Job Description
Job Title: Systems Test Lab Technician (Mechanical / R&D / Automotive)
Job Location: Tustin, CA (On-site)
Job Type: 12-Month Contract (with strong extension/conversion potential)
Industry: Electric Vehicles / Automotive R&D / Advanced Manufacturing
About the Opportunity
We are partnering with an industry-leading, high-growth electric vehicle pioneer at their advanced R&D and testing facility in Tustin, CA. We are seeking a hands-on, mechanically inclined Systems Test Lab Technician to join a dynamic development team. In this role, you will serve as a crucial link between engineering design and physical execution, supporting sample preparation, test buck assembly, material testing, and rigorous hardware validation.
If you are a builder, a problem-solver who thrives in a fast-paced environment, and someone who loves working with cutting-edge automotive and energy technologies, we want to talk to you!
Key Responsibilities

• Test Setup & Execution: Build, assemble, and teardown complex mechanical and electrical system test bucks and test fixtures for functional validation.
• Hands-on Fabrication & Modification: Fabricate special test equipment, custom brackets, test boxes, and test harnesses when standard prints require on-the-fly engineering modifications.
• Laboratory Testing & Sample Prep: Perform sample preparation, materials testing, fastening execution, and physical failure analysis (cutting, grinding, microscopy, and particle size analysis).
• Precision Tooling & Equipment Operation: Utilize standard and precision lab equipment, including torque wrenches, microscopes, imaging equipment, digital multimeters, high-speed cutting tools, and measurement instruments.
• Data Integrity & Documentation: Accurately record scientific and engineering data, maintain organized test logs, and manage calibration records.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Proactively identify and fill operational gaps, navigate design ambiguity, and support engineering teams in a rapid-development environment.

What You Will Need to Succeed (Qualifications)

• Experience: 1+ years of hands-on mechanical, laboratory, skilled trades, or automotive assembly/repair experience.
• Technical Skills: Proficiency with power tools, mechanical hand tools, automated programmable test equipment, and fabricating custom mechanical fixtures or test harnesses.
• Cross-Disciplinary Eagerness: Openness to learning and operating across a blend of mechanical, electrical, chemical, and environmental testing methodologies.
• Communication & Adaptability: High level of interpersonal and communication skills; able to thrive in a fast-paced, high-velocity R&D environment with shifting priorities.
• Physical & Operational Readiness: Ability to safely lift/move heavy boxes and test fixtures, follow strict lab safety protocols, and maintain a meticulous 5S workspace.
• Preferred Background: Experience including mechanical stress testing, wet chemistry, material cutting/grinding, microscopy, and data logging

Applied Skills

• Mechanical Testing
• Laboratory Equipment / Lab Instrumentation
• Mechanical Assembly & Teardown
• Fixture Fabrication & Prototyping
• Failure Analysis (FA
• Hand & Power Tools Operation
• Automated Test Equipment (ATE
• Wiring & Harness Assembly
• Data Logging & Technical Documentation
• Cross-Functional Collaboration