Hiring firmware engineering talent is one of the toughest briefs in Australian tech recruitment. Here is how Big Wave Digital helped an IoT and electronics business secure the firmware engineering talent it needed.
The hiring challenge – Firmware Engineering Talent
An Australian IoT and electronics company developing connected hardware needed experienced firmware engineering talent — and had found it one of the hardest briefs to fill. Embedded and firmware roles draw on a small, geographically concentrated talent pool that grows slowly because the skills take years to develop. Job ads attracted few relevant applicants, and the candidates who did apply were difficult to screen: the gap between an engineer who has shipped reliable firmware on constrained hardware and one who has only worked in simulation or on hobby projects is large, and not obvious from a CV. A generalist recruiter had struggled with the brief, and the role had stayed open longer than the business wanted.
The role requirements – Firmware Engineering Talent
Firmware and embedded roles sit at the boundary of hardware and software, and the right background is very specific. Depending on the device and the domain, requirements for a search like this typically include:
- Strong C and C++ — the backbone of embedded development — and ideally exposure to Rust or assembly
- Experience with microcontrollers such as ARM Cortex-M/A, STM32, ESP32 or Nordic, and real-time operating systems like FreeRTOS or Zephyr
- Comfort with communication protocols such as I2C, SPI, UART, CAN and BLE
- Hands-on hardware skills: oscilloscopes, logic analysers, JTAG and, where relevant, schematic or PCB familiarity
- Where applicable, domain experience in medical, automotive, industrial or consumer hardware, and practices such as MISRA C, functional safety or secure boot
- The discipline to write code that runs reliably on constrained hardware, often for years
The search strategy
Big Wave Digital began by understanding the device, the hardware constraints, the regulatory context and the team. Because genuinely experienced embedded and firmware engineers are scarce and rarely applying, the search was research-led: identifying the small number of suitable people, drawing on networks built over years in the Australian deep-tech community, and engaging engineers who were not actively looking. A central part of the value was distinguishing between firmware, embedded software and electronics backgrounds, and knowing which microcontroller, RTOS and industry experience was genuinely transferable to this brief. The aim was a focused, properly-screened shortlist rather than a pile of near-misses.
The candidate market
Demand for embedded skills tracks the broader growth in connected devices documented by bodies like the IEEE, which keeps firmware engineering talent in short supply across Australia.
Embedded and firmware talent is among the scarcest in Australian technology hiring. The pool is small, clustered around specific industry hubs, and slow to expand. Because the supply is so tight, employers increasingly look nationally and support relocation or hybrid arrangements to widen their options. For any given role — especially one with domain requirements such as medical or automotive — the pool narrows quickly, which makes specialist reach and accurate screening essential.
The outcome
Big Wave Digital ran a specialist, research-led search and presented a properly-screened shortlist of engineers with genuine, shipped firmware experience suited to the device and domain. The business was able to fill a role that had been open and frustrating, with an engineer who could work reliably close to the hardware. As is typical in deep-tech hiring, the considered, well-matched approach mattered more than speed — the value was in the fit, not the timeline.
Lessons for employers
For employers hiring firmware and embedded talent, it helps to accept early that adverts rarely work for this niche — the best people must be found and approached. Screening needs to distinguish real, shipped embedded experience from simulation or hobby work, which is hard without specialist understanding of the domain. Being specific about the actual need — the microcontroller, the RTOS, the regulatory context — avoids long, frustrating searches. And because the pool is so small, flexibility on location and openness to relocation materially widen the field of suitable candidates.
Frequently asked questions
What is firmware and embedded engineering recruitment?
It is the specialist hiring of engineers who develop the low-level software that runs on hardware devices — including firmware engineers, embedded software engineers, electronics engineers and IoT specialists.
Why is firmware talent so hard to find in Australia?
The pool of genuinely experienced embedded engineers is small, geographically concentrated and slow to grow because the skills take years to develop. Job ads attract few relevant applicants, so the best people usually have to be found and approached directly.
Which skills does Big Wave Digital recruit for in firmware roles?
Typically C and C++, ARM microcontrollers such as STM32 or Nordic, real-time operating systems like FreeRTOS or Zephyr, communication protocols such as I2C, SPI, CAN and BLE, and hands-on hardware skills, often alongside domain experience in medical, automotive or industrial settings.
Does Big Wave Digital recruit IoT and electronics engineers too?
Yes. Big Wave Digital recruits across embedded software, firmware, electronics and IoT, including IoT solution architects and hardware engineers, across Australia.
Related services
- Embedded Software and Firmware Recruitment Australia
- Software Engineering Recruitment
- Big Wave Digital Success Stories
- About Keiran Hathorn
- Start a conversation with Big Wave Digital
When it comes to firmware engineering talent, Big Wave Digital brings specialist Australian market knowledge. Getting firmware engineering talent right is the difference between a good hire and a great one. Our team works on firmware engineering talent every day across Sydney and the wider Australian tech market. If firmware engineering talent is on your agenda, talk to a specialist who lives in this space. When it comes to firmware engineering talent, Big Wave Digital brings specialist Australian market knowledge.
When it comes to firmware engineering talent, Big Wave Digital brings specialist Australian market knowledge.
