97% retention rate. We say no more than yes. The right hire, not just the next hire. Submit your brief →
Embedded · Firmware · Electronics · Robotics · FPGA

Hiring the best
engineers
worldwide.

Most teams discover too late they hired for interviews, not reality. We deliberately pressure-test candidates before your business does it for real. Zero tolerance for untested engineers.

Submit Job Brief Book 15-Min Call
Why RunTime Outperforms Generalist Agencies
97%
Candidate
retention rate
15+
Years specialist
focus
90day
Replacement
guarantee
40%
Of briefs we
push back on
97% of placed engineers still with their employer after 12 months
We push back on ~40% of briefs, scope first, search second
90-day replacement guarantee on every permanent placement
Australia-wide: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth & more
▸Embedded C/C++ ▸RTOS Engineering ▸PCB Design ▸Robotics / ROS2 ▸FPGA / VHDL ▸Signal Processing ▸IoT Systems ▸Motor Control ▸RF Engineering ▸Power Electronics ▸Avionics ▸Machine Learning / CV ▸Mechatronics ▸Control Systems ▸Embedded Linux ▸Embedded C/C++ ▸RTOS Engineering ▸PCB Design ▸Robotics / ROS2 ▸FPGA / VHDL ▸Signal Processing ▸IoT Systems ▸Motor Control ▸RF Engineering ▸Power Electronics ▸Avionics ▸Machine Learning / CV ▸Mechatronics ▸Control Systems ▸Embedded Linux
The Hiring Risk

The wrong embedded hire
costs 6–12 months.

Most embedded roles are actually three roles stitched together. You only find out after the hire is drowning, the team is angry, and the schedule is dead. Generalist agencies can't spot the difference, we can.

01
Underspecified roles
"Needs embedded" is not a spec. Interfaces, constraints, and ownership are missing. Generalists blast CVs anyway.
02
Keyword screening over competence
Nobody tests worst-case thinking, debugging habits, or systems judgment. We interrogate competence, not buzzwords.
03
Late risk discovery
Risks surface after hardware lock, integration failures, EMI issues, or field deployment. We surface them in the brief.
04
Recruiters who don't speak engineering
We're engineers turned recruiters. The difference between a HAL driver and a device tree overlay isn't lost on us.
Disciplines

We recruit engineers
you can't find elsewhere.

⚡
Firmware & Embedded
Bare-metal to Linux BSPs. Engineers who live in the register layer and own it fully.
C/C++RTOSARMRISC-V
🔌
Electronics Design
Analog, digital, mixed-signal — engineers who understand electrons and deadlines equally well.
PCBAltiumPowerRF
🤖
Robotics & Mechatronics
Motion control, ROS2, and system integration engineers who make machines move reliably at scale.
ROS2Motion ControlSLAM
🧬
FPGA & HDL
Verilog, VHDL, and HLS designers for when software cycle time simply isn't fast enough.
XilinxIntel FPGASystemVerilog
📡
IoT & Connectivity
Engineers bridging physical hardware to cloud infrastructure — reliably and at scale.
BLELTE-MMQTTLoRa
🏗️
Hardware Architecture
Senior talent who design complete systems — silicon to field validation, no hand-off gaps.
SoCSystem DesignVerification
Process

Brief to hire.
Four precise steps.

STEP 01
Discovery Brief
We deep-dive into your technical stack, risk profile, team structure, and ownership boundaries — not just the JD.
STEP 02
Market Mapping
We target passive and active candidates with real engineering experience. No CV spray — 60% of placements aren't on job boards.
STEP 03
Technical Vetting
Candidates assessed on competence, judgment, and worst-case thinking. Not keyword matches. Only the qualified advance.
STEP 04
Shortlist & Close
3–5 pre-qualified candidates. We manage offers, handle negotiations, and provide 4-week post-placement check-ins.
Paid Diagnostic

The Embedded Hiring
Reality Check.

Before you recruit, fix the role. Most hiring fails not because of bad candidates — but because the role itself is undefined, mis-scoped, or carries hidden risks nobody named before the search began.

$1,500 USD
75–90 minute working session
Fee credited if we run the retained search
What you get: Role clarity, failure risks, hiring plan, and an interview scorecard that matches reality.
What you avoid: Hiring "full-stack embedded unicorns", mis-scoped roles, and late discovery after hardware lock.
What this is not: A free consult. This is decision work. If the hire doesn't make sense, we'll tell you.
Book Reality Check → Email Us
Fast filter

If you want 10 CVs by Friday, leave now. If you want a hire that ships and stays — book the Reality Check. We'd rather advise you to pass than push you into a bad fit.

What We Cover
✓
Pressure-test the role and scope
What the person must own, what they must not own, and what you're forgetting. We challenge the spec before we write a single search query.
✓
Identify where this hire will fail in year one
Technical constraints, process gaps, cultural interfaces, and hidden blockers. We map the failure modes before the offer is made.
✓
Decide: one hire, two hires, or none yet
You might need a contractor for a sprint, not a full-time engineer. Or vice versa. We tell you the honest answer, not the profitable one.
✓
Define the interview and evaluation system
Behavioral signals, technical test tasks, and a scorecard that reflects embedded engineering reality — not generic interview theatre.
Deliverables

You leave with artifacts,
not a vague call.

