Senior R&D Hardware Test Engineer

Location: San Jose, CA
Duration: 4+ months contract (40 hours/week)
Pay rate: $40–55/hr
Employment type: W2 contract (US citizens or Green Card holders only)

About the role

As a member of the Client Biosciences San Jose Hardware Engineering Research & Development team, you will serve as the New Product Introduction (NPI) interface for new designs in collaboration with the manufacturing test engineering team. You will define and develop R&D automated test solutions for all new board designs, working closely with designers to provide guidance on test requirements. Your designs will be leveraged by Compliance and Validation engineers to conduct characterization of the designs, playing a crucial role in enabling synergies during the development process.

The Hardware Engineering Research & Development team is responsible for high-speed cell analyzers and sorters that incorporate lasers, detection electronics, fluidics, power supplies, low-noise analog circuits, high-speed data acquisition, digital signal processing, and high-bandwidth communication protocols.

Responsibilities

• Interface with R&D designers and other Hardware Engineers to define the most efficient and accurate measurements for testing board functionality.
• Design test fixtures and remotely manage computers using SSH or VNC protocols with Git version control.
• Work closely with validation test engineers to ensure test fixtures satisfy module automated testing requirements.
• Drive system verification of solutions through ATE/FCT.
• Support the hardware team with subsystem bring-up and test fixtures.
• Define and calibrate ATE (Automated Test Equipment).
• Collaborate with hardware design engineers to develop and execute hardware verification test plans.
• Perform board-level functional testing.
• Design, build, and program test systems used in hardware testing, and generate automated reports for test results.
• Analyze test results and data to determine if designs meet functional and performance specifications.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a similar technical discipline (MSEE preferred).
• Minimum 5 years of experience as a Test Engineer supporting product introduction.
• Extensive experience in testing digital and analog/mixed-signal circuits.
• Experience using RF measurement instruments, high-speed oscilloscopes, signal generators, and arbitrary waveform generators.
• Ability to read and interpret PCB schematics and perform basic digital and analog circuit analysis.
• Experience designing and analyzing test procedures to minimize measurement error.
• Knowledge of industrial control systems and their communications interfaces and protocols such as Ethernet/IP.
• Proficiency with measurement automation tools and scripting languages such as Python, LabVIEW, LabWindows, and MATLAB.
• Experience with electronic hardware design tools such as Cadence or Mentor Graphics.
• Familiarity and experience working with Gigabit Ethernet, FPD-Link, CAN, SPI, I2C, LIN, and RS232.
• Knowledge of PCB test standards, FPGA testing, and high-speed board test design.
• Understanding of calibration methodologies, measurement uncertainty, Six Sigma, and ICT/DFT/FCT.

Desired Skills

• Ability to install and configure Linux distributions on desktop or embedded systems.
• Familiarity with the pre-built high-performance computing (HPC) software stack used in AMD (Xilinx) devices.
• Comfortable installing pre-built Linux packages and occasionally building from source.
• Experience writing high-level test scripts in Python to support low-level real-time DSP designers.
• Experience with ICT/FCT, FPGA BIST, high-speed SERDEs, and I-BERT testing.
• Proficiency in analog measurements (noise, jitter, oscilloscope, spectrum, DMM) and digital measurements (logic analyzer, timing requirements).
• Experience with ADC and DAC testing (noise, dynamic range).
• Knowledge of instrument and test calibration procedures, GUM analysis, and Six Sigma application (DFSS).

Qualifications

• Self-motivated, independent, and comfortable working in a matrix team environment under time pressures.
• Strong problem analysis and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Open mindset, willing to learn new things and take on new challenges.