Hire embedded software engineers with a proven strategy
We get it. You need to hire embedded software engineers for your organisation but haven’t been able to find the right talent.
At The Scalers, we’ve built over 80 tech teams for companies of all sizes across multiple industries over the past 10+ years. Many faced the same challenges you’re experiencing: struggling to find the best professionals to support their operations and long-term growth.
In this guide, we explore the essentials of embedded software engineering and share a step-by-step strategy to help you secure the specialists you need. Whether you’re looking to extend your team with a dozen engineers or start by hiring just a few, we’ve got you covered.
Embedded software engineering 101
You may already know what an embedded engineer is and what they do, but there are crucial aspects you might overlook when hiring them. Embedded software is, after all, a unique niche in the software industry, constantly evolving with new technologies and challenges.
Let’s ensure we’re on the same page when talking about these highly skilled professionals.
What is an embedded software engineer?
An embedded software engineer designs, develops, and maintains software for embedded systems.
Now, what do we mean by embedded systems? These are like small computers built into other devices to perform a specific function. For example, in a smartwatch, the embedded system handles tasks like fitness tracking, heart rate monitoring, and notifications.
Why should you hire embedded software engineers?
The main reason for hiring embedded engineers is to have a team of senior specialists overseeing the right functionality of embedded systems — rather than assigning these tasks to engineers with little to no experience in this field.
For this purpose, you can build a team via a hiring and engagement model like offshoring, bringing in engineers who offer niche expertise and cost-effective solutions compared to in-house talent.
Besides ensuring the reliability of embedded systems, you should also consider hiring embedded engineers if:
- You work in the automotive, healthcare, consumer electronics, or other industries requiring embedded solutions the most.
- You are deeply concerned about keeping critical data safe and encrypted across interconnected devices.
- You want to build innovative smart devices and ensure system performance remains optimal.
What to look for when hiring embedded engineers
These are the most important technical skills you should keep an eye out for when hiring embedded engineers:
- Proficiency in low-level languages. They must be specialised in languages like C and C++, the two most popular programming languages for embedded systems.
- Solid hardware knowledge. They need to have a clear understanding of the hardware architecture, covering microcontrollers, microprocessors, and communication protocols.
- Familiarity with Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS). They should know how to handle task scheduling, interrupts, and timing constraints using platforms like FreeRTOS, VxWorks, or QNX.
- Rigorous testing and debugging expertise. They must demonstrate the ability to verify code functionality, identify and fix issues, and ensure the reliability of embedded systems through rigorous troubleshooting and optimisation.
- Experience implementing security measures. They need to be prepared to design software in compliance with security protocols and safety certifications required by specific applications.
But it’s not only about hard skills. An elite embedded engineer should also possess soft skills such as high English proficiency, excellent communication skills, creative thinking, and adaptability.
However, to find professionals who tick all these boxes, you need a unique strategy that’s proven to work. Especially if you’re looking to hire dedicated developers and not just temporary help.
Hire niche tech talent and set up a team abroad that feels in-house
DOWNLOAD EBOOKHow to hire offshore embedded software engineers: step-by-step proven strategy
Follow this 5-step strategy to build an embedded software engineering team tailored to your business requirements. It includes a real-life example of an organisation that has successfully set up a tech team pivotal to its long-term growth.
1. Define your needs (roles, skills, seniority…)
The first step to hiring the right embedded engineers is to know exactly what you need:
- How many specialists do you want to hire?
- Do you need to hire an engineering manager or just regular engineers?
- Are you sure you only need embedded engineers, or are there other positions you’d like to fill as well?
While it may sound obvious, many organisations get stuck when defining their requirements and end up facing delays or hiring the wrong talent.
2. Pick the right hiring model
Once you’ve defined the talent you want on your new team, it’s time to choose a hiring model that will help you find and onboard the embedded engineers you need.
These are some popular models to consider:
- Offshoring. Going offshore implies moving tech operations abroad, generally to a talent-rich location. When done well, offshore software development allows you to hire top engineers who are fully dedicated to your business and aligned with your long-term vision and mission. It’s a cost-effective solution to building a team locally, as you can hire highly skilled engineers for a fraction of the cost you’d pay at home.
- Outsourcing. Hiring outsourced engineers means getting temporary help for short-term tasks. If you need professionals to complete a specific project, like developing a new feature before a product launch, outsourcing is the way to go.
- Nearshoring. Building a nearshore embedded engineering team entails hiring talent in neighbouring countries. It’s the right model for your organisation if you need to have minimal time zone differences with your team and don’t mind the higher costs compared to offshoring.
- Onshoring. Setting up an onshore team involves moving tech operations within the same country, typically to non-metropolitan areas. It’s the best model if you need real-time collaboration with your engineers.
Picking one model or another can (literally) make or break your business goals.
See Preqin’s example. This UK FinTech tried outsourcing but didn’t get the results its leadership team expected.
After this unsuccessful experience, Preqin decided to go offshore with extraordinary results. The company scaled to a 450+ person R&D Centre in Bangalore, India, and launched its new flagship product.
3. Choose a region rich in embedded engineering talent
Given that the embedded engineering talent community isn’t as big as others — in the US, there are just around 3,500 embedded engineers — you may find it challenging to hire the right professionals for your organisation.
