Electrical System Test Engineer

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.
• On-site test facility, with occasional travel to third-party test laboratories.
• 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.