Senior Test Engineer

1st Avenue Power • Mountain View, CA

8d • $175,000 - $225,000

About The Position

1 Arc Power is hiring a hands-on Senior Test Engineer for its Power Systems team in Mountain View, California. The engineer will develop and execute automated tests for power electronics and renewable energy systems, including solar photovoltaic (PV), battery energy storage systems (BESS), power conversion systems (PCS), inverters, DC/DC converters, and related grid-connected equipment. The role uses LabVIEW and Python to automate complex electrical tests, integrate laboratory instruments, validate product performance, support safety and compliance certification, and carry out design verification and reliability testing from prototype through product release.

The position combines power electronics fundamentals with practical high-voltage laboratory experience, test automation, troubleshooting, test documentation, and root-cause investigation. The engineer will develop reusable test frameworks and procedures; configure and operate laboratory sources, simulators, loads, measurement instruments, and environmental and safety equipment; create and execute DVT plans; analyze results; and support certification and reliability activities. The engineer will also help maintain a safe, organized, calibrated laboratory and collaborate with hardware, firmware, controls, systems, reliability, compliance, and manufacturing teams.

The role supports 1 Arc Power’s work to develop advanced solar power systems and intelligent energy solutions intended to provide clean, reliable energy to customers and underserved communities. The listed base salary range is $175,000–$225,000, plus equity and benefits; actual compensation depends on job-related factors.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in electrical engineering, electronics engineering, mechatronics, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• At least 5 years of hands-on test engineering experience in power electronics, renewable energy, energy storage, industrial power systems, or a closely related field.
• Strong LabVIEW skills for automated test development, instrument control, data acquisition, and test sequencing.
• Strong Python skills for instrument automation, data processing, analysis, visualization, and test/report automation.
• Practical experience with SCPI/VISA instrument control and integrating multiple instruments into an automated test system.
• Experience testing high-voltage and high-power equipment using appropriate safety practices.
• Ability to read schematics, interpret electrical specifications, develop test procedures, and troubleshoot complex hardware/software interactions.
• Experience with DVT, test documentation, failure tracking, and root-cause investigation.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with PV simulators, regenerative grid simulators, battery simulators or cyclers, and bidirectional DC power equipment.
• Experience with grid-connected inverters, PCS, BESS, DC/DC converters, or utility-scale solar systems.
• Familiarity with UL 1741, UL 62109, UL 9540, UL 9540A, IEEE 1547, IEEE 1547.1, and IEC 62477.
• Experience with reliability testing, accelerated life testing, thermal or power cycling, and environmental chambers.
• Experience with CAN, Modbus, Ethernet, serial communication, Git, and automated test software architecture.
• Experience with power analyzers, high-voltage differential probes, current probes, DAQ systems, and synchronized measurements.
• Experience supporting NRTL certification testing or working with external compliance laboratories.
• Familiarity with battery test safety, high-energy DC systems, and laboratory interlock design.

Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and debug automated test systems using LabVIEW and Python for power electronics, solar, and energy storage products.
• Create reusable test frameworks, instrument drivers, sequence control, data logging, reporting, and automated pass/fail evaluation.
• Interface with laboratory equipment using SCPI, VISA, Ethernet, USB, serial, CAN, and other applicable communication protocols.
• Develop repeatable and traceable test scripts and procedures for engineering validation and production; manage software revisions, calibration records, test configurations, and measurement-system documentation.
• Develop and execute tests for PV inverters, PCS, bidirectional converters, DC/DC converters, battery interfaces, and grid-connected power systems.
• Characterize efficiency, power quality, dynamic response, transient behavior, thermal performance, protection functions, and operating limits across relevant operating conditions.
• Troubleshoot electrical, control, firmware, instrumentation, and system-integration issues in high-voltage laboratory environments.
• Configure and operate PV and solar-array simulators, regenerative grid simulators and emulators, battery simulators and cyclers, bidirectional DC sources, and programmable electronic loads.
• Operate oscilloscopes, probes, power analyzers, multimeters, data-acquisition systems, precision sensors, thermal chambers, thermal measurement equipment, insulation and hipot testers, ground-bond testers, and other applicable equipment.
• Define safe test setups, instrument ranges, grounding, interlocks, emergency shutdowns, and measurement-uncertainty considerations.
• Develop and execute DVT plans, procedures, test matrices, and reports against product requirements; translate requirements into test cases with defined setups, conditions, stress levels, sample sizes, and acceptance criteria.
• Perform functional, performance, stress, endurance, environmental, thermal, and fault-condition testing; track failures and anomalies, coordinate root-cause investigations, and verify corrective actions through regression testing.
• Support design reviews and release decisions with objective, traceable test evidence.
• Support product compliance testing for applicable UL and IEC standards and requirements, including coordinating setups, instrumentation, samples, procedures, data packages, and issue resolution with compliance engineers and external certification laboratories.
• Support electrical safety, abnormal-operation, protective-function, insulation, temperature-rise, and relevant EMC pre-compliance testing; maintain records of configurations, calibration status, raw data, deviations, and results.
• Plan and execute reliability and endurance tests, including applicable thermal cycling, power cycling, temperature/humidity exposure, high-temperature operation, and vibration testing.
• Monitor test articles during extended-duration testing and log operating conditions, interruptions, degradation, faults, and failures; analyze trends and failure data and recommend design or process improvements.
• Analyze test data using Python and numerical, statistical, and visualization tools; automate report generation, plotting, data reduction, and requirement comparisons.
• Produce test plans, procedures, reports, failure summaries, and engineering recommendations, ensuring results are reproducible and traceable to requirements and supporting records.
• Help maintain a safe, organized, calibrated, and reliable high-voltage power electronics laboratory; develop equipment checklists, operating procedures, and preventive-maintenance practices.
• Collaborate with hardware, firmware, controls, systems, reliability, compliance, and manufacturing engineers, and provide hands-on troubleshooting and technical guidance to engineers and technicians.

Benefits

• Health insurance: 100% of employee and 75% of dependent premiums covered under a Gold-level PPO plan.
• Dental and vision insurance: 50% of employee premiums covered.
• 401(k) plan with a 6% employer match.
• Equity.
• Competitive compensation package.

What This Job Offers

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