Test Hardware Engineer (Electrical)

As a Test Hardware Engineer at Impulse, you will design, build, deploy, and support the common electrical test hardware that powers our test infrastructure. You will create standardized, reusable building blocks for test engineers, including rack-mounted DAQ and control units, mobile DAQ systems, test carts, rack-mounted pressure controllers, thermal chamber support hardware, power distribution assemblies, and electrical interface boxes. In this role, you will collaborate closely with test operations, software automation engineers, IT, and other cross-functional teams to ensure rapid, reliable deployment of test assets.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain common electrical test hardware platforms for DAQ, controls, instrumentation, power distribution, networking, and computer-integrated test assets.
• Create and maintain electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, panel layouts, cable designs, bills of materials, assembly instructions, checkout procedures, and operating documentation.
• Develop standardized hardware architectures that allow test engineers to quickly assemble safe, reliable, maintainable, and reusable test systems.
• Participate in the full hardware lifecycle-from requirements and design through procurement, fabrication, integration, commissioning, deployment, maintenance, and improvement.
• Work closely with software automation engineers during design, deployment, integration, checkout, and troubleshooting of standard test assets.
• Coordinate with IT and the test automation engineers to define, image, configure, and maintain computers used in standard test assets.
• Diagnose and resolve issues across electrical hardware, software interfaces, networking, and test infrastructure with resourceful, hands-on problem-solving.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical, aerospace, mechanical, or related engineering discipline.
• 2+ years of hands-on experience designing, building, integrating, or operating electrical test hardware, laboratory equipment, industrial automation systems, or similar engineering hardware.
• Experience creating and maintaining electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, bills of materials, and assembly documentation.
• Experience with EPLAN or similar electrical design tools.
• Working knowledge of data acquisition, instrumentation, sensors, controls, wiring, power supplies, networking, and electrical system integration.
• Hands-on experience with hardware checkout, commissioning, troubleshooting, and operation in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• 4+ years of hands-on experience designing, building, integrating, or operating electrical test hardware, laboratory equipment, industrial automation systems, or similar engineering hardware.
• Strong EPLAN experience, including project structure, device tagging, terminal blocks, wire numbering, panel layouts, reports, and drawing release workflows.
• Experience designing modular or reusable test hardware platforms rather than one-off test equipment.
• Experience with NI, Beckhoff, ifm, PLCs, real-time control systems, IO-Link devices, Ethernet/IP devices, EtherCAT devices, or other industrial automation hardware.
• Experience designing low-voltage electrical systems, cable harnesses, grounding schemes, interlocks, and general E-stop or safety circuits.
• Experience wiring, integrating, and troubleshooting power supplies, signal conditioning hardware, network switches, DAQ chassis, controllers, remote I/O, and industrial electrical components.
• Mechanical design experience for test hardware, including enclosures, carts, racks, brackets, sheet metal, and serviceable assemblies.
• Experience with Teamcenter, PLM systems, engineering release workflows, technician training, or configuration-controlled hardware documentation.

Travel: Occasional travel to test sites to support new test asset bring-up, onsite debugging, and coordination with test teams. Travel is planned and infrequent, focused on high-impact activities.

Additional Information: Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision & dental coverage as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.

About Impulse Space

Impulse Space, the in-space transportation company founded by Tom Mueller, is opening access beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with its fleet of in-space transportation vehicles. The high-energy Helios vehicle unlocks orbits beyond LEO with its powerful Deneb engine, dropping off payloads in MEO, GEO, heliocentric, lunar, and other planetary orbits. The flight-proven Mira vehicle uses a nontoxic, high-impulse chemical propulsion system to offer orbital transport, constellation deployment, and precision reentry services to customers throughout LEO. Led by a team that delivered the most reliable rockets in history, Impulse provides economical and efficient in-space transportation by reliably and rapidly getting customers where they want to go.

Our Hiring Process

Stage 1: Application Received

Stage 2: Resume Review

Stage 3: Intro Phone Interview

Stage 4: Technical Phone Interview(s)

Stage 5: Onsite Interview

Stage 6: Offer!

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