Staff Software Test and Automation Engineer
Mainspring Energy manufactures and delivers fuel-flexible, low-emissions local power solutions that rapidly add new capacity and deliver reliable, affordable, and sustainable electric power. The company began commercial shipments of its Mainspring Linear Generators in 2020 and today has hundreds of megawatts in advanced development and field operations for leading Fortune 500 companies, data centers, and utilities. Mainspring also partners with global energy leaders including AEP, NextEra Energy Resources, and Schneider Electric.
Mainspring Energy has fundamentally redefined onsite power generation. Our breakthrough product—the Mainspring Linear Generator (LGen)—is a completely new category of energy technology. Distinct from an engine, turbine, or fuel cell, the LGen directly converts straight-line motion into electricity using a low-temperature, non-combustion thermochemical reaction. With only two moving parts per core, a frictionless air-bearing system, and zero-flame chemical conversions, we deliver over 46% net AC electrical efficiency. The LGen is the world’s only commercially available technology capable of real-time fuel-switching under load, seamlessly transitioning between natural gas, biogas/RNG, propane, hydrogen, and ammonia. Behind this mechanical simplicity lies an incredibly complex software abstraction layer. To achieve dynamic load-following, sub-millisecond grid synchronization, and real-time thermochemical adaptive fuel mixing, our proprietary controls manage thousands of high-frequency variables simultaneously.
Responsibilities
- Architect Automation & Test Infrastructure: Design, scale, and maintain custom hardware test beds alongside robust, reusable test automation frameworks, software tools, and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines
- System Validation & Integration: Develop comprehensive test plans, test cases, technical test approaches, and traceability matrices to validate complex hardware/software integrations and resolve system-level bottlenecks
- Root Cause & Failure Analysis: Lead deep-dive failure analysis, debug and diagnose issues found during testing, and champion risk mitigation strategies to ensure test stability and environmental reliability
- Strategic Coverage: Drive risk-based testing strategies, performing risk analysis to ensure 100% comprehensive test coverage of all critical-path functionalities
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with development teams and support cross-functional engineering initiatives to diagnose system anomalies and vet new technologies
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related field with 10+ years of professional experience, or a Master’s degree with 9+ years in an SDET, Embedded Test, or Software Engineering role
- Strategic Automation Leadership: A proven track record of leading complex automation projects from design to implementation, combined with the ability to perform deep-dive manual exploratory testing and technical test case design
- Technical Versatility: Strong hands-on software development experience in Python and C++, with the flexibility to navigate, debug, and contribute to diverse codebases (including Bash scripting)
- AI Workflow Ownership: Demonstrated proficiency in leveraging AI coding assistants as a force multiplier for productivity, combined with the professional judgment to challenge, validate, and expand upon AI-generated solutions
- Domain Expertise: Professional experience testing and validating systems in at least three of the following areas: Cloud computing, embedded systems, networking, IoT with RTOS, controls, simulations (MIL/SIL/PIL), emulators, or complex algorithms
Skills
- DevOps & Infrastructure: Experience with containerization and orchestration tools such as Docker, Kubernetes, and configuration management via Ansible
- Industry Tooling: High proficiency with common industry test and development workflows like Jira, Xray, GitLab, or equivalent tools
Benefits
- Pre-IPO stock options
- Comprehensive benefits package
Pay
The salary range for this role is $180,000–$220,000 per year. The level of pay within the range will depend on a variety of job-related factors including location, relevant prior experience and/or education, or particular skills and expertise. New hires tend to be paid within the starting base pay range noted above, with opportunities to increase pay over time based on development of additional skills, competencies, and company-specific knowledge.
Schedule
This is a hybrid position (onsite + remote) based at our Menlo Park HQ.