Validation & Tooling Software Engineer

Validation & Tooling Software Engineer

We are seeking a highly skilled Software Engineer to join our team and design, maintain, and enhance our internal tooling and simulation infrastructure. This role focuses on accelerating residential energy firmware development with higher accuracy and reliability. You will work across various home energy products, building Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) environments that mimic real-world conditions, and developing visualization and debugging tools to simplify complex multi-process systems.

• Design, implement, and maintain internal SIL, harness, and developer tooling primarily using Python and Go, enhancing correctness, debuggability, and release confidence for residential energy device software.
• Develop close-to-real-life SIL environments for multi-process embedded Linux systems, bridging gaps between simulation and field behavior.
• Create visualization and debugging tools, including report generation, SIL-driven dashboards, and control-flow visualization, enabling engineers to comprehend system behavior efficiently.
• Implement and support trace/hook/instrumentation systems in device software (Go, Rust, C/C++), facilitating field trace capture and replay in SIL.
• Onboard new products, revisions, capabilities, and regional configurations into shared tooling and SIL workflows.
• Collaborate with Product, Device Software, Hardware, and Validation teams to transform team challenges into clear tool designs, tests, and deployable internal platforms.
• Enhance reliability and usability of daily-used engineering tools, reducing time-to-root-cause for lab, SIL, and field issues.
• Contribute to automated tests, CI integration, and engineering practices that increase product reliability, developer productivity, and release confidence.
• Support production and fleet requirements through tooling assistance, including bring-up, field anomaly reproduction, and continuous improvement post-launch.

• Strong understanding of Linux systems (desktop and embedded).
• Familiarity with communication protocols such as CAN, HTTPS, Protobuf.
• Proficiency in programming, especially concurrency for distributed systems.
• Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent experience.
• Experience in building internal developer, validation, or simulation tooling used by engineers daily.
• Proficiency in Python and Go; experience with Rust, C, or C++ is a plus.
• Comfort working across the boundary between tools and systems under test, including embedded or device software, multi-process Linux, IPC, logs, and traces.

• Real-world experience in Software-in-the-Loop (SIL), simulation harnesses, or high-fidelity test environments for embedded or multi-process systems.
• Experience with visualization or observability tooling such as dashboards, report generators, or control-flow views.
• Experience with trace, instrumentation, capture/replay, or hook-based systems for reproducing field or lab scenarios offline.
• Ability to extend test or simulation platforms to support new products, hardware configurations, or regional setups.
• Strong software fundamentals including clear interfaces, maintainability, failure handling, and testability.
• Experience with unit/integration automation, CI pipelines, or HIL-style validation adjacent to SIL.
• Familiarity with Docker and QEMU for packaging, isolation, and realistic SIL environments.
• Exposure to complex embedded Linux systems, home energy/battery/inverter products, multi-device site setups, or market-specific product variants.

This role involves working in a dynamic and fast-paced environment, collaborating closely with firmware, validation, hardware, and product stakeholders. The position offers the opportunity to work with advanced technologies and contribute to high-impact projects that enhance the performance and reliability of home energy products. The work setting is collaborative, encouraging innovation and practical solutions that increase team velocity.

This is a Contract to Hire position based out of Palo Alto, CA.

The pay range for this position is $55.00 - $70.00/hr.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following:

• Medical, dental & vision
• Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital
• 401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available
• Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents)
• Short and long-term disability
• Health Spending Account (HSA)
• Transportation benefits
• Employee Assistance Program
• Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

This is a fully onsite position in Palo Alto, CA.

This position is anticipated to close on Aug 27, 2026.