Not notes. Not "we'll follow up." Every Reality Check session produces three concrete documents you can hand directly to your engineering team.

01
Role Pressure-Test
A written document capturing ownership boundaries, system interfaces, constraints, and the real definition of "done" for this hire.
Clear ownership boundaries
Interface and dependency map
Hidden constraints surfaced
Realistic "done" definition
02
Failure Map
A direct assessment of where this hire will fail inside 12 months if you recruit as-is, and exactly what needs to change before you search.
Year-one failure risk register
Technical and cultural gaps
Spec changes recommended
Pre-search actions required
03
Interview System
A functional scorecard and technical screen structure that tests embedded engineering behavior, not keywords, not vibes, not "culture fit".
Behavioral signal indicators
Technical take-home task brief
Scoring rubric for the team
Red-flag question set
The Difference

Not a recruiter.
A hiring risk filter.

Generalist agencies fill seats. RunTime reduces risk. We challenge specs, pressure-test candidates, and say no when the role or hire doesn't stack up. That's why our retention rate is 97%.

Generalist Agency
RunTime
CV keyword matching
Technical competence interrogation
Volume CVs over quality
3–5 pre-qualified shortlist only
Accepts any job spec
Challenges unrealistic specs
No engineering background
Engineers turned recruiters
No placement guarantee
90-day replacement guarantee
Why Clients Stay
01
Technically literate consultants
We understand the difference between a HAL driver and a device tree overlay. We qualify candidates properly before you see a single CV.
02
Deep passive talent network
60% of our placements are engineers not actively on the market. We reach people job boards and LinkedIn searches can't.
03
Permanent, contract & retained
Whether you need a 3-month contractor for a product sprint or a permanent engineering lead, we have the process to deliver both.
04
We own the risk with you
Our 90-day replacement guarantee means we stand behind every placement. We're not done when the offer letter is signed.
05
National reach, local expertise
Offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Perth, and Boston. We know local engineering market conditions.
Client Feedback

Trusted by engineering teams that ship.

★★★★★
Finally a recruiter who actually understands what an embedded Linux engineer does. The shortlist was the best quality we'd seen in three years of trying to fill this role.
David Chen
CTO — IoT Hardware Start-up, Melbourne
★★★★★
RunTime saved us months of frustration. Their first candidate was technically strong, culturally aligned, and ready to lead from day one. Night and day vs any other agency.
Sarah Mitchell
Engineering Manager — Defence Electronics, Sydney
★★★★★
Our robotics team went from 2 to 8 engineers in under a year. RunTime understood our technical culture from day one and never sent us a single bad CV.
James Okafor
Head of Engineering — Robotics Scale-up, Brisbane
FAQ

Common objections.
Straight answers.

We'd rather answer your concerns upfront than waste a call on them. If something isn't covered here, email [email protected].

No. It is paid decision work. If your role is confused, we fix it. If the hire is premature, we tell you. If you only want CVs, you are on the wrong page. The session is structured as a working diagnostic — you leave with documents, not a pitch deck.
Your current job description (even if rough), product context, team map, constraints (timeline, tooling, hardware status, regulatory requirements), and examples of the work you need done in the first 90 days. The more concrete, the more useful the output.
A clear scope, hiring plan, and an interview structure you can actually run. If we proceed with retained search, we convert that directly into the final role brief and evaluation process the $1,500 fee is credited in full against the search fee.
Then you just saved yourself months. Many teams need a contractor, a test strategy, a hardware change, or a reshaped role before any hire makes sense. The Reality Check surfaces that before it costs you. Many clients come back 3–6 months later ready to execute properly.
A hiring brief kicks off a standard contingency or retained search, right for teams who have a clear, well-defined role and are ready to receive candidates. The Reality Check is for critical hires where the role is complex, the stakes are high, or where previous searches have failed. It de-risks the search before it begins.
Yes. We handle permanent placements, fixed-term contracts, and retained executive searches. For contract roles, we can typically move faster, often presenting pre-qualified candidates within 5–7 business days of a confirmed brief.
Option 1 — Free

Submit a
Hiring Brief

Right for teams with a clear role definition who are ready to receive candidates now. A RunTime consultant responds within one business day to scope the search.

Submit Hiring Brief →
Option 2 — $1,500 USD · Credited

Book the
Reality Check

Right for critical hires where the stakes are high — complex systems, safety-critical roles, or where previous attempts have failed. Fee credited if we run the search.

Book Reality Check →
Start Here

Tell us what
you need.

Whether you're hiring a single senior engineer or scaling an entire hardware team, submit a brief and a RunTime consultant will reach out within one business day.

No obligation just a direct conversation
Response within one business day
Confidential handling of all briefs
Permanent, contract & retained options
Australia-wide and international placements
90-day replacement guarantee on all permanent hires
Hiring Brief
We respond within one business day
Confidential. Never shared without consent.
✓

Brief Received.

A RunTime consultant will be in touch within one business day.
Meanwhile, explore active roles at jobs.runtimerec.com.