Junior Embedded Systems Developer (AI-Assisted)

WeVend — North York, ON

Employment Type: Full-time, in-office five days a week at our North York head office

Compensation: $70,000 – $80,000 per year

Reports to: Senior Hardware Engineer

About WeVend

WeVend is a fintech, IoT and payment device solutions provider. We enable device control and payment technologies for unattended retail: laundry, vending, car washes, parking and EV charging. We design and manufacture our own hardware, develop our own software, and implement the payment technologies that simplify consumer interactions. We are PCI DSS Level 1 and build our software AI-first.

Join a small, experienced, agile team that has been delivering unique solutions in fintech since before it was called “fintech.”

The Role

We are hiring a junior embedded developer to work directly alongside our Senior Hardware Engineer on the firmware and hardware behind our IoT and payment devices: our own controller boards, payment terminals and the connectivity that links them to the cloud.

This is a dual-focus role. Half of it is hands-on hardware and firmware: bench work, debugging, testing and bringing boards from prototype to production. The other half is working the way our engineering team works: AI-first, with Claude Code as the standard tool for writing, refactoring, testing and documenting firmware. You don’t need to arrive an expert in Claude Code, but you need to be ready to make it your primary way of working within your first month.

You like opening machines up, figuring out how they talk to the cloud, and using AI to get there faster.

What You’ll Do

- Hardware and firmware. Write, debug and test firmware for our microcontroller-based boards (STM32, ESP32) under the direction of the Senior Hardware Engineer.

- Bench and validation. Perform bench testing, hardware-in-the-loop validation and troubleshooting of electronic assemblies and payment terminals. Find the fault, document it, fix it.

- AI-assisted development.



Use Claude Code to accelerate firmware development, refactor legacy code, generate and maintain test suites, and keep documentation current. Verify everything it produces.

- Ecosystem understanding. Build an end-to-end understanding of the WeVend platform: schematics, IoT connectivity, cloud integrations and payment gateway services.

- Prototype to production. Document product architectures and grow toward owning a product as it moves from prototype to production deployment.

- Security awareness. Understand that firmware touching payment data is subject to security requirements, and that such changes are reviewed by senior engineers before release.

What You Bring

- Education. A degree or diploma in Electrical or Electronics Engineering Technology, Computer Engineering, or a related field; or Computer Science with demonstrated hardware project experience; or equivalent hands-on experience.

- Embedded foundations. Working knowledge of C/C++, microcontrollers (STM32, ESP32 or similar) and standard interfaces: UART, SPI, I2C.

- Bench skills. Comfortable with a multimeter, oscilloscope and logic analyzer; basic soldering and rework; able to read a schematic well enough to find a signal on a board.

- AI-assisted development. Hands-on experience with AI coding tools and a willingness to work in Claude Code as your primary tool. Experience with Claude Code specifically is a strong advantage; experience with Copilot or Cursor is useful background.

- Testing mindset. You don’t trust code, or an AI, until it has been checked on real hardware, and you know how to set up the check.

- Communication.



Clear written documentation and the ability to explain a hardware problem to a software colleague and vice versa.

- Show your work. Include a link to a hardware or firmware project you’ve built (GitHub, a write-up, photos of the board) with your application, and expect to walk us through it.

Nice to Have

- Exposure to vending or payment protocols (MDB, DEX, EVA-DTS)

- Experience with Claude Code project instructions (CLAUDE.md), hooks or MCP connections

- PCB design or layout experience (KiCad, Altium or similar)

- Familiarity with IoT connectivity: cellular, Wi-Fi, BLE, MQTT

- Exposure to PCI PTS or secure-firmware practices

- Experience with payment terminals or unattended retail equipment

Our Interview Process

You can use AI at every step, and we expect you to. There are no whiteboard puzzles.

We’ll start by meeting to talk about your background and the project you submitted. Next, a practical session in two parts: a short bench exercise with one of our boards, where we watch how you approach a fault; and a Claude Code task on a small piece of firmware, where you scope, build and test a change and talk us through your decisions.

We look at how you break down a problem, what you check before you trust a result, and how you work with both the hardware and the AI.

Posting Information

Vacancy: This posting is for an existing vacancy.

Use of AI: WeVend uses artificial intelligence tools to help screen and assess applications. All hiring decisions are made by people.

WeVend is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from people with disabilities. In accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.

Pay: $70,000.00-$80,000.00 per year

Perks:

- Casual dress
- Dental care
- Extended health care
- Paid time off
- Vision care

Work Location: In person

📌 Junior Embedded Systems Developer (North York)
🏢 WeVend
📍 North York