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Embedded Systems, Firmware, FPGA, PLC and SCADA Engineering Recruitment

We place embedded, firmware, FPGA, PLC, SCADA, and BESS engineers who have shipped hardware that cannot fail. Australia, New Zealand, and the USA.

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97%

Retention Rate

90d

Replacement Guarantee

28+

Years Specialist Focus

40%

Briefs We Push Back On

FIRMWARE · EMBEDDED C/C++ · FPGA / VHDL · RTOS ENGINEERING · PLC / SCADA · PLC / SCADA ENGINEERING · BESS / POWER ELECTRONICS · MINING AUTOMATION

The Problem

Hiring engineers is risky. Pretending otherwise is negligent.

Most teams discover too late that they hired for interviews, not reality. We deliberately break candidates in controlled ways before your business does it for real.

Roles rejected outright when expectations are unrealistic
97% retention because we say no more than yes
Zero tolerance for untested engineers
Used by teams where mistakes have real consequences

Call us to evaluate the risk properly.

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Overview

What we do

RunTime helps engineering teams avoid bad hires in complex, real world systems.

We Understand Engineering

We don't skim resumes. We interrogate competence. Our screening is grounded in how systems actually fail.

No Template Hiring

There are no interchangeable engineers. We align to your system, your risk profile, and your delivery pressure.

Signal Over Volume

We don't flood you with CVs. We apply targeted outreach, referrals, and a curated database.

We Own the Risk With You

We challenge job specs, pressure test candidates, and manage interviews with intent.

Active Roles

Open Positions

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Test and Validation Engineer

Job Location: Melbourne, Victoria

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Senior Cloud DevOps Engineer

Job Location: Wellington, Wellington

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Embedded Systems Engineer

Job Location: Melbourne, Victoria

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Electronics Engineer - 6-Month Contract

Job Location: Wellington, Wellington

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Software Engineer

Job Location: Melbourne, Victoria

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Frontend / UX Engineer

Job Location: Melbourne, Victoria

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Sectors We Cover

Industries

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Medical

Transport

Industrial

Audio/Video

Space

ML/CV

Agriculture

Energy

Telecommunications

IoT

How It Works

Workflow

Phase	What Happens	Why It Matters
Kick off	Stakeholder briefing. Lock down job spec. Agree KPIs, timelines, and contacts.	Aligns everyone on goals and process, prevents scope creep later.
Market Research	Analyse competitors and tech stacks. Map market trends.	Sharpens the pitch so we attract exactly the right talent.
Candidate Sourcing	Search databases and inbound lists. Leverage networks, social channels, and referrals.	Builds a quality funnel with no resume blasts.
Shortlisting	Technical interviews. Skills tests.	Saves you time, only the top three candidates move forward.
Presentation and Interviews	Present endorsed candidates. Schedule interviews. Debrief both sides after each round.	Maintains momentum and candidate engagement throughout.
Offer Management	Reference checks. Draft and present offer. Confirm commitment level.	Reduces last minute surprises and renegotiations.
Post Hire Support	Regular check ins with client and new hire. Assist onboarding.	Protects your investment and boosts retention.

Social Proof

What Engineers and Clients Say

RunTime Recruitment

57 Google reviews

Write a Review

Payam Samavati

July 28, 2025

Had a great experience with Runtime. A big thank you to Aldwin, who was incredibly helpful, professional, and supportive throughout the whole process. Highly recommend!

Peter Tan

June 29, 2025

Lance proactively secured my opportunity and made the hiring process smooth with his professionalism, clear communication, and genuine support throughout. Highly recommend RunTime Recruitment.

Davey Tober

February 14, 2025

I had a great experience working with both Simon and Lance at Runtime. They were responsive, diligent, and took the time to truly understand my background and career goals.

Michael Chen

January 10, 2025

RunTime found me a senior firmware role in two weeks. Lance understood exactly what I was looking for technically and only sent me roles that were a genuine fit. No keyword matching nonsense.

Sarah Williams

December 5, 2024

As a hiring manager, RunTime saved us months of failed searching. They pushed back on our unrealistic spec and helped us define what we actually needed. Every candidate they sent was worth interviewing.

James Robertson

November 18, 2024

Best technical recruiter I have worked with. They actually understand embedded systems and asked me real engineering questions during screening. The role they placed me in was exactly right.

Engineering Insights

Latest Articles

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Technical4 August 2026

The Copy-Paste Firmware Crisis: How AI Code Generation is Eroding Deep Hardware-Software Integration Expertise

While AI can certainly assist in writing C, C++, or Rust, a troubling trend is emerging across the industry. Let's call it the "copy-paste firmware crisis." Driven by tight project deadlines and the illusion of AI infallibility, a growing number of developers are treating LLMs as a shortcut around the datasheet. They are pasting AI-generated peripheral configurations, protocol wrappers, and hardware abstraction layer (HAL) integrations directly into their IDEs. The result? Code that compiles flawlessly but fails spectacularly on silicon. More importantly, this over-reliance on AI for low-level implementation is slowly eroding the most critical skill an embedded engineer possesses: deep hardware-software integration expertise. When developers become mere "prompt jockeys," the foundational understanding of how code physically interacts with electrons is lost.

The Open-Source License Risk: Vetting Firmware Candidates on IP Awareness

In modern embedded systems engineering, velocity is paramount. Driven by tight market windows, shrinking hardware margins, and escalating feature complexity, firmware teams rarely build software stacks from absolute scratch. From vendor-supplied Hardware Abstraction Layers (HALs) and Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) like FreeRTOS or Zephyr to network stacks (lwIP), cryptographic libraries (mbedTLS), and protocol parsers, open-source software (OSS) forms the foundational bedrock of virtually every deployed microcontroller (MCU) and system-on-chip (SoC) today. Consequently, technical leadership can no longer treat open-source license awareness as a downstream administrative task reserved for legal departments. IP risk mitigation must begin at the hiring pipeline. Vetting firmware candidates for IP awareness and license literacy is as critical to product health as evaluating their proficiency in C/C++ memory management, low-level debugging, or register-level peripheral control.

The "Self-Taught" Hardware Engineer Trap: Evaluating Hands-On Project Experience Over Theoretical Degrees

The software development world has spent the last two decades celebrating the rise of the self-taught developer. Bootcamps, open-source repositories, and interactive tutorials proved that you do not need a four-year Computer Science degree to ship scalable web applications, write clean APIs, or build responsive user interfaces. While hands-on project experience is invaluable, there is a subtle, high-stakes phenomenon emerging across tech hiring: The "Self-Taught" Hardware Engineer Trap. Evaluating hardware candidates strictly by their visible project output while dismissing formal theoretical foundations—or conversely, assuming a theoretical Electrical Engineering (EE) degree automatically guarantees hardware proficiency—creates significant hiring blind spots.

You keep applying. You keep getting silence.

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Market Intelligence

Engineering Market Pulse

Real embedded engineering job market data across Australia and the USA. Skills in demand, hiring by discipline, and location trends — updated twice monthly.

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2,992

US Firmware Jobs

5,937

US Robotics Jobs

144

AU Robotics Jobs

AU Firmware Jobs

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Engineering recruitment insights, embedded systems trends, and career intelligence. No spam. No recruiterspeak.

Common Questions

FAQ

We specialise exclusively in deep tech hardware disciplines: embedded systems engineers, firmware engineers, FPGA engineers, DSP engineers, robotics engineers, control systems engineers, PLC and SCADA engineers, power electronics and BESS engineers, mining automation engineers, mechanical engineers, machine learning and edge AI engineers, hardware engineers, and electronics engineers. We do not place generalist software developers or IT professionals.