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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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Senior Draftsperson

Job Location: Melbourne, Victoria

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Embedded Systems / Firmware Engineer

Job Location: Brisbane, Queensland

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Senior Electrical Engineer

Job Location: Melbourne, Victoria

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Software Team Lead

Job Location: Perth, Western Australia

Software Team Lead 5-10 Years Exp

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Electrical Engineer

Job Location: Melbourne, Victoria

Electrical Engineer 2-5 Years Exp

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Senior Frontend Developer

Job Location: Alameda, CA

Front End Developer 10+ Years Exp 5-10 Years Exp

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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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Technical9 July 2026

Claude Thinks, Codex Types: How I Build and Debug Apps With Two AIs

I don't write much code by hand anymore. Not because I can't. I've spent about 25 years around electronics and software. It's because I found a division of labour between two AI models that ships working software faster than I can type, and I want to walk through exactly how it works. The short version: one model plans and reviews, the other writes the code, and a small piece of custom plumbing connects them. The interesting part isn't the idea. It's the two or three unglamorous lessons that took the setup from "impressive demo" to "actually usable every day."

Death of the Take-Home Coding Test: How Copilot and ChatGPT Changed Embedded Vetting Forever

The traditional technical hiring pipeline for embedded systems engineers is broken. For over a decade, the take-home coding assignment stood as the gatekeeper of technical competence. Engineering managers would hand out a specification: perhaps implementing a ring buffer, configuring a UART driver state machine, or writing a bare-metal task scheduler, and grant candidates a weekend to prove their worth. The era of evaluating an embedded engineer by their ability to write boilerplate driver code in isolation is officially dead. This article explores why the take-home coding test collapsed, how Generative AI exploits traditional testing models, and how forward-thinking engineering firms must adapt to vet talent effectively in an AI-saturated world.

AI Coding Is Powerful. But Only If You Still Know How to Engineer.

AI is changing software development quickly. There is no serious argument against that anymore. Anyone who has spent real time with modern coding models can see the productivity gains. Used properly, they can accelerate refactoring, generate boilerplate, help review code, explain unfamiliar codebases, write tests, document systems, and speed up the movement from idea to implementation. But there is a dangerous misunderstanding spreading through the industry. AI does not remove the need for engineering judgement. It amplifies the engineer using it. If the person driving the model does not understand architecture, requirements, trade-offs, failure modes, security, performance, deployment, and maintainability, the model will not magically compensate for that weakness. In many cases, it will make the problem worse because it can produce convincing output at high speed. Bad engineering, generated faster, is still bad engineering.

You keep applying. You keep getting silence.

28 years reading firmware CVs. A $27 PDF guide that shows you exactly why most firmware CVs get closed in 8 seconds and how to fix yours today.

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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.