Electrical Engineer, Actuator test infrastructure

OpenAI • San Francisco, CA

47d • $225,000 - $295,000

About The Position

We are seeking an Electrical Engineer to build and own the electrical backbone of our robotic actuator dynamometer and test infrastructure. You will design, integrate, and operate the load motor drives, power distribution, instrumentation wiring, DAQ interfaces, and safety systems that make high-performance robotic actuator testing repeatable, safe, and scalable. This role spans hands-on lab execution and system architecture: selecting and commissioning power electronics, designing robust test-cell electrical systems, bringing up sensors and DAQ, and partnering with mechanical and software engineers to turn robotic actuator hardware into trustworthy data.

Requirements

• Have strong intuition for power electronics, motor drives, electrical safety, and precision measurement in noisy electromechanical environments.
• Enjoy being hands-on in the lab: wiring, probing, commissioning, debugging, and improving real hardware.
• Can move comfortably between system-level architecture and detailed electrical implementation.
• Care about clean grounding, shielding, calibration, and signal integrity because trustworthy data depends on them.
• Are comfortable working with evolving hardware and creating structure in a fast-moving environment.
• Take ownership of safety and operational reliability, not just a schematic or subsystem.
• Communicate clearly across electrical, mechanical, controls, software, facilities, and operations teams.
• Balance engineering rigor with rapid iteration and pragmatic lab execution.
• Are motivated by building infrastructure that accelerates the development of advanced robotic actuators.
• Are excited to build electrical test infrastructure that accelerates robotic actuator development.

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor’s or graduate degree in Electrical Engineering, Robotics, Mechatronics, or a related field.
• Experience building, commissioning, or maintaining electrical systems for robotic actuator dynamometers, robotics, automation, motors, power electronics, or industrial test equipment.
• Hands-on experience with motor drives, servo systems, load motors, power distribution, and electrical protection.
• Strong understanding of grounding, shielding, EMI/EMC, signal integrity, and instrumentation wiring.
• Experience integrating sensors and DAQ hardware for voltage, current, torque, position, speed, temperature, or vibration measurements.
• Familiarity with electrical safety practices, E-stops, interlocks, safe torque off, lockout/tagout, and relevant lab or machinery standards.
• Ability to create and maintain schematics, wiring diagrams, panel layouts, and clear electrical documentation.
• Experience troubleshooting complex electromechanical systems with oscilloscopes, meters, power analyzers, and other lab tools.

Responsibilities

• Own the electrical architecture of dynamometer and actuator test cells, from mains distribution and protection through load motor drives, braking, and auxiliary power.
• Specify, integrate, commission, and tune motor drives and load machines for robotic actuator torque, speed, efficiency, thermal, and durability testing.
• Design power distribution, grounding, shielding, cable routing, and connectorization for high-current, high-voltage, and low-level measurement systems.
• Integrate torque, position, speed, temperature, voltage, current, vibration, and other instrumentation from robotic actuators into DAQ and control systems.
• Develop electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, panel layouts, harness documentation, and test-cell interface definitions.
• Build, debug, and maintain test-cell electrical hardware, rapidly diagnosing noise, EMI, grounding, drive, sensor, and power-quality issues.
• Design and validate safety circuits including E-stops, interlocks, contactors, safe torque off, guarding interfaces, and fault detection.
• Partner with mechanical engineers on packaging, cooling, fixturing interfaces, and serviceability of test infrastructure.
• Partner with software and controls engineers on I/O maps, real-time signals, calibration, automated sequences, and reliable data capture.
• Establish commissioning, calibration, inspection, and preventive-maintenance procedures for lab electrical systems.
• Evaluate vendors and components for drives, motors, sensors, DAQ hardware, protection devices, and electrical enclosures.
• Analyze test and diagnostic data to improve measurement quality, cell uptime, and hardware reliability.
• Set practical electrical standards that enable a growing dyno lab to operate safely and consistently.

Benefits

• We are an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.
• Background checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable law, and qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment consistent with those laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act, for US-based candidates.
• We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this link.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Associate degree