Hardware Engineer, Edge Computing & IoT Systems

Cognito Technology builds payment, AI and software systems for businesses and startups across Canada. More of our work now runs on connected devices in the real world, from cameras that run AI on site to hardware that unlocks or switches on the moment a payment goes through. We're growing our hardware and edge computing team to design, test and deploy these systems.

You'll own the hardware side of Cognito's edge AI and IoT projects, from choosing and benchmarking devices to installing them on site and keeping them running. You'll work closely with our software, AI and payments engineers, and help startups we support turn hardware ideas into working prototypes.

1. 01Select, benchmark and configure edge AI hardware (for example NVIDIA Jetson and similar boards) for computer vision and sensor workloads.
2. 02Integrate IP cameras and sensors using standard protocols such as RTSP and ONVIF, and tune them for reliable capture in real environments.
3. 03Integrate smart relays, smart locks and access control hardware with our payment and cloud platforms, so devices respond reliably to payment and unlock events.
4. 04Design for failure: offline behaviour, safe defaults, automatic recovery and alerts when a device or network goes down.
5. 05Plan the on-site network and power setup for deployments, including wiring, PoE, connectivity and secure remote access.
6. 06Write and run test and validation plans, and document performance, failure modes and fixes.
7. 07Plan and support pilots: on-site installation, monitoring, troubleshooting and handover to operators.
8. 08Evaluate hardware for payment and point-of-sale use cases, such as payment terminals and in-store IoT devices.
9. 09Help startups turn hardware concepts into prototypes, including parts selection, enclosure and assembly options, and a bill of materials.
10. 10Work with vendors and suppliers on sourcing, quotes, lead times and returns.
11. 11Keep clear documentation: wiring diagrams, install guides, test reports and deployment runbooks.

• ●A degree in Electrical, Computer or Mechatronics Engineering or a related field. A master's is an asset.
• ●Several years of hands-on hardware engineering experience in a product or manufacturing environment.
• ●Experience with embedded or edge computing platforms, and comfort with Linux on device.
• ●Working knowledge of cameras, sensors, relays and networking (TCP/IP, PoE, Wi-Fi), plus basic power design.
• ●Experience testing, validating and troubleshooting hardware in the field.
• ●Clear written documentation, and the ability to explain technical trade-offs to non-technical people.

• Deploying computer vision models on edge devices (TensorRT, DeepStream, ONNX).
• Smart locks, access control or home automation hardware (relays, MQTT, Zigbee, BLE).
• Payment hardware, POS systems or retail IoT.
• PCB design or review, and rapid prototyping tools.
• Vendor management or moving a device from prototype to small-batch production.

Apply through the form on this page with your CV. Tell us about a hardware project you took from prototype to a live deployment.