Electrical System Test Engineer California Full-time Posted 11 days ago Apply

Employment Type: Contract Why Hiring Own electrical test execution for assigned hardware across bench and integration test, HITL and SITL rigs, wire harnesses, test racks, and LRU bring-up.

End Product Bring a rack or bench up from a defined configuration, verify power sequencing and connectivity, and return it to a known-good baseline after each event.

Stand up integration rigs that exercise an LRU against the rest of the system before the system exists in hardware.

Tech / Domain Environment Electrical System Test Engineering at mid-level (II), working independently within an established test program.

Test racks include DC power supplies, managed network switches, interface and breakout hardware, and instrumentation.

Job Duties Build, configure, and maintain HITL and SITL test benches, including simulated sensor and actuator interfaces, signal breakout, and fault injection.

Set up, monitor, and debug Ethernet, CAN and CAN FD, RS-422/485, serial, SPI and I2C, and discrete interfaces under test.

Capture and interpret bus traffic to distinguish a protocol or timing fault from a hardware fault.

Use ICDs to confirm interface signal levels, termination, bit rates, message framing, and timing.

Build, modify, and rework test harnesses to the controlling drawing, including crimp, contact insertion, shield termination, and backshell assembly.

Verify as-built harnesses against drawings and ICDs for continuity, point-to-point pin, and insulation resistance, and disposition discrepancies.

Red-line as-built deviations and drive the markup back into the drawing.

Produce harness drawings and wire lists for test-support harnesses where none exist.

Bring LRUs to a defined operating state and run functional and automated tests.

Execute and maintain automated test scripts; distinguish a test-setup failure from a genuine article failure.

Troubleshoot anomalies to the board, connector, or cable using a multimeter, oscilloscope, current probe, and bus analyser.

Trace signal paths through Altium schematics and locate filter, termination, or protection components to support root-cause discussions with design engineers.

Use NX or an equivalent CAD tool to check fit, routing, clearance, and connector access on test fixtures and harness installations.

Write and maintain test procedures, produce test reports, and maintain a data archive that allows any run to be reconstructed.

Support EMC and environmental test events as required by the program.

Configure, integrate, and maintain test racks, including DC power supplies, managed network switches, interface and breakout hardware, and instrumentation.

Work independently and isolate test failures rather than escalating the result.

Must Haves Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a closely related discipline, or equivalent demonstrated experience.

Hands-on electrical test experience with LRU bring-up, functional test, and fault isolation to a replaceable element.

Experience building or operating HITL or SITL test benches, or equivalent integration rigs.

Working knowledge of Ethernet, CAN, RS-422/485, serial, and discrete interfaces, including probing and debugging them.

Wire harness build and rework to drawing, including crimp, contact insertion, shield termination, and backshell assembly.

Ability to read wiring diagrams, ICDs, schematics, and pinout tables and verify a harness against its controlling drawing.

Proficiency with a multimeter, oscilloscope, current probe, DC power supplies, and functional test equipment.

Experience integrating and maintaining test racks built around DC power supplies and managed network switches.

Ability to execute automated test scripts and interpret pass/fail output with judgement.

Ability to trace a signal path through an Altium schematic.

Ability to write test procedures and reports independently.

A record of owning a test effort end to end.

Working knowledge of CAN FD, SPI, and I2C interfaces, including probing and debugging them.

Nice to Haves Python or LabVIEW for test automation, bench control, and data reduction.

Bus analysis tooling including Wireshark, CAN analysers, logic analysers, and protocol decoders.

MIL-STD-1553, ARINC 429, or other avionics bus experience.

NX, SolidWorks, or CATIA for fixture design, harness routing, and installation checks.

Altium experience beyond schematic reading, such as layout review, library work, or design markup.

Harness design experience including wire list generation, connector selection, backshell selection, and strain relief selection.

EMC or EMI test exposure, including emissions, susceptibility, shielded enclosure work, or MIL-STD-461 familiarity.

Environmental test exposure in thermal, vibration, altitude, or humidity.

Active or prior U.S. security clearance.

NX is preferred, not required.