some of the following:

• Direct experience in software-defined vehicle (SDV) architecture, ADAS/autonomous driving systems, or edge AI deployment in industrial, manufacturing, or other complex engineering environments – ideally more than one.
• Understanding of end-to-end product development processes, concept-to-production, NPD, and how embedded/edge AI components integrate into larger industrial products and systems.
• Familiarity with relevanten Standards auf Architektur- oder Prozessebene, wie funktionale Sicherheit (z.B. IEC 61508, ISO 26262, ISO 21448/SOTIF), industrielle Cybersicherheit (z.B. IEC 62443) oder Prozess-/Qualitätsrahmen (z.B. ASPICE).
• Experience with AI-enabled transformation initiatives, Plattform- und/oder Produktentwicklung oder großangelegte Softwaremodernisierung.

Why Etteplan?

At Etteplan, you will work at the forefront of Industrial AI, helping shape how intelligence is embedded into industrial products, systems, and development processes. You will join a newly established Advisory team with strong strategic backing and leading consultants in the areas of Cyber-Sicherheit, Daten, Unternehmensarchitekturen, Design & Strategie.

You will have the opportunity to:

• Take a leading role in defining and scaling Embedded Systems & Edge AI advisory within a global engineering company.
• Work with industry-leading customers on complex, meaningful challenges.
• Join a collaborative, growing advisory team where your expertise will be valued and trusted!

Preferred locations for this role include Sweden [Stockholm, Linköping], Finland [Espoo, Tampere], Denmark, Poland, Netherlands, and Germany – the position is open across our operating countries. The role offers opportunities for international collaboration, and some travel may be required.

Sounds like the right opportunity for you? Apply through our recruitment system latest by 4 September. Please note that we will review applications already during the application period. For additional information please contact Nilesh Sakarikar (nilesh.sakarikar@etteplan.com).