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Staff Automation Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Staff Automation Engineer

San Francisco, CA ยท On-site

$135K - $200K/yr

Role & Responsibilities As a Staff Automation Engineer, you will be expected to: * Co-design test automation infrastructure with Systems and Test Infrastructure. Automation provides the platform and ...

SUMMARY Q2 is seeking an experienced Staff Automation Engineer with a strong focus on automation, engineering productivity, and delivery optimization. This role is responsible for designing and ...

As a Staff Automation Engineer, you will focus on the industrial automation of space products. This is a hands-on position, and you will engage with E-Space design engineers to procure, design, and ...

As a Staff Automation Engineer, you will focus on the industrial automation of space products. This is a hands-on position, and you will engage with E-Space design engineers to procure, design, and ...

SUMMARY Q2 is seeking an experienced Staff Automation Engineer with a strong focus onautomation, engineering productivity, and delivery optimization. This roleis responsible fordesigning and building ...

As a Staff Automation Engineer, you will focus on the industrial automation of space products. This is a hands-on position, and you will engage with E-Space design engineers to procure, design, and ...

Senior Staff Automation Engineer

Austin, TX

$103K - $135K/yr

As a Senior Staff Automation Engineer you will have responsibility for the overall test strategy of the products you test. You have an automation-first mindset, leveraging your experience to ...

Senior Staff Automation Engineer

Seattle, WA

$118K - $155K/yr

As a Senior Staff Automation Engineer you will have responsibility for the overall test strategy of the products you test. You have an automation-first mindset, leveraging your experience to ...

As a Senior Staff Automation Engineer you will have responsibility for the overall test strategy of the products you test. You have an automation-first mindset, leveraging your experience to ...

As a Senior Staff Automation Engineer you will have responsibility for the overall test strategy of the products you test. You have an automation-first mindset, leveraging your experience to ...

As a Senior Staff Automation Engineer you will have responsibility for the overall test strategy of the products you test. You have an automation-first mindset, leveraging your experience to ...

Be Seen First

We are seeking a highly experienced Staff Automation and Validation Engineer to lead the design, development, and expansion of automated validation systems for advanced renewable energy and ...

Automation Engineer Location: Indianapolis, IN Employment Type: Permanent, Full-Time We are seeking ... and support staff on the operation and maintenance of automation systems. - Stay updated on the ...

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Staff Automation Engineer information

See salary details

$37K

$107.1K

$163K

How much do staff automation engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Jun 29, 2026, the average yearly pay for staff automation engineer in the United States is $107,126.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $86,500.00 and $123,500.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are Staff Automation Engineers?

Staff Automation Engineers are senior-level professionals who design, develop, and oversee automated systems to improve efficiency, accuracy, and scalability in various processes. They typically lead automation projects, mentor junior engineers, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to implement technology solutions. Their expertise spans scripting, workflow optimization, and integrating new tools to streamline operations. In addition to technical skills, they often play a key role in setting automation strategies and ensuring best practices across the organization.

How does a Staff Automation Engineer typically collaborate with cross-functional teams during large-scale automation projects?

As a Staff Automation Engineer, you'll frequently work alongside software developers, QA engineers, DevOps, and product managers to design, implement, and refine automated systems. You'll often lead technical discussions, gather requirements, and ensure that automation solutions align with the team's objectives and project timelines. Effective communication and mentorship are key, as you'll be expected to guide junior engineers and set best practices. This collaborative environment allows you to influence both the technical direction and the efficiency of release cycles.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Staff Automation Engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Staff Automation Engineer, you need deep expertise in automation frameworks, scripting languages (such as Python or Java), and a relevant bachelor's degree in engineering or computer science. Familiarity with tools like Selenium, Jenkins, Docker, and CI/CD systems, along with certifications in automation or cloud technologies, is often required. Strong problem-solving, communication, and leadership skills help you collaborate across teams and drive process improvements. These capabilities are crucial for delivering scalable, efficient automation solutions that enhance product quality and development speed.

What is the difference between Staff Automation Engineer vs Automation Engineer?

AspectStaff Automation EngineerAutomation Engineer
CredentialsBachelor's or higher in CS or related field; experience in automation toolsBachelor's in CS or related; some experience in automation
Work EnvironmentDesigning and leading automation projects, mentoring teamsDeveloping and maintaining automation scripts and tools
Industry UsageUsed in large tech companies, enterprise environmentsCommon in startups, mid-sized companies, and tech firms

The Staff Automation Engineer typically has more experience, leads automation initiatives, and mentors teams, whereas Automation Engineers focus on developing automation solutions. Both roles require similar technical skills but differ in scope and responsibility.

More about Staff Automation Engineer jobs
Staff Automation Engineer

Staff Automation Engineer

SPAN

San Francisco, CA โ€ข On-site

$135K - $200K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision

Posted 22 hours ago


Key responsibilities

  • Co-design test automation infrastructure with Systems and Test Infrastructure teams.

