Sr. Test Engineer, R&D

- 3+ years embedded firmware development experience - C/C++, real-time systems, scripting test exercises directly against hardware

- Strong electrical wiring and bench skills - scopes, logic analyzers, power supplies, DMMs, harness fabrication

- Python or scripting for test automation. You build your own tools.

- Strong debugging instincts across firmware, power rails, and electrical

- Comfort with DFM concepts - you understand how production constraints shape what's testable

- Performance, reliability, and safety testing as a combined skill set. You know how to stress a system, log what breaks, and define pass/fail criteria that actually matter.

- Clear written communication around failures and root cause. Your test reports tell a story, not just a data dump.

- Robotics or defense companies with real electromechanical products where you wrote test code and wired test setups.

Not a fit if: Your test experience is purely environmental/mechanical (vibe table, thermal chamber operator). Your debugging stops at the firmware layer. You've only operated someone else's test infrastructure.

You've never wired your own bench setup. Your test experience lives entirely in Jira.

- HIL or SIL test environment build experience (we'll need to build these - having done it before is a plus, but not required day one)

- MIL-STD, DO-178, or other safety critical testing standards exposure (even if informal)

- Environmental, vibration, thermal, or shock testing exposure

- High-voltage or high-power test environment experience

- Familiarity with ITAR-controlled systems or working in cleared environments

- Active security clearance or ability to obtain one

BS in Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Aerospace, or equivalent. Equivalent hands-on experience also considered.

What you've built matters more than where you went to school.

- Extreme bias for action. You'd rather build a prototype tomorrow than model it for a month

- Rigorous testing mindset. You characterize your own systems before the field does

- Comfortable with ambiguity and fast, constantly iterating in a startup environment

- Your brain only releases dopamine when you're building

- You debug from first principles, not Stack Overflow

- Clear communicator across mechanical, electrical, optical, and software teams

- Self-directed. You identify what needs to happen next and do it without being told

Why Join Aurelius Systems?

- Build more in 1 month than most engineers build in 1 year. We field test weekly. Your work goes downrange, not into a filing cabinet.

- Career velocity is real. At ~10 engineers, there are no layers between you and impact.

- Work on a problem that actually matters. Small cheap drones are changing warfare. Our laser systems are the asymmetric answer - infinite magazine, near zero cost per shot, scalable to every base, border, facility, and truck.

- Join the densest defense startup ecosystem in the country. California is where the next generation of defense companies are being built.

Core hours are Monday through Friday, 9 to 6. When we're sprinting toward a demo or field test, the team ramps up - nights, weekends, whatever it takes to ship. When the sprint lands, we ramp down.

We don't manufacture intensity for show.

- Competitive salary + equity

- United Health Care medical, dental, and vision coverage

- Flexible 18 days PTO + 5 sick days

- Travel to field test events and range days

- Covered daily lunches and office snacks + drinks

- E-bike / scooter stipend ( Up to $500)

- Direct access to leadership and real ownership over your work

This role requires access to export-controlled information or items that require "U.S. Person" status. As defined by U.S. law, individuals who are any one of the following are considered to be a "U.S.

Person": (1) U.S. citizens, (2) legal permanent residents (a.k.a. green card holders), and (3) certain protected classes of asylees and refugees, as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).