Electrical Engineer, PCBA Test Infrastructure, Robotics

OpenAI, Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

OpenAI is seeking a senior Electrical Engineer to lead PCBA test infrastructure for advanced robotic systems in San Francisco. You will own architecture from design through validation, and oversee deployment at contract manufacturers with cross-functional teams.

You will develop electrical test systems for board bring-up, programming, functional test, and characterization, collaborating with mechanical, firmware, and software groups to ensure repeatability and reliability.

Qualifications

• Independently deliver significant electronics test-system projects from ambiguous requirements through working hardware and validation.
• Hands-on circuit and fixture-interface design, schematic interpretation, board bring-up, power delivery, and instrument integration.
• Debug PCBAs and test hardware using oscilloscopes, meters, logic analyzers, and root-cause investigation.
• Write, debug, and maintain Python code interfacing with real hardware for instrument control and sequencing.

Responsibilities

• Own PCBA test-station architecture including interfaces, programmable power, loads, signal routing, instrumentation, and protection.
• Translate board requirements into test coverage, methods, and pass/fail criteria; collaborate on design for test.
• Design and bring up fixture interface boards, switching circuits, harnesses, and connectors; release schematics and BOMs.
• Integrate test equipment and validate calibration, timing, accuracy, and repeatability across revisions.
• Develop and debug test interfaces such as JTAG/SWD, UART, SPI, I²C, CAN, Ethernet as required.
• Ensure proper grounding, protection, fault recovery, and power sequencing for test hardware.
• Collaborate with mechanical, firmware, and software teams to deploy and maintain stations at contract manufacturers.
• Write test code for instrument control and automated sequences; ensure reliable releases and logging.
• Establish commissioning, calibration, maintenance, and configuration control; track revisions and results.

Skills

Electronics test systems

Circuit & fixture design

PCB bring-up

Python programming

Root-cause analysis

Documentation

Hardware deployment

Education

Electrical Engineering / Computer Engineering / Mechatronics degree or related field

Tools

JTAG/SWD

UART

SPI

I²C

CAN

Ethernet

Oscilloscopes

PCB design tools

Job description

About the Team

Our Robotics team is focused on unlocking general-purpose robotics and pushing towards AGI-level intelligence in dynamic, real-world settings. Working across the entire model stack, we integrate cutting-edge hardware and software to explore a broad range of robotic form factors. We strive to seamlessly blend high-level AI capabilities with the constraints of physical systems to improve peoples’ lives.

About the Role

We are seeking an Electrical Engineer for a senior individual-contributor role leading printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) test infrastructure for advanced robotic systems. You will independently turn evolving requirements into working test stations, make technical tradeoffs, and own delivery from architecture and circuit design through validation, deployment, and reliable operation.

This role combines development-lab work with deployment at contract manufacturers. You will develop electrical test systems for board bring-up, programming, functional test, and characterization, partnering with mechanical, firmware, software, manufacturing, and reliability teams to carry validated stations from prototypes into repeat builds.

This role is based in San Francisco, CA, and requires in-person presence 4 days a week. Travel to contract-manufacturer sites is part of the role, with timing based on build and deployment needs.

In this role, you will:

• Own PCBA test-station architecture, including device-under-test interfaces, programmable power, electronic loads, signal routing, instrumentation, and protection.
• Translate board requirements and likely failure modes into test coverage, measurement methods, and pass/fail criteria. Partner with board designers on design for test, test-point access, programming interfaces, and diagnostics.
• Design and bring up fixture interface boards, switching circuits, harnesses, and connectors. Release schematics, PCB layouts, wiring diagrams, bills of materials, and interface definitions.
• Integrate oscilloscopes, meters, power supplies, loads, and data acquisition hardware; validate calibration, timing, accuracy, and repeatability across stations and board revisions.
• Develop and debug programming and communications interfaces such as JTAG/SWD, UART, SPI, I²C, CAN, and Ethernet as required by the board. Diagnose power, signal-integrity, grounding, and contact problems.
• Design and validate current limiting, power sequencing, ESD protection, interlocks, and fault recovery appropriate to the hardware under test.
• Partner with mechanical engineers on probe access, connector mating, board support, cooling, and serviceability. Work with firmware and software partners to define interfaces and integrate test stations with shared software.
• Write, debug, and maintain test code for instrument control, board programming, automated sequences, diagnostics, and result logging. Collaborate with software partners on reusable frameworks, code reviews, and reliable releases.
• Establish station commissioning, calibration, maintenance, and configuration control. Track board identity and revision, firmware version, test limits, and station configuration with each result.
• Use reference boards, independent measurements, and deliberate fault checks to distinguish board failures from fixture or software errors. Improve test coverage, false-failure rate, cycle time, and station uptime.
• Own test-station deployment and acceptance at contract manufacturers, including station correlation, build support, operator training, and troubleshooting. Release configurations and documentation that keep lab and factory results consistent.

You might thrive in this role if you:

• Have strong intuition for analog and digital circuits, power delivery, electronics debugging, and reliable measurement.
• Move comfortably from architecture and circuit design to soldering, probing, scripting, and troubleshooting in the lab.
• Care about grounding, shielding, contact quality, calibration, and evidence that a test detects the faults it is intended to find.
• Take ownership from prototype through reliable daily operation, balancing rapid iteration with clear documentation and maintainable test systems.

Required qualifications

• Demonstrated ability to independently deliver significant electronics test-system projects from ambiguous requirements through working hardware, validation, and sustained use.
• Hands-on capability in circuit and fixture-interface design, schematic interpretation, board bring-up, power delivery, signal switching, and instrument integration.
• Ability to independently debug PCBAs and test hardware using oscilloscopes, meters, logic analyzers, and systematic root-cause investigation.
• Ability to write, debug, and maintain code that interfaces with real hardware in Python or a comparable language, including instrument control, sequencing, error handling, and structured result logging.
• Practical understanding of grounding, signal integrity, calibration, measurement uncertainty, ESD controls, power sequencing, and electrical protection.
• Ability to release clear test and hardware documentation, coordinate across engineering disciplines, and support hands-on deployment and troubleshooting at contract manufacturers.

Preferred qualifications

• Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Prior PCBA functional-test or automated-test-equipment experience, including design for test, test coverage, fixture correlation, and new-product builds at contract manufacturers.
• Experience with embedded programming, diagnostic firmware, and board interfaces such as JTAG/SWD, UART, SPI, I²C, CAN, or Ethernet.
• Experience with PCB design tools, shared test-automation frameworks, production data systems, or robotics hardware.

What success looks like

• Commission a reusable PCBA test station with documented coverage, acceptance criteria, and traceable results; deploy and validate a reproducible configuration at a contract manufacturer.
• Demonstrate measurement repeatability and intended fault detection using reference boards, independent measurements, and known-fault cases. Track false failures, cycle time, and uptime against agreed improvement targets.
• Release hardware documentation, versioned test code, commissioning checks, and troubleshooting procedures that enable lab and contract-manufacturer teams to reproduce, operate, and maintain the station

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.

For additional information, please see OpenAI’s Affiantive Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement.

Background checks for applicants will be administered in accordance with applicable law, and qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment consistent with those laws, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act, for US-based candidates. For unincorporated Los Angeles County workers: we reasonably believe that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship with the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: protect computer hardware entrusted to you from theft, loss or damage; return all computer hardware in your possession (including the data contained therein) upon termination of employment or end of assignment; and maintain the confidentiality of proprietary, confidential, and non-public information. In addition, job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations.

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