Hardware Test Technician - Lab Manager

Life360 • Fremont, CA

4d • $115,000 - $135,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Life360 is hiring its first dedicated Hardware Test Technician to run its hardware test lab and support engineering teams in shipping reliable consumer devices. The role owns the lab day to day, including instruments, fixtures, test records, and field returns. The technician works closely with electrical, RF, and validation engineers and reports to the Director of Hardware Engineering. This is an on-site position in Fremont.

The technician executes engineering-defined electrical, power, functional, wireless, environmental, and product-reliability tests; maintains traceable records; and helps ensure equipment is working and calibrated. The role also covers soldering and board rework, fixture and cable construction, quality and returns analysis, sample tracking and shipping, and lab safety. The technician will help develop repeatable and automated testing, including using AI tools to build test harnesses and automate sequences. The US-based salary range is $115,000 to $135,000, with final base pay depending on background, job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and location. Total compensation includes RSUs and a benefits package.

Requirements

• Several years of hands-on experience in an electronics or hardware test lab.
• Associate degree in electronics, electrical engineering technology, or a related field, or equivalent hands-on experience.
• Self-directed and organized, with sound judgment to run a lab day to day without close supervision.
• Careful and safety-minded, with strong documentation and data-logging habits.
• Clear communication skills and ability to share findings and flag problems in a form engineers can act on.
• Curiosity about failures and ability to investigate breakages toward their root causes.
• Excellent hand soldering and small-board rework skills, including BGA, QFN, and fine-pitch packages down to 0201/01005, as well as complex rework and PCB modifications.
• Comfort using standard bench instruments, including oscilloscopes, multimeters, power analyzers, and power supplies.
• Experience building test fixtures and cables, with mechanical aptitude to make assemblies fit and function.
• Light scripting skills for data capture and test automation, and ability to design test fixtures that support automation.
• ESD-safe practices and careful handling of sensitive components.
• Ability to measure electrical supply rails and current draw and profile power and battery drain.
• Ability to test batteries, including charge/discharge cycling and capacity checks, and safely handle lithium cells and packs.
• Ability to set up and run basic drop, temperature/humidity, and thermal-cycling tests and log results.
• Ability to perform continuity checks and component-level troubleshooting and read schematics to isolate faults.
• Some familiarity with basic RF/wireless bench checks, such as transmit-power or signal-strength measurements.
• Experience with defect analysis, production quality, and customer or field quality, including connecting field failures to root cause.
• Some familiarity with AI tools and willingness to learn and use them to build test harnesses and automate testing; deep AI experience is not required.

Nice To Haves

• Consumer electronics test-lab experience.
• Experience with broader product-reliability testing, including tumble, mechanical shock, and random or sine vibration.
• Experience with accelerated and environmental stress testing, including thermal shock, HAST/damp heat, and accelerated-life screens (HALT/HASS).
• Experience with ingress and durability testing, including water and dust ingress (IPX7/IP68), salt-fog and corrosion, button and connector life-cycling, and chemical or materials exposure.
• Broader mechanical experience and comfort with a range of mechanical and environmental test rigs.
• Knowledge of ASTM/ISO test standards.
• Over-the-air RF testing in an anechoic chamber (TRP/TIS) and GPS/GNSS testing with a constellation simulator.
• Familiarity with pre-compliance or certification testing, including FCC, UL, or IEC.
• IPC (J-STD-001 / IPC-A-610) or ESD certification.

Responsibilities

• Run the test lab day to day and execute engineer-defined test sequences across electrical and power, functional, wireless, environmental, and product-reliability testing.
• Log test results consistently, keep records and data organized and traceable, and identify and communicate anomalies early.
• Maintain lab equipment, including calibration; manage parts stock, equipment purchases, services, and deliveries.
• Triage customer and field returns by reproducing failures, identifying likely causes, logging and trending findings, and routing deeper analysis to engineers.
• Analyze defects in development and production units and connect production quality with customer and field quality.
• Build test fixtures, jigs, and cabling for devices under test; perform precise hand soldering, small-board rework, and PCB modifications.
• Own the lab’s ESD program and ensure safe handling, storage, and disposal of batteries and other materials.
• Specify and design custom test fixtures, interfaces, and instrumentation clusters to make testing more repeatable and automated.
• Use AI tools to help build test harnesses that communicate with devices and instruments and to create and run automated test sequences.
• Track devices and samples under test; prepare and ship units to outside labs and partners; manage device movements and logistics.
• Support material and beta programs by organizing and accounting for parts, samples, and units.
• Keep the lab organized, safe, and ready to use; improve lab setups, processes, and documentation.
• Perform electrical and power measurements, battery charge/discharge cycling and capacity checks, ESD testing, basic mechanical and environmental tests, continuity checks, and component-level troubleshooting.
• Read schematics to isolate faults and perform basic RF/wireless bench checks when needed.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance plans, 100% paid for employees.
• Paid parental leave.
• 401(k) plan with company matching program.
• Mental Wellness Program and Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• Flexible PTO, companywide holidays, and summer and winter shutdowns.
• Learning and Development programs.
• Free Life360 Platinum Membership and Tile trackers.
• Equipment, tools, and reimbursement support for a productive remote environment.

What This Job Offers

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