Hardware Test and Automation Engineer I

Inversion; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 77,000 - 116,000; Full time

Job summary

Inversion, an aerospace and defense leader headquartered in Los Angeles, seeks a Hardware Test and Automation Engineer to advance simulation, testing, and automation of EGSE and HIL workflows. You will join a team delivering rapid, repeatable development and deployment for flight software and hardware.

Responsibilities include building automated scripts, emulators, and hardware integration for SIL/HIL testing, plus developing reusable APIs and harnesses to enable fast validation across the

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a technical field or equivalent experience.
• 1+ years hardware experience with hands-on systems.
• Scripting in Python, Lua, Bash, or PowerShell.
• Embedded languages such as C/C++ or Rust.
• Experience with Linux-based systems.

Responsibilities

• Automate provisioning, deployment, execution, operation, and logging tasks.
• Develop automated test scripts for flight software and hardware systems.
• Create device API wrappers for EGSE equipment.
• Develop emulators for flight hardware for SIL/HIL testing.
• Integrate hardware for HIL simulation workflows and troubleshoot interfaces.
• Contribute to a simulation system that provisions and deploys resources automatically.

Skills

Python

Lua

Bash

PowerShell

C/C++

Rust

Linux

Hardware integration

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/CE or equivalent

Tools

ROS 2

Docker

Docker Compose

Git

InfluxDB

Prometheus

NATS

Apache Kafka

RabbitMQ

Webots

Orocos

YARP

Job description

Inversion is an aerospace and defense company pioneering advanced reentry technology to enable next-generation capabilities from space. By combining high-performance materials, precision aerodynamics, and mission-driven autonomy, Inversion is transforming reentry into an operational capability for an entirely new class of missions.

The company’s highly maneuverable reentry spacecraft, Arc, is designed for rapid global cargo delivery, hypersonic testing, and other national security missions that require precise, controlled flight through the atmosphere. Arc creates an entirely new transportation domain, unlocking unprecedented speed and global reach.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, Inversion designs, manufactures, and integrates its spacecraft under one roof, enabling the company to move rapidly from concept to flight. The company is backed by leading investors including Y Combinator, Spark Capital, and Lockheed Martin Ventures, with customers across the U.S. government and commercial space industry.

Position Overview:

As a Hardware Test and Automation Engineer at Inversion, you will work as part of the simulation team to build, test, maintain, and develop the automated software and hardware systems that support the simulation and test environments for our flight systems. The simulation team is responsible for ensuring that flight software and flight hardware can be continuously integrated and tested under realistic flight conditions. You will play a key role in the automation of electrical ground support equipment (EGSE) and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test benches that will enable fast, repeatable development and deployment workflows across the engineering stack. Your work will empower Inversion’s engineering teams to iterate rapidly throughout the development life cycle and will strengthen Inversion’s ability to put our products into the hands of our customers with unprecedented speed and agility.

• Automate provisioning, deployment, execution, operation, and logging tasks to optimize resource utilization and allocation
• Develop automated test scripts to support qualification efforts for our flight software and hardware systems
• Develop device API wrappers for EGSE equipment (e.g.: to control power supplies, oscilloscopes, etc., via automated test scripts)
• Develop emulators for flight hardware to support software-in-the-loop (SIL) and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing
• Integrate electronics hardware needed to enable on-demand, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation workflows (this includes building custom harnessing, performing safe to mate procedures, safely powering-up components, troubleshooting hardware interfaces, etc.)
• Contribute to the design and development of a simulation system capable of automatically provisioning and deploying resources to support simulation workflows

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree incomputer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering or equivalent technical experience
• Typically 1+ years of applicable hands-on experience of hardware experience
• Proficiency in one or more scripting languages (Python, Lua, Bash, PowerShell, etc.)
• Proficiency in one or more embedded languages (C/C++, Rust, etc.)
• Experience with Linux-based systems
• Experience handling and integrating unhoused/open-frame custom electronics and prototype hardware
• Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience withdata acquisition and logging
• Experience with robotics middleware and autonomy stacks (ROS 2, Webots, Orocos, YARP, etc.)
• Familiarity with modern DevOps practices
• Familiarity with time-series databases (InfluxDB, QuestDB, Prometheus, etc.)
• Familiarity with message-oriented middleware (NATS, Apache Kafka, RabbitMQ, etc.)
• Familiarity with containerization (Docker, Docker Compose, etc.)

Our office headquarters is located in Playa Vista, CA. This position requires in office presence.

California annual base salary for this role is currently $77,000 -$116,000. Pay Grades are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual pay will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: interviews and an assessment of several factors that are unique to each candidate, job-related skills, relevant education and experience, certifications, abilities of the candidate and internal equity.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here .

Inversion provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, veteran status, or disability.

Inversion collects and processes personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws. If you are a US Job Applicant see the CCPA Privacy Policy Notice for further details.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in Inversion’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.