Test Engineer

Brightsmith; Greater London; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Brightsmith in London is seeking a Test & Validation Engineer to advance a flow battery platform from lab-scale into scalable stacks. You will build and test rigs, break and fix designs, and generate actionable data for the engineering team.

The role is hands-on, spanning cells, components and subsystems, with emphasis on validating performance and drive for the next design iteration. Ideal for engineers who enjoy practical experimentation and scale-up challenges.

Qualifications

• Experience testing physical hardware in an R&D, product development or engineering environment.
• Degree in Mechanical, Chemical or Electrical Engineering or related discipline.
• Experience with LabVIEW, Python, MATLAB and hardware test workflows.

Responsibilities

• Design and run experimental test programmes.
• Build, improve and troubleshoot test rigs.
• Test electrical, mechanical, thermal, fluidic and pressure systems; work with sensors and DAQ systems.
• Analyse test data and translate results into engineering actions.
• Investigate failures to determine root cause and drive iterations.

Skills

Hands-on testing

Curious & practical

Data analysis

Education

Engineering degree (Mechanical, Chemical or Electrical)

Tools

LabVIEW

Python

MATLAB

PLCs

Arduino

Raspberry Pi

Automated testing

Design of Experiments

Job description

Test & Validation Engineer | Flow Battery Technology | London

Want to work on technology that could play a real role in the future of long-duration energy storage?

I’m working with a fast-growing energy technology company developing a next-generation flow battery platform, and we’re looking for a Test & Validation Engineer to join the team as they move from laboratory development into larger-scale stacks and repeatable engineering builds.

This is definitely not a sit-behind-a-desk testing role.

We’re looking for someone who enjoys getting hands-on with hardware — building test rigs, breaking things, figuring out why they broke, improving them, and generating the data that tells the engineering team what to do next.

You’ll be working across cells, components, stacks and wider subsystems, helping answer some pretty important questions:

Does performance at cell level translate when we scale it up?

Why did this component fail?

Can we trust and repeat this result?

What needs to change in the next design iteration?

Is this technology ready to move to the next stage?

What you’ll be getting involved in:

• Designing and running experimental test programmes
• Building, improving and troubleshooting test rigs
• Testing electrical, mechanical, thermal, fluidic and pressure systems
• Working with sensors, instrumentation and DAQ systems
• Analysing test data and turning it into practical engineering decisions
• Investigating failures and getting to the root cause
• Developing better test methods, SOPs and validation plans
• Working closely with electrochemists, mechanical engineers, materials scientists and systems engineers
• Helping automate and improve testing as the technology scales

What are we looking for?

• Ideally, you’ll have experience testing physical hardware within an R&D, product development or engineering environment, alongside a degree in Mechanical, Chemical or Electrical Engineering or a related discipline.
• Experience within batteries, flow batteries, fuel cells, electrolysers or another electrochemical technology would be a big plus, but it isn't essential.
• We’d also love to speak to people with experience across areas such as LabVIEW, Python, MATLAB, PLCs, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, automated testing, electrochemical testing or Design of Experiments.
• The biggest thing? You’re curious, practical and hands-on. You like understanding why something happened rather than simply recording that it did.
• It’s a brilliant opportunity to join an early-stage technology company at the point where testing becomes critical to scale-up, validation and ultimately commercialisation.

Energy Storage / Flow Batteries

Interested, or know someone who could be a good fit? Drop me a message and I’d be happy to tell you more.