Test Automation Engineer

Test Automation Engineer - NI VeriStand to Python Migration

Location: Kalamazoo, MI  100% onsite.

Overview 

Client is a global medical device manufacturer. Their Acute Care R&D group develops connected electromechanical patient-support platforms (hospital beds and stretchers) with embedded firmware, sensing, actuation, and network connectivity. Verification runs on custom Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) benches built on National Instruments PXI hardware. 

The client is consolidating verification tooling onto a single Python-based test framework. This role migrates the existing NI VeriStand test asset library into that framework preserving functional equivalence, test coverage, and verification traceability. 

Responsibilities 

Analysis & reverse engineering 

Analyze the existing VeriStand library: system definition files, Real-Time Sequences, stimulus profiles, workspace configurations, custom devices and document functional intent, signal mapping, and coverage of each test 
Reconstruct test intent where documentation is thin or original authors are unavailable 
Produce a migration inventory and sequencing plan covering dependencies, complexity, and priority 
Migration & development 

Port VeriStand test logic into the Python framework, maintaining functional equivalence with the legacy implementation 
Build and extend Python hardware-abstraction layers over the NI stack - nidaqmx (DAQ, analog/digital I/O), nixnet (CAN/CAN FD), pyvisa (instrument and serial control)  and over PXI chassis and real-time targets 
Implement reusable fixtures, drivers, and utilities so the migrated suite is maintainable, not a one-for-one transliteration 
Integrate migrated tests into version control and automated execution 
Verification of the migration 

Design and execute an equivalence strategy: run legacy VeriStand and migrated Python tests against the same device under test and reconcile results 
Investigate discrepancies, distinguishing genuine defects from timing, resolution, or signal-conditioning differences between environments 
Document equivalence evidence to a standard suitable for design-control review 
Bench & hardware work 

Bring up and maintain HIL benches: PXI chassis, NI modules, signal conditioning, wiring harnesses, load banks, simulated sensors and actuators 
Debug at signal level with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, multimeters, protocol analyzers 
Support fault-insertion and boundary-condition testing on electromechanical subsystems 
Documentation & quality 

Maintain traceability from migrated tests to source requirements and test protocols 
Support test-tool validation and produce documentation consistent with design-control and DHF expectations 
Participate in peer code review, protocol review, and defect triage 
Required 

5+ years embedded systems, firmware, or system-level test engineering on physical hardware 
NI VeriStand hands-on: system definition (.nivssdf), Real-Time Sequences (.nivsseq), stimulus profiles, workspace/screen configuration, custom devices; deploying to NI real-time targets 
NI hardware: PXI/PXIe chassis, real-time controllers, DAQ modules, signal conditioning; configuration in NI MAX 
Python: production-quality - OOP design, pytest or comparable, fixtures, hardware abstraction, structured logging and reporting 
NI Python APIs: nidaqmx, nixnet, pyvisa, or demonstrable equivalent instrument-control work in Python 
Electronics: reads schematics fluently, confident probing live PCBAs, proficient with scope, DMM, logic analyzer, bench supplies, electronic loads 
Protocols: CAN and CAN FD, I²C, SPI, UART/RS-232/RS-485 - at debugging level, not just familiarity 
HIL concepts: closed-loop simulation, plant models, signal conditioning, fault insertion, real-time determinism 
Tooling: Git; Jira, Azure DevOps, Polarion, or Jama 
Able to work onsite in Kalamazoo for the full engagement 
Preferred(5-8 years of Testing exp) 

Medical device experience under design controls - ISO 13485, IEC 62304, ISO 14971, FDA QMSR / 21 CFR Part 820 
Test method validation (TMV) and software tool validation in a regulated environment 
LabVIEW and NI TestStand - especially for interpreting legacy custom devices and sequence orchestration 
Simulink or model-based plant simulation feeding VeriStand 
Electromechanical test: motor control, actuators, load cells, position/force sensing, battery systems 
IEC 60601-1 and 60601-1-2 familiarity 
CI/CD for hardware test (Jenkins, GitLab CI) and automated test reporting