Test Technician

Ignite Next GmbH; München; Hybrid; EUR 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Proxima Fusion is seeking a Technician to join our hands-on hardware team focused on stellarator hardware, magnets, and high-temperature superconducting systems. You will work on test setups, assemble fixtures, install sensors, and perform critical measurements in a fast-paced research environment.

You will collaborate with Engineering, Manufacturing, and Quality to bring development designs into reliable, repeatable test procedures and to ensure full traceability of data, test configurations,

Qualifications

• Hands-on testing experience in industrial/research or engineering environment.
• Practical electrical measurement skills.
• Ability to read engineering drawings and wiring diagrams and follow test procedures.
• Experience with data acquisition, data reduction and accurate record-keeping.
• Safety, configuration control and traceability discipline.
• Ability to work across teams and communicate observations clearly.

Responsibilities

• Run acceptance and characterization tests across HTS-related hardware and assemblies.
• Prepare test articles, install sensors and wiring per test plan.
• Set up dimensional inspection equipment and high-current/cryogenic rigs.
• Carry out electrical measurements and insulation/high-voltage tests with approved methods.
• Configure data acquisition, monitor signals, and follow test sequences.
• Maintain traceability of samples, configurations, data and observations.
• Troubleshoot test setups and coordinate with technicians for repairs.
• Keep rigs ready for testing and coordinate calibrations and servicing.
• Commission new fixtures with design/test engineering and document repeatable operations.
• Support investigations through post-test inspection and, when authorized, destructive examinations.

Skills

Hands-on testing

Electrical measurement

Read engineering drawings

Data recording/traceability

Safety/configuration control

Team communication

English procedures

Education

Technical apprenticeship/qualification in electronics/mechatronics/lab work

Tools

Data acquisition systems

Job description

Proxima Fusion is Europe’s fastest-growing fusion company and the continent’s best-funded fusion player, as well as the first spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP). Backed by over €650M and powered by a growing team across Munich, Zurich, and Oxford, we are developing the hardware and infrastructure needed to deliver the world’s first commercial stellarator fusion power plant.

Our concept advances the most mature fusion technology out there, the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator, through two next-generation machines: Alpha and Stellaris. Our work combines stellarator optimization, advanced computation, machine learning, and high-temperature superconducting magnets to unlock higher-performance designs that were previously out of reach.

Turning these designs into a functioning fusion power plant requires excellence and ownership across every discipline, from physics and engineering to software, manufacturing, law, and business functions.

WHY JOIN PROXIMA FUSION

• You will get to work on some of the most complex tech challenges to bring abundant, safe, clean energy to the world.

• You'll get to join and learn from an exceptional selection of accomplished and driven individuals.

• Do your life’s best work and enjoy the journey.

• Get to show that big things are possible in Europe when you assemble the best talent.

YOUR IMPACT

At Proxima Fusion, we're developing the world's leading stellarator technology. To turn cutting-edge designs into reality, we need skilled technicians who can bring complex, first-of-a-kind hardware to life. As a Technician at Proxima Fusion, you'll work hands-on with Proxima-designed components, magnets, mechanical assemblies and other critical systems, supporting their build, assembly, integration and testing.

Working closely with Engineering, Manufacturing and Quality, you'll help turn ambitious designs into reliable hardware, solve practical challenges on the shop floor and contribute to developing the processes and tooling needed to build Alpha. This is a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of advanced engineering and hands-on manufacturing, helping build one of Europe's most ambitious engineering projects.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

• Run acceptance and characterization tests across incoming High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) tape, cables, intermediate assemblies, complete plate assemblies, and completed coils, supporting both development and production.

• Prepare and identify test articles by cutting, soldering, terminating, mounting, and fixturing in accordance with the test plan. Install sensors, voltage taps, feedthroughs and measurement wiring with careful grounding and shielding.

• Set up and operate dimensional inspection equipment, electrical instruments, high-current supplies, liquid-nitrogen baths, cryostats, cryocooler-based rigs and vacuum systems after training and authorization.

• Carry out critical-current and n-value measurements, joint-resistance, insulation-resistance and high-voltage insulation tests, plus visual and dimensional checks, using approved methods.

• Configure data acquisition and check connections, signal quality and instrument settings before each run. Follow test sequences precisely, monitor sample behavior and pause or stop at defined limits or unexpected conditions.

• Maintain full traceability of sample identity, test configuration, instrument settings, raw data, observations and deviations so that results and setups can be reproduced.

• Check data for completeness and plausibility, reduce and present results clearly, and compare them with defined acceptance criteria. Record all deviations, elevate suspect results or failures, and obtain approval before changing acceptance criteria.

• Troubleshoot test setups, wiring, instrumentation, and data acquisition. Distinguish test-article behavior from measurement faults, involving equipment technicians for machinery or rig repairs beyond approved routine care.

• Keep rigs ready for testing through pre-use checks, calibration-status verification, approved routine care and consumables management. Coordinate servicing and calibration, and recheck the test configuration after maintenance.

• Commission new fixtures with design and test engineering, and help turn development setups into documented, repeatable operations.

• Support failure investigations through post-test inspection and, when authorized in an agreed investigation plan, sectioning and other destructive examination.

WHO YOU ARE

• A technical apprenticeship or qualification in electronics, mechatronics, laboratory work or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.

• Hands-on testing, laboratory or measurement experience in an industrial, research or engineering environment.

• Practical electrical measurement skills.

• The ability to read engineering drawings and wiring diagrams and work precisely to a formal test procedure.

• Experience using data-acquisition systems and basic data reduction, with accurate record-keeping and the judgment to question implausible results.

• A disciplined approach to safety, configuration control and traceability.

• The ability to work across teams, communicate observations clearly and adapt as hardware and test methods develop.

• Working English for following procedures, recording results and discussing technical findings.

• Ln2 Experience

Nice to have

• Experience with superconductoring, high or low temperature, cables or magnets, including critical-current measurements.

• High-current DC testing or quench detection.

• Experience with cryogenic testing, liquid nitrogen or helium, cryocoolers or vacuum systems.

• Specialist low-level instrumentation experience, including voltage taps, feedthroughs, sensor mounting, grounding and shielding.

• CAD literacy for reviewing or developing test fixtures.

• Python or LabVIEW for test automation, data handling, and plotting.

• German language skills.

INTERVIEW PROCESS

• Recruiter Interview (30-60 min)

• Technical Screening (30 min)

• Technical Panel (3x60 min)

• CEO call (30 min)

This job would require frequent travels to our office in Villigen ( Zurich, CH)

*This role sits at "L3" of our framework, please inquire during the recruitment process for further information.

At Proxima Fusion, our mission is bold: making limitless clean energy a reality. To get there, we need a high-performing, diverse team that brings different perspectives, challenges assumptions, and builds together with purpose. We know that diversity of thought and experience leads to better ideas, stronger execution, and a more resilient team. We don’t look at how you identify, what you look like, who you choose to worship or what ethnicity you are. We care about what you can bring to the table.