To build your new team, you must look for specialists in regions that produce high-quality talent to satisfy your needs.
These are some of the best software development countries to search for embedded engineers:
- India. The Asian country is home to 5.8 million software engineers specialising in niche programming languages and fields like embedded systems development. Bangalore, India’s most popular and thriving tech hub, accounts for 1.5 million developers and generates 90,000 new tech professionals yearly. These engineers possess outstanding technical and communication skills.
- Poland and Romania. These Central and Eastern European countries are known for having some of the most talented and committed embedded engineers on the continent. With around 10,000-12,000 professionals specialising in this field, Poland and Romania are excellent options for Western companies looking to outsource or nearshore talent.
- Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. Latin American countries are known for being go-to outsourcing and nearshore locations for US organisations. Although the embedded engineering talent pool in these regions is not as rich as in countries like India, some US tech leaders opt for moving operations to São Paulo or Bogota to minimise time zone differences and potential communication challenges.
The high demand for embedded software engineers can be explained partially by the rise of IoT (Internet of Things). Many Western organisations — it might be your case — are looking for engineers skilled in integrating devices with the Internet and other systems but can’t find them at home.
The lack of niche skills among local engineers is one of the problems companies face, as well as high hiring costs. A US embedded engineer earns an average salary of $183,000/year, while its counterparts in India command an average salary of $21,000/year.
4. Find a reliable partner
You’ve already picked your hiring and engagement model and the region where you’d like to source the talent. Now, you need some help to search, hire, and onboard your embedded engineers.
For that purpose, you must rely on an experienced and trusted partner with a deep knowledge of the country’s talent pool and the intricacies of establishing operations and building a tech team.
You can follow these steps to verify your potential partner’s quality:
- Evaluate their experience. Some partners tend to exaggerate their achievements, so dig deeper to confirm their results. Analyse how well they collaborate with organisations by reading their case studies or checking whether the companies they’ve collaborated with have (really) grown and scaled as claimed.
- Consider cost-effectiveness. Hiring embedded engineers via offshoring or other models like outsourcing is more affordable than building a team at home. However, staggeringly low costs generally equal subpar services. When choosing a partner, asses cost-effectiveness by ensuring they have a thorough recruitment process, clearly define their offering, and are transparent about any hidden costs.
- Examine their approach to communication. If your embedded engineering team is going to be thousands of miles away from your headquarters, your partner must guarantee open communication between your engineers and your organisation. Ask them what tools and methods they use to make sure you stay in touch with them anytime you need.
- See how they bridge cultural gaps. A reliable partner will always ensure engineers and the companies they work with have smooth relationships, avoiding potential cultural differences that interfere with work dynamics. For example, some partners offer unique advantages like organising workations where business leaders visit their teams to get to know each other, work, and have fun together.
5. Receive your tailored proposals and accept the best offer
The last step to hiring embedded software engineers successfully is to receive an offer from your potential partner and sign on the dotted line.
If you’ve been in contact with multiple partners, you might receive more than one offer and be unclear on which one to accept. You can ask yourself the following questions to make a final decision:
- Is the partner just listening to my requirements, or are they being proactive, showing me unique insights and giving me recommendations on how to build my team with the best talent available?
- Do they offer more than hiring engineers? Are there any other advantages they can deliver, like handling administrative tasks or providing infrastructure and tech to my new team?
- What if I want to scale my engineering team? Are they really going to support me with hiring, onboarding, and engaging new talent?
After considering these factors, you’ll be in a better position to make your choice and start working with your new embedded software engineers!
How we helped a fitness manufacturing company accelerated its delivery with an offshore team
DOWNLOAD CASE STUDYHire top embedded software engineers using a unique model
In this guide, we’ve analysed several hiring and engagement models organisations can use to hire embedded software engineers. Some suit the best businesses that need short-term support, while others are ideal for long-term growth.
As you may have read, offshoring is the best option for companies seeking dedicated engineers who are committed to supporting and maintaining continuous operations.
At The Scalers, we specialise in building tech teams with top talent — including embedded engineers — for organisations seeking just that: professionals who work 100% under their name and are focused on their long-term business strategy.
With our unique offshore model, we handpick the top 1% of Indian tech talent and set up resilient, high-performing teams for our partners in Bangalore, ‘The Silicon Valley of Asia.’
But not only that. Our team does all the heavy lifting, taking care of recruitment, HR, administrative and legal tasks, and provides engineers with the infrastructure and tech they need to thrive.
With the support of a dedicated Chief Happiness Officer (CHO), our partners’ vision and culture are integrated into their offshore teams, keeping engineers engaged and aligned daily. We are proud to maintain an employee attrition rate of under 15% at The Scalers, compared to 34% in other Indian offshore companies.
Are you interested in knowing more about our proven offshore model and how we can help you build an elite embedded engineering team?
Fill out this form and tell us your unique requirements. One of our senior executives will contact you promptly!
In summary
If you’ve read this far, congratulations! You’re very close to hiring the world-class embedded engineering team you’re looking for.
We hope this comprehensive guide has served you well in understanding the process of finding top engineering talent and solving your doubts about building a team abroad.
Interested in guides about setting up tech teams? Take a look at the related articles you’ll find at the end of this blog post, and check out our ultimate guide to building a dedicated development team.
