Software Hardware Test Engineer Jobs in California

Who we are

Neros is a defense technology company rebuilding America's drone industrial base. We design and manufacture high-performance unmanned systems that are tested in combat, iterated at startup speed, and built at massive scale. Our team culture is fast, hands-on, and obsessed with closing the gap between design and deployment.

As drones transform the character of warfare, Neros is delivering the systems the West needs to compete on the modern battlefield and deter the adversaries of democracy. We're hiring engineers, operators, and builders who want to move fast, take on extreme ownership, and get capability into the hands of warfighters in months, not years.

What you will be doing

As a Hardware Test Engineer (HW/SW Integration & Station DRI) at Neros, you will own the development, deployment, and continuous improvement of manufacturing test stations that validate our autonomous systems, including drones, interceptors, and ground control systems. This role combines hands-on hardware debugging, board-level understanding, and software-driven test development to build scalable test solutions that improve product quality, reliability, and production throughput.

You will serve as the technical owner for assigned test stations, partnering with Electrical Engineering, Firmware, Manufacturing, and Software Test teams to expand test coverage, debug complex failures, and enable rapid production scaling.

Responsibilities

• Own assigned manufacturing test stations as the station DRI, including hardware integration, bring-up, troubleshooting, calibration, maintenance, and continuous improvement
• Develop a strong understanding of product hardware architectures, including PCBAs, power systems, embedded controllers, sensors, communication interfaces, and system-level interactions
• Debug hardware and test failures using lab equipment such as oscilloscopes, power supplies, DMMs, logic analyzers, and other instrumentation to isolate root causes
• Extend and maintain test software by understanding existing test frameworks, modifying scripts, and adding new test coverage to support evolving product requirements
• Work at the software-hardware boundary. Write code that talks to physical devices over standard protocols, handles device I/O, and holds up when software and hardware disagree
• Automate testing. Build software that exercises embedded and hardware systems and turns manual bench procedures into repeatable automated tests
• Partner with Electrical Engineers and Software Test Engineers to bridge hardware and software test capabilities, improving test automation, data collection, and failure analysis
• Analyze production test data, yield trends, and failure modes to drive improvements in test coverage, station reliability, product quality, and manufacturing scalability

You should have the following

• 3-5+ years of experience in hardware test engineering, manufacturing test, electrical validation, or embedded systems testing with ownership of production test stations from development through deployment
• Hands-on experience developing, supporting, and debugging hardware test stations for complex electronic products, including PCBAs, embedded systems, sensors, power electronics, or electromechanical assemblies
• Strong understanding of board-level hardware architectures, including schematics, power distribution, digital interfaces, communication protocols (CAN, SPI, I2C, UART, Ethernet), and basic circuit analysis
• Proficiency using electrical lab equipment such as oscilloscopes, power supplies, digital multimeters, logic analyzers, and other instrumentation to debug hardware and validate test systems
• Experience owning manufacturing test stations as a DRI, including station bring-up, hardware/software integration, calibration, troubleshooting, uptime improvement, and production support
• Ability to read and modify existing test automation code (Python or similar languages) to add test coverage, integrate new measurements, debug failures, and improve test workflows
• Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams including Electrical Engineering, Firmware, Software Test, Manufacturing, Quality, and Operations to solve complex production issues
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with experience using test data, failure logs, and yield metrics to drive root-cause analysis and continuous improvement
• Experience supporting high-reliability products such as consumer electronics, defense systems, autonomous vehicles, or other embedded hardware platforms is preferred
• Ability to work cross-functionally with Electrical Engineering, Firmware, Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, and Contract Manufacturing partners to deploy scalable, reliable test solutions across both Neros and supplier production sites

Nice to have

• Familiarity with sensor-based systems, including IMUs, cameras, LiDAR, GPS/GNSS, magnetometers, barometers, and related calibration or validation methodologies
• Experience testing or debugging RF and wireless systems, including radios, telemetry links, antennas, RF interfaces, spectrum measurements, and communication performance validation
• Hands-on experience with embedded hardware platforms and autonomy systems, including flight controllers, compute modules, motor controllers, navigation systems, or ground control stations
• Strong board-level debugging experience, including schematic review, PCB bring-up, power integrity analysis, high-speed digital interfaces, and hardware validation using lab instrumentation

US Salary Range

$112,500 - $157,500 USD

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are considered part of Neros' total compensation package.

We're an equal opportunity employer. We welcome all applicants without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.