Staff Test Engineer - Hardware Testing
The Staff Test Engineer will lead validation, verification, reliability testing, and failure analysis for electrical and mechanical hardware in autonomous vehicles. The role requires an engineering bachelor's degree and 10+ years of relevant test-development experience, with hands-on expertise in robotics, automotive systems, and hardware test infrastructure.
About the job
Responsibilities
- Validate and verify hardware-facing requirements through structured test designs, plans, and cases.
- Build test methods, fixtures, benches, tools, processes, and facilities for electrical and mechanical hardware.
- Perform troubleshooting, debugging, failure analysis, root-cause analysis, and corrective actions at bench and vehicle levels.
- Develop and execute reliability and usability test procedures for hardware components and autonomous vehicles.
- Test new hardware implementations and document validated designs for deployment across the vehicle fleet.
- Collaborate with hardware engineering and interdisciplinary teams on design reviews, FMEA meetings, testability, failure countermeasures, and lessons learned.
- Develop processes for commissioning autonomous vehicles for testing and operations.
- Implement and conduct formal RMA and RCA processes for hardware replaced in the field.
- Interview, onboard, train, and ramp up additional team members.
- Travel up to 30% to work with testing engineers across multiple testing sites.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Computer Engineering; master's degree preferred.
- 10+ years of experience in validation, verification, and reliability test development in consumer electronics, automotive, aerospace, or related industries.
- Deep understanding of robotics and automotive systems, including embedded computing, wiring, dynamic systems and controls, sensors, actuators, and mechanical and software systems in prototype and production environments.
- Experience building and operating mechanical and electrical hardware testing tools, processes, and facilities from scratch.
- Experience implementing and conducting formal RMA and RCA processes.
- Experience with issue-tracking software, especially Jira.
- Experience with Linux, LabVIEW, MATLAB, Git, Python, Bash/Shell, GSuite, Slack, Slackbots, AWS, and CAN tools.
- Strong problem-solving, logical reasoning, communication, and interpersonal skills.
Nice to Have
- Experience with technical writing, technical drawings/CAD, and documentation of mechatronics systems.
- Master's degree in engineering.
Skills
Hardware Testing, Validation, Verification, Reliability Testing, Robotics, Automotive Systems, Embedded Computing, Jira, Linux, Labview, MATLAB, Git, Python, AWS, Can Tools
Similar jobs
QA Engineering jobs
OpenAI
San Francisco, CA
Leads manufacturing, supplier, and site quality programs for datacenter infrastructure, from vendor qualification through deployment. Requires 10+ years of quality, supplier, process improvement, or datacenter operations experience and a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
Domino
United States
Own and evolve a scale and reliability platform, diagnosing distributed-system performance issues, improving observability, and automating cloud-based testing. The role requires staff-level infrastructure or SRE experience, strong Python skills, Kubernetes expertise, and hands-on performance troubleshooting.
Shield AI
Seattle, WA
Leads quality strategy and process improvement across aerospace product design, NPI, and production. Requires 5+ years in quality, manufacturing, or process engineering, with expertise in AS9100, RCA/CAPA, statistical process control, and cross-functional influence.
Crusoe
Tulsa, OKLeads multi-site manufacturing quality for electromechanical AI infrastructure, overseeing mechanical and electrical inspection, testing, compliance, QMS execution, process controls, CAPA, and team development. Requires 15+ years of manufacturing quality experience, multi-site people leadership, and expertise across electrical and mechanical hardware.
Zoox
Foster City, CA
Own validation, optimization, and debugging of wireless firmware and TCU connectivity across cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and embedded systems. The role requires 10+ years of wireless validation or embedded test engineering experience, deep 3GPP protocol knowledge, network-emulation expertise, and Python or Shell automation skills.