Test Engineer - Embedded Systems & R&D

Test Engineer — Embedded Systems & R&D

San Francisco
· Full-time
· In Office

Aurelius Systems builds laser weapons that shoot down drones. Not simulations. Not proposals. Real directed energy systems that go downrange.

We're 17 engineers executing against a $151B MDA SHIELD IDIQ contract, field testing monthly on our own 400+ acre range. We shipped more hardware last quarter than most defense startups ship in a year.

Most defense companies test once a quarter in a controlled lab with a 40-page test plan that took longer to write than the hardware took to build. We test weekly. On dirt. In weather. On systems that were soldered together days ago.

If that sounds chaotic — it is. If that sounds fun — keep reading.

The Role

You're the person who finds out if the thing actually works — at every layer of the stack.

We're transitioning from prototype to product on an electromechanical directed energy system. That means the test infrastructure you build now becomes the foundation for everything we ship. You're not inheriting a test bench. You're designing it. You're not running someone else's HIL setup. You're building it from scratch and making sure it actually reflects what happens downrange.

You’ll own verification and validation across embedded firmware, power electronics, electromechanical assemblies, and full-system integration. You’ll write the HIL and SIL frameworks, execute performance and reliability testing, and be the one standing next to the system when it fires.

Every field test, every demo — you're the reason we show up with something that works.

What You’ll Own

• Design and build HIL and SIL test environments for embedded controllers, actuators, sensors, and power systems

• Execute system-level performance, reliability, and safety testing across hardware and firmware simultaneously — not sequentially

• Develop test plans, acceptance criteria, and readiness gates as we move from prototype to production units

• Write automated test procedures in Python or similar — scripting your own regression suites, not waiting on someone else to build tooling

• Lead field testing end to end: setup, operation, data collection, teardown, post-test analysis, and failure writeups

• Debug across the full stack — if something failed, you're identifying whether it's firmware timing, a power rail, a mechanical tolerance issue, or all three

• Work directly with embedded, electrical, and mechanical engineers to reproduce bugs, validate fixes, and prevent regressions

• Enforce safety procedures in high-power, high-voltage testing environments

• Build and maintain test fixtures, harnesses, and instrumentation setups that survive real-world use

What We're Looking For

• Hands-on experience building and running HIL or SIL test environments — not using them, building them

• Strong embedded systems background: firmware validation, real-time systems, C/C++ or strong familiarity reading and debugging embedded code

• Electromechanical system testing experience — you've tested systems where motors, actuators, power electronics, and software all have to work together

• Performance, reliability, and safety testing as a combined skillset — you know how to stress a system, log what breaks, and define pass/fail criteria that actually matter

• Python or scripting for test automation — you build your own tools

• Strong debugging instincts across multiple domains — hardware, firmware, and software

• Clear written communication around failures and root cause — your test reports tell a story, not just a data dump

• BS in Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Aerospace, or equivalent; equivalent hands‑on experience also considered

Background That Maps Well

Aerospace or defense primes transitioning to startups. Robotics companies with real electromechanical products. Anyone who's done embedded systems validation in a safety-critical or mission-critical context. DoD lab or military maintenance background where you were responsible for complex systems staying operational in the field.

You don't need 10 years. You need to show us a test bench you built, a HIL environment you designed, or a failure report that led to a real fix.

Not a Fit If

You've only tested…