Test Engineer, R&D

Who We Are: Aurelius Systems is a VC backed defense tech startup building autonomous, edge deployed directed energy systems for counter-UAS. We build laser weapons to shoot down drones. We're a small team of engineers, former US military operators, and subject matter experts scaling America's directed energy dominance. The first cost effective, reliable and robust laser weapon system. Our namesake isn't an accident. Marcus Aurelius wrote about doing the work in front of you, every day, without excuses. Henry Ford didn't wait for permission to reinvent manufacturing. That's how we operate — small team, unreasonable output, no hiding behind the unachievable. In addition to our San Francisco lab, we’ve opened a Detroit manufacturing hub and we field test weekly on our own 400-acre private range. The Role & Your Impact: We're hiring a Test Engineer, R&D to build our test infrastructure from the ground up: test automation, harnessing, simulation, HITL environments, etc You'll work closely with hardware, software, and electrical teams to define what needs testing and why, then build the tooling to test it. You're responsible for the process end to end: Test design, execution, analysis, and driving design through findings. If you're driven to understand how and why robotic systems strain, and to catch these strains before they fail, we'd love to meet you. What You'll Own: Testing end-to-end: setup, operation, data collection, teardown, post-test analysis, and failure writeups Wire test electronics, build harnesses, instrumentation setups, and test fixtures Develop automated test procedures in Python Debug across firmware, power rails, and electrical — root cause from first principles Work directly with embedded, electrical, and mechanical engineers to reproduce bugs, validate fixes, and prevent regressions Develop test plans, acceptance criteria, and readiness gates as we move from prototype to production Partner with the hardware team on DFM and production readiness Build HIL and SIL test environments Enforce safety procedures in high-power, high-voltage testing environments What We're Looking For: Strong electrical wiring and bench skills — scopes, logic analyzers, power supplies, DMMs, harness fabrication Python or scripting for test automation. You build your own tools. Strong debugging instincts across firmware, power rails, and electrical Comfort with DFM concepts — you understand how production constraints shape what's testable Performance, reliability, and safety testing as a combined skill set. You know how to stress a system, log what breaks, and define pass/fail criteria that actually matter. Clear written communication around failures and root cause. Your test reports tell a story, not just a data dump. Robotics or defense companies with real electromechanical products where you wrote test code and wired test setups. Not a fit if: Your test experience is purely environmental/mechanical (vibe table, thermal chamber operator). Your debugging stops at the firmware layer. You've only operated someone else's test infrastructure. You've never wired your own bench setup. Your test experience lives entirely in Jira. Nice-to-Haves: HIL or SIL test environment build experience (we'll need to build these — having done it before is a plus, but not required day one) MIL-STD, DO-178, or other safety critical testing standards exposure (even if informal) Environmental, vibration, thermal, or shock testing exposure High-voltage or high-power test environment experience Familiarity with ITAR-controlled systems or working in cleared environments Active security clearance or ability to obtain one Education: BS in Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Aerospace, or equivalent. Equivalent hands-on experience also considered. What you've built matters more than where you went to school. How You Operate: Extreme bias for action. You'd rather build a prototype tomorrow than model it for a month Rigorous testing mindset. You characterize your own