Lead Engineer, Test Development

Location

Richardson, Texas, USA

Summary

The Lead Engineer in Test Development designs, develops, and implements automatic test equipment and test programs for product testing and design verification to ensure robust, high‑quality assembled products in manufacturing. The role spans structural verification of assembly processes and functional verification of design performance, working independently within established professional standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Work independently to develop technical solutions in limited technical fields supporting common segments/technologies.
• Review and interpret customer documentation; conduct research, analysis, and experiments with minimal direction.
• Attend and participate in technical discussions with customers; solve complex problems in cooperation with other engineers.
• Provide project technical leadership, managing communication with team members, suppliers, and internal/external customers.
• Create technical proposals (solutions, timelines, costed BOM, and hour estimates) based on requirements.
• Provide high‑level test hardware and software solution architecture.
• Review equipment data sheets and select appropriate equipment based on requirements.
• Develop structural and functional test strategies and test plans to meet project goals.
• Research and comprehend relevant product technologies and associated skills.
• Participate in all phases of manufacturing test development, including hardware/equipment selection, procurement, test code development, hardware integration, system integration, validation, qualification, and on‑site installation support.
• Collaborate with customer product design teams, offering feedback on testability, coverage, diagnosability, reparability, firmware/diagnostics, and user experience.
• Develop production‑level manufacturing test strategies and requirements for new products.
• Produce manufacturing test “Testplan” documentation.
• Design and develop test solutions encompassing hardware and software elements.
• Develop new test code and tools for manufacturing test automation from scratch.
• Integrate tools and custom code created by internal groups or external customer teams.
• Perform system integration, qualification, and installation to meet product, quality, and test requirements outlined in the Testplan.
• Debug tester issues using design of experiments, tools, and failure‑analysis methodologies.
• Execute validation/qualification requirements using statistical and industry‑standard methods.
• Stabilize test solutions for manufacturing, optimizing failure analysis, cycle time, test‑yield, and reducing false failures.
• Maintain test equipment, fixtures, and specialized tools for manufacturing test automation.
• Stay current with relevant industry knowledge and regulations.
• Apply a continuous‑improvement mindset to all aspects of the development process.
• Travel overseas (Mexico, Asia, EU) as required.

Knowledge, Skills & Competencies

• Understanding of design processes for systems and printed circuit boards.
• Understanding of systems and PCB manufacturing processes and equipment.
• Knowledge of industry and quality standards.
• Ability to evaluate, diagnose, and troubleshoot problems.
• Knowledge of materials and components used in systems, PCBs, and sub‑assemblies.
• Knowledge of standards for incoming materials and ability to evaluate them.
• Ability to gather and analyze data to determine root causes.
• Knowledge of testing software, processes, methodologies, and failure analysis.
• Knowledge of IT platforms, networking, database design, and relevant programming languages.
• 2–3 years of practical software development experience in a Linux environment (Python mandatory).
• 2–3 years of practical experience using GIT in a Linux environment (mandatory).
• 2–3 years of engineering development and manufacturing operations support (preferred).
• Familiarity with JavaScript, HTML, XML, TCL, Bash scripting, MS Visual Studio .NET (C#, VB, ASP), and SQL (preferred).
• Strong operations background in electronics manufacturing (mandatory).
• Software design, development, debug, and release experience.
• Hardware development, integration, and qualification experience (preferred).