Electrical & Firmware Test Engineer

Linuxconfig; Fremont, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Dexmate seeks an Electrical & Firmware Test Engineer to validate power systems, batteries, boards, harnesses, and motor controllers in real robots. You will build and maintain HIL rigs and run tests to catch issues before customers see them.

This hands-on role focuses on bench and lab work, with emphasis on practical debugging. You should have a strong hardware test background, be proficient in Python for automation, and comfortable working with CAN, EtherCAT, and Ethernet.

Qualifications

• BS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent hands-on experience — proven test and debug work matters more to us than the degree
• 4+ years of hands-on experience in electrical validation, hardware test, or embedded test for robotics, automotive, industrial, or consumer electronics
• Strong bench skills: oscilloscopes, current probes, power analyzers, electronic loads, thermal cameras
• Ability to read schematics and debug at board level
• Experience testing power electronics, battery systems, or motor drives
• Proficiency in Python for test automation and comfort working in Linux
• Familiarity with embedded systems and communication buses (CAN, SPI, I2C, UART, Ethernet)

Responsibilities

• Define and execute electrical validation plans for power distribution, battery packs and BMS, custom boards, motor drives, sensors, harnesses, and connectors
• Define reliability test flows for PCBAs, harnesses, and connectors, and run them: power cycling, brown-out and fault conditions, high temperature/high humidity, thermal cycling and shock, connector and harness wear, and long-duration burn-in
• Run ESD and EMC pre-compliance testing; support FCC, CE, and UL certification with external labs
• Validate battery safety and performance, and support battery certification (IEC 62133, UN38.3)
• Build and maintain hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test rigs for motor controllers, joint modules, and main compute boards
• Develop automated firmware regression tests covering communications (CAN, EtherCAT, Ethernet), control loops, safety behaviors, and OTA updates
• Perform fault-injection testing to verify error handling and safe-state behavior
• Lead electrical failure analysis at board and system level, working with electrical and firmware engineers to drive fixes
• Write test procedures and maintain test data and reports

Skills

Python for test automation

Embedded systems

Electrical testing

Bench skills

Education

BS in Electrical Engineering or related field

Tools

CAN

EtherCAT

I2C

SPI

UART

Ethernet

Job description

About Dexmate

Dexmate is building the foundation for physical AI — combining a new generation of robots with a universal Physical AI OS, making robots as easy to build and deploy as software. Today, robotics is fragmented, slow, and closed: most builders are forced to reinvent the same stack again and again, and most ideas never make it past the prototype stage. We exist to change that. Our mission is to democratize robotics by lowering the barrier to entry, delivering a plug-and-play platform for developers, researchers, and enterprises, and cultivating an open ecosystem that accelerates the evolution of physical AI.

If you want to help shape the next layer of human capability — and believe the future of robotics should be built together, not in isolation — we'd love to build it with you.

The Role

We are looking for an Electrical & Firmware Test Engineer to make sure the electrical systems and embedded software in Dexmate robots work reliably in the real world. You will own validation of power systems, batteries, boards, harnesses, and motor controllers, and build the hardware-in-the-loop infrastructure that tests our firmware before it reaches a robot. You will find problems before customers do — and help fix them.

This is a hands-on role. You will spend most of your time at the bench and in the lab — probing boards, building rigs, running tests, and debugging failures yourself. We care most about what you have actually built, tested, and debugged.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute electrical validation plans for power distribution, battery packs and BMS, custom boards, motor drives, sensors, harnesses, and connectors

• Define reliability test flows for PCBAs, harnesses, and connectors, and run them: power cycling, brown-out and fault conditions, high temperature/high humidity, thermal cycling and shock, connector and harness flex/wear, and long-duration burn-in

• Run ESD and EMC pre-compliance testing; support FCC, CE, and UL certification with external labs

• Validate battery safety and performance, and support battery certification (IEC 62133, UN38.3)

• Build and maintain hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test rigs for motor controllers, joint modules, and main compute boards

• Develop automated firmware regression tests covering communications (CAN, EtherCAT, Ethernet), control loops, safety behaviors, and OTA updates

• Perform fault-injection testing to verify error handling and safe-state behavior

• Lead electrical failure analysis at board and system level, working with electrical and firmware engineers to drive fixes

• Write test procedures and maintain test data and reports

Minimum Qualifications

• BS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent hands-on experience — proven test and debug work matters more to us than the degree

• 4+ years of hands-on experience in electrical validation, hardware test, or embedded test for robotics, automotive, industrial, or consumer electronics

• Strong bench skills: oscilloscopes, current probes, power analyzers, electronic loads, thermal cameras

• Ability to read schematics and debug at board level

• Experience testing power electronics, battery systems, or motor drives

• Proficiency in Python for test automation and comfort working in Linux

• Familiarity with embedded systems and communication buses (CAN, SPI, I2C, UART, Ethernet)

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building HIL test systems and firmware CI pipelines

• Experience with EtherCAT or real-time motor control systems

• Hands-on EMC/ESD pre-compliance testing and certification experience (FCC, CE, UL)

• Knowledge of battery safety standards (IEC 62133, UN38.3, UL 2271)

• Familiarity with functional safety (ISO 13849, IEC 61508)

• Ability to read and write embedded C/C++