Hardware Test Engineer I, Testbeds & EGSE

ArcTern Ventures; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 127,000 - 148,000; Full time

Job summary

Muon Space in San Jose seeks an early-career Hardware Test Engineer to join our Testbeds & EGSE team, building HITL testbeds and EGSE interfaces for satellite assembly and test. You will work hands-on with electrical, software, and systems engineers to bring up racks, avionics modules, and harnesses.

The role requires onsite work 5 days a week and emphasizes curiosity, rapid learning, and practical problem solving in a Linux-heavy environment.

Qualifications

• 2+ years hands-on hardware in electromechanical systems.
• Background in electrical engineering, embedded software, mechanical, or industrial controls.
• Hardware skills: assembly, wiring, and basic troubleshooting with meters/oscilloscopes.
• Familiar with interfaces: UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, Ethernet.
• Basic scripting or programming: Python or Bash.
• Strong problem-solving and hands-on approach to engineering challenges.
• B.S. in engineering or equivalent hands-on experience.
• Comfort in a Linux-heavy development environment.

Responsibilities

• Build, integrate, and bring up HITL testbed hardware for each mission.
• Assist in design of testbed hardware and next-generation EGSE.
• Translate flight hardware designs into testbed configurations.
• Debug hardware and interfaces across testbeds with cross-disciplinary teams.
• Maintain testbed support infrastructure and respond when systems fail.
• Create and maintain testbed architecture diagrams and build records.
• Coordinate with supply chain and production on testbed inventory.

Skills

Hands-on hardware experience

Electrical engineering background

Embedded software exposure

Scripting (Python or Bash)

Linux environment

Communication & teamwork

Education

B.S. in Engineering or equivalent hands-on experience

Tools

Altium

SolidWorks

Oscilloscopes

Multimeters

Linux tooling

Job description

About the role

Muon seeks an early-career Hardware Test Engineer to join our Testbeds & EGSE team - the group that builds the Hardware-In-The-Loop (HITL) testbeds behind every Muon mission and the electrical ground support equipment (EGSE) used to interface with our satellites during assembly, integration, and test. You'll help build and design this infrastructure alongside the team's senior engineers: assembling and bringing up testbeds for each mission, and contributing to the design of our next generation of EGSE.

This team sits at the crossroads of disciplines, and so can you: engineers with electrical, embedded software, mechanical, or industrial controls backgrounds all thrive here. What matters most is hands-on instinct, curiosity about how the whole system works, and eagerness to learn fast.

Due to the hands-on nature of this role, it requires onsite work at our San Jose location 5x days a week.

Responsibilities

• Build, integrate, and bring up HITL testbed hardware - racks, avionics modules, harnessing, and external interfaces - for each mission
• Assist in the design of testbed hardware and next-generation EGSE used to power, command, and monitor satellites during integration and test
• Work with the electrical missions team to translate flight hardware designs (block diagrams, schematics, drawings) into each mission's testbed configuration
• Debug hardware and interface issues across testbeds, working alongside electrical, software, and systems engineers
• Maintain testbed support infrastructure - power, network, and lab resources - and help respond when systems go down
• Create and maintain documentation: testbed architecture diagrams, build records, and checkout procedures
• Coordinate with supply chain and production teams on testbed inventory and module builds

Required Qualifications

• 2+ years of hands-on experience building, testing, or debugging hardware in a complex electromechanical system (internships and substantial project work considered)
• Background in electrical engineering, embedded software, mechanical engineering, or industrial controls
• Hands-on hardware skills: assembly, wiring, and basic troubleshooting with tools like multimeters and oscilloscopes
• Understanding of electronics fundamentals and common communication interfaces (e.g., UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, Ethernet)
• Basic scripting or programming ability (Python or Bash)
• Strong problem-solving skills and a hands-on approach to engineering challenges
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills, with a strong desire to learn in a fast-paced environment
• B.S. in an engineering discipline or equivalent hands-on experience
• Comfort in a Linux heavy development environment

Nice-to-have Skills

• Experience with HITL testbeds, test labs, or lab automation
• Harness design/assembly experience, or familiarity with electrical CAD (Altium) or mechanical CAD (SolidWorks)
• PCBA assembly and rework experience
• Experience with industrial automation or rack-based electronics and networking
• Aerospace or other high-reliability industry experience

Salary

The salary range for this role is $127,000 - $148,000, plus a competitive equity grant and comprehensive benefits package. Final compensation will