HIL Automation Engineer

This fast-growing satellite communications company is hiring a Senior Firmware QA Engineer for a full-time, onsite role in San Francisco, with Chicago as an option for an exceptional candidate. They build satellite-connected hardware and software that keep teams in touch where normal comms fail, and you'll test it all on real devices using hardware-in-the-loop rigs and Python automation.
You'll be the first dedicated QA engineer on the hardware side, so you get to define how firmware quality works here instead of inheriting someone else's process. Right now embedded engineers lose weeks to manual regression, and you'll be the one who gives that time back by building HIL rigs and automating the suites from scratch. You'll also own the release gate, which means you decide whether a build ships to customers like helicopter paramedics, firefighters, and defense teams. As the company's unmanned systems product line grows, your coverage grows with it, and the path from here can lead to running QA, going deeper into test infrastructure, or moving into customer-facing deployment work.
Required Skills & Experience

• 5+ years in QA or test engineering on physical hardware products
• Direct, hands-on experience building and running hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test setups
• Strong Python scripting for test automation
• Track record of building test coverage and automation from scratch
• Experience capturing and analyzing logs from debug probes and device interfaces such as SEGGER J-Link and ADB
• Ability to isolate failures that span firmware, radio, and application layers
• Experience owning release validation or sign-off on production builds

Desired Skills & Experience

• Background testing embedded firmware for connected or wireless devices
• Experience with satellite, RF, or other radio communications systems
• Testing experience on unmanned or autonomous systems
• Familiarity with CI/CD integration for hardware test automation
• Experience supporting public safety or defense customers

What You Will Be Doing
Tech Breakdown

• 40% Hardware-in-the-Loop Test Rigs
• 35% Python Test Automation
• 25% Debug Tools & Log Analysis (SEGGER J-Link, ADB)

Daily Responsibilities

• 75% Hands On (rig builds, automation, debugging)
• 15% Release Validation & QA Process Ownership
• 10% Team Collaboration

The Offer
You will receive the following benefits:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• 401(k)
• Paid Time Off and Company Holidays

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the US on a full-time basis now and in the future.