Senior Hardware Test Engineer - Components

Apptronik • Austin, TX

6d

About The Position

Apptronik is seeking a Senior Hardware Test Engineer to own design validation, reliability, and production testing for electronic components used in its robots, including PCBAs, wiring harnesses, sensors, and compute modules. The role designs and runs validation and reliability test campaigns, defines test methods and fixture requirements, and works with fixture designers to build test fixtures. It also diagnoses failures to the board, connector, or component level and provides actionable feedback to design teams.

The engineer collaborates with design, firmware, and manufacturing teams to develop test methods with defined pass/fail criteria and operator documentation. Validated methods are handed off to the Manufacturing Test team to support incoming inspection and production testing as programs scale. Responsibilities include HALT/HASS, harness reliability testing, sensor characterization, compute stress testing, test automation, and root-cause analysis.

Requirements

• Hands-on experience validating electronic hardware such as PCBAs, wiring harnesses, sensors, or compute modules using bench equipment such as oscilloscopes, power supplies, and DAQ systems.
• Experience with production test methods such as in-circuit test (ICT), flying probe, and functional test, including fixture design, pass/fail criteria, and handoff documentation.
• Experience with HALT/HASS, including defining stress profiles and interpreting failure modes.
• Knowledge of harness field-failure causes, including contact resistance, connector retention, and flex fatigue.
• Strong debugging skills to root-cause failures to the board, connector, or component level using schematics, harness drawings, and datasheets.
• Understanding of sensor physics, such as IMU, encoder, force/torque, camera, and thermal modalities, sufficient to characterize accuracy, noise, drift, and environmental sensitivity.
• BS in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, or a related field and 6 years of relevant experience; OR an MS in a related field and 4 years of relevant experience; OR a PhD in a related field and 2 years of relevant experience.

Nice To Haves

• Experience stressing compute platforms, including clocks, voltage rails, thermals, memory, and I/O load, to find performance limits and failure modes.
• Experience with robotics, humanoid, or other electromechanical systems, including actuator- or motor-driven hardware.
• Experience transitioning test methods from R&D into production or manufacturing environments, including NPI.
• Test automation experience using Python, LabVIEW, or similar tools for data acquisition, analysis, and automated test sequencing.
• Familiarity with DFT and DFM practices, including working with design engineers to add test points and improve testability.

Responsibilities

• Plan and execute tests validating PCBAs, wiring harnesses, sensors, and compute modules against specifications across electrical, thermal, and environmental conditions.
• Design and run HALT to identify design margins and failure modes, and develop HASS production screens.
• Define harness tests for field-failure drivers, including continuity, insulation and contact resistance, connector retention, flex, and strain relief.
• Characterize sensor accuracy, noise, drift, and environmental sensitivity based on sensor modality physics.
• Stress compute parameters, including clocks, voltage rails, thermals, memory, and I/O load, to identify performance limits.
• Build test fixtures and test automation, and define fixture requirements such as ICT, flying probe, and functional test.
• Root-cause failures to the board, connector, or component level using schematics, harness drawings, and datasheets, and provide actionable feedback to design.
• Develop test methods with defined pass/fail criteria and operator documentation, then transfer them to the Manufacturing Test team for incoming inspection and production testing.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior