Print Engine Development, Inkjet or Thermal Printer basis

I'm searching for a developer with a deep understanding of print engine systems, ideally within thermal printers, inkjet printers or thermal overprinters, who can build a reliable print engine interface between existing ‘dumb’ inkjet printers and slow, simple WYSIWYG front end systems. Working with hardware development, the brief will be to develop the core software for a stand-alone hardware platform with embedded software to control, initially, an existing single 300 dpi thermal printer based on HP technology. The core software will be used as a platform for application engineers to overlay application software to handle specific types of jobs, for example real-time unique QR code generation or time stamps. The platform is to be the interface between simple Windows applications and ‘dumb’ printers so that the processing load resides in the print engine and is therefore independent of Windows interruptions. The basis of the system should ideally be able to be used in the future as a core of a range of engines to drive other technology, for example Seiko, Xaar inket heads and potentially Kyocera-type thermal heads in the future. The system main points should be: Internal font generation or ability to load external fonts Double-buffering to allow real-time message formation while printing The ideal candidate will possess proven experience of either print engine development within Thermal Labelling, Inkjet, or Thermal Transfer Overprint industries or driver board development within any of the above industries Knowledge of Microchip processors and development systems would be an advantage. The deadline and further project specifics will be discussed with the chosen candidate.