QA Technician - Hardware & Firmware

Laars Heating Systems Company•Durham, NC

12h•Onsite

About The Position

Our Morrisville, NC location is seeking a QA Technician to test hardware and firmware. This hands-on, entry-level role is ideal for someone with a technical background who is curious about electronics, connected devices, and building testing and debugging skills. This position will execute test plans, validate new hardware and firmware builds, reproduce and document issues, and evaluate returned products (RMAs). With support from engineering, start with established procedures and gradually take on more ownership, including developing test scenarios and investigating root causes. This role is a strong entry point into hardware/firmware quality engineering. As you build skills and product knowledge, there is room to grow into a more senior QA/test role — owning test strategy for product lines, building out more capable (and eventually semi-automated) test setups, and mentoring future technicians.

Requirements

2-year technical/associate degree (e.g. Electronics/Electrical Engineering Technology, Mechatronics, Computer/IoT Technology) or equivalent hands-on experience — recent graduates are encouraged to apply.
Basic comfort with lab instruments such as a multimeter (oscilloscope experience is a plus; we're happy to develop it).
A methodical, detail-oriented approach — you can follow a procedure carefully, notice when something is subtly off, and document what you saw.
Clear written communication; your notes and bug reports are what engineering acts on.
Comfort with computers and learning new software tools (following step-by-step technical procedures, reading logs, using issue-tracking software).
Genuine curiosity and persistence in troubleshooting — you want to know why something failed, not just that it did.

Nice To Haves

Any hands-on experience testing, repairing, or building electronic hardware
Comfort using an oscilloscope and/or logic analyzer, or eagerness to learn
Exposure to wireless/connected devices (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, smart-home products) or other embedded/IoT devices
Experience with returned-product evaluation, failure analysis, or root-cause troubleshooting
Soldering/rework, basic PCB familiarity, or building simple test fixtures
Familiarity with mobile apps or web dashboards as part of end-to-end testing
Plumbing, HVAC, or water systems background

Responsibilities

Run and help refine manual test plans for new firmware releases and new/revised hardware (functional, regression, and endurance testing across valves, sensors, gateways, and accessories).
Reproduce reported firmware and connectivity issues on the bench and capture clean, step-by-step repro instructions, logs, and observations for engineers.
Use basic lab instruments — primarily a multimeter and oscilloscope — to help investigate hardware-level problems (power, signals, sensor behavior).
Read device behavior through LEDs, button sequences, and on-screen/serial output; interpret pairing, fault, and update states.
Evaluate returned hardware (RMAs): help determine what failed, trend common issues, and route genuine defects to engineering with supporting evidence.
Flash and provision devices using documented procedures, and help keep test rigs, fixtures, and sample devices organized.
Grow into designing new test scenarios and taking more ownership of QA over time.