  • Diagnose automated test failures across firmware, hardware, and test infrastructure.

  • Help manage and grow a fleet of 50+ hardware test rigs across offices.


Job description

Our Mission
SPAN is enabling electrification for all
We are a mission-driven company designing, building, and deploying products that electrify the built environment, reduce carbon emissions, and slow the effects of climate change.
  • Decarbonization is the process to reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions, especially carbon dioxide, from entering our atmosphere.
  • Electrification is the process of replacing fossil fuel appliances that run on gas or oil with all-electric upgrades for a cleaner way to power our lives.
At SPAN, we believe in:
  • Enabling homes and vehicles powered by clean energy
  • Making electrification upgrades possible
  • Building more resilient homes with reliable backup
  • Designing a flexible and distributed electrical grid

The Role
As a Staff Automation Engineer, you'll play a crucial role in ensuring the quality and reliability of our products through a combination of automated and manual testing methodologies. This is a high impact role that will work closely with SPAN's internal Software, Device Software, Hardware Engineering, Systems, and QA teams.
Role & Responsibilities
As a Staff Automation Engineer, you will be expected to:
  • Co-design test automation infrastructure with Systems and Test Infrastructure. Automation provides the platform and drivers; partner teams write the tests.
  • Diagnose automated test failures across firmware, hardware, and test infrastructure.
  • Help manage and grow a fleet of 50+ hardware test rigs across offices.
  • Monitor hardware and software infrastructure health.

You will take architectural ownership of one or more of the team's critical systems. Examples of where you might focus:
  • Hardware-in-the-loop test execution: on-premise orchestration of test sequences on physical hardware, integrated into CI/CD for PR gating and release qualification.
  • Test data pipeline: telemetry ingestion from rigs, structured storage in PostgreSQL, reporting dashboards for release readiness and reliability.
  • Test execution framework: instrument driver library, sequence engine, and the gRPC services that tie rigs together.

The specific focus depends on your strengths and the team's needs at the time you join.
About You
Required Qualifications
  • Demonstrable proficiency building reliable tools and services in Python.
  • Able to read and reason about C++, Rust, TypeScript, or similar. Not your daily language, but enough to follow a bug across a boundary.
  • Experience with hardware-adjacent software: software that controls, monitors, or ingests data from physical devices or instruments.
  • Experience owning internal platform infrastructure where your users are other engineers and your systems are in the critical path.
  • Comfortable standing up new tooling from scratch and retiring it when needs change.
  • Experience operating CI/CD infrastructure, particularly pipelines that run on physical hardware.

Additionally, there are three primary focus areas, you should fit into one or more of these:
HITL-relevant:
  • Understanding of hardware-in-the-loop testing, reliability testing, and certification testing methodologies.
  • Experience managing fleets of physical test cells or lab infrastructure (Ansible, AWX, or similar).
  • Experience with embedded systems or firmware testing (CAN bus, SWD debugging, firmware update flows).

Data pipeline-relevant:
  • Experience with time-series data: ingestion, storage, and querying of telemetry.
  • Experience with PostgreSQL, S3/AWS.
  • Experience building reporting dashboards for engineering or leadership audiences.

Framework-relevant:
  • Experience with gRPC or similar RPC frameworks.
  • Experience with lab instrumentation control. Power analyzers, load simulators, signal generators, relay boards.
  • Experience designing automated test rigs or test cells from requirements through physical buildout to software integration.
Bonus Qualifications
We would love to hire someone who has:
  • Experience working in a startup environment.
  • Experience working in the renewable energy industry.
  • Experience with Ansible or similar configuration management for physical infrastructure.
  • Experience with or preference for a rapid or continuous release cadence

Life at SPAN
Headquartered in San Francisco's vibrant SoMa neighborhood, we are an eclectic group of creative thinkers who value open communication, teamwork, and a 'make it happen' approach to addressing complex challenges.
SPAN embraces diversity and equal opportunity in a serious way. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills.
We're hiring talented individuals who are driven by success and are passionate about shaping the future of renewable energy. If that sounds like you, we'd love for you to consider joining the rapidly growing team at SPAN.
The Perks:
Competitive compensation + equity grants at a well-funded, venture-backed company
Comprehensive benefits: 100% employee premiums for base plans on medical, dental, vision with options for additional coverage. Parental leave up to twenty four (24) weeks depending on eligibility
Comfortable, sunny office space located near BART and Caltrain public transit
Strong focus on team building and company culture: Employee Resource Groups, monthly social events, SPANcakes recognition breakfast, lunch, and learns
Flexible hours, one holiday per month, and flexible time off
Interested in joining our team? Apply today and we'll be in touch with the next steps!