Hardware Engineer

Rune Technologies • Arlington, VA

1d

About The Position

At Rune, we are building the logistics technology backbone that allows military and commercial operators to understand, manage, and optimize sustainment operations in real time. A critical part of that mission is getting closer to the physical source of truth: where supplies move, fuel is consumed, equipment changes state, and logistics activity actually happens.
As a Hardware Engineer, you will design, prototype, integrate, and deploy hardware systems that collect operational data at the tactical edge and feed it into Rune’s software platform. Your work will bridge the gap between physical logistics activity and enterprise-level visibility, enabling users to make decisions based on real-world data instead of stale reports, manual entry, or fragmented systems.
This role requires a hands-on generalist who can move fluidly across electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, firmware, and software. You should be comfortable selecting sensors and components, designing practical physical integrations, working through power and signal issues, writing low-level code or scripts, debugging field failures, and collaborating with software engineers to connect physical systems to Rune’s platform.
The goal is not to build hardware for its own sake. The goal is to create practical, reliable, deployable systems that turn real-world logistics activity into trusted digital data — from the tactical edge to headquarters.

Requirements

• 2+ years of experience in hardware engineering, embedded systems, firmware engineering, systems engineering, or a related technical role.
• Strong hands-on experience integrating sensors, embedded devices, communications modules, power systems, and physical interfaces into complete systems.
• Ability to work across electrical, mechanical, firmware, and software boundaries to turn prototypes into reliable deployed systems.
• Experience writing firmware, scripts, or software for device integration, testing, diagnostics, automation, or telemetry collection.
• Familiarity with embedded systems, microcontrollers, serial interfaces, wireless communication, device protocols, and edge data collection.
• Strong debugging skills across firmware, drivers, cabling, power, signal quality, networking, mechanical integration, and environmental constraints.
• Ability to design for real-world field constraints: ruggedness, power draw, installation complexity, maintainability, and unreliable connectivity.
• Strong documentation habits and ability to create clear integration, installation, testing, and troubleshooting procedures.

Nice To Haves

• Experience building sensor or data-capture systems for defense, logistics, industrial, transportation, energy, automotive, maritime, aerospace, or field-deployed environments.
• Experience designing complete fielded systems that combine electronics, enclosures, mounting, power, firmware, telemetry, and software integration.
• Familiarity with vehicle, equipment, or industrial interfaces and protocols.
• Experience with wireless identification, tracking, telemetry, or in-transit visibility systems.
• Exposure to embedded firmware, RTOS/Linux-based edge devices, low-power hardware, or constrained embedded environments.
• Programming experience in C, C++, Rust, Python, Bash, Go, or similar languages.
• Experience with ruggedization, enclosures, connectors, thermal management, ingress protection, vibration, and field serviceability.
• Experience managing vendors, BOMs, prototypes, procurement, contract manufacturers, and hardware lifecycle planning.
• Familiarity with military or industrial standards such as MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-461, IP ratings, or similar qualification processes.

Responsibilities

• Design, prototype, and validate hardware systems that capture logistics-relevant data from physical assets, equipment, vehicles, containers, and field infrastructure.
• Work across electrical, mechanical, firmware, and software disciplines to build complete edge data-capture systems.
• Integrate sensors, embedded devices, communications modules, power systems, enclosures, mounts, connectors, and equipment interfaces into field-ready deployments.
• Write firmware, scripts, test tools, and lightweight software needed to validate devices, collect telemetry, and support integration with Rune’s platform.
• Collaborate with software engineers to define device protocols, telemetry formats, APIs, data models, and ingestion paths.
• Develop test plans for sensor reliability, data quality, power consumption, communications range, environmental performance, and field usability.
• Build and maintain hardware-in-the-loop and systems-in-the-loop test environments.
• Debug issues across hardware, firmware, networking, power, signal quality, mechanical fit, environmental conditions, and software integration layers.
• Evaluate off-the-shelf components, vendors, and integration approaches to move quickly from prototype to deployable system.
• Document hardware designs, firmware behavior, installation procedures, test results, and troubleshooting workflows.
• Support field deployments and rapidly iterate based on operational feedback.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans; premiums 100% covered by Rune for all employees; exceptionally low premiums for spouses and dependents
• Basic life insurance and disability 100% covered for all employees by Rune; option to purchase additional life insurance available
• ‘Take the time off that you need, when you need it’ paid time off, not accrual based
• Generous company holiday calendar including a holiday shutdown in December
• Supportive leave of absence program including time off for military service, medical events, and parental leave
• Full 401(k) retirement plan for all full-time eligible employees
• Company-funded commuter benefits
• Free access to on-site gym at office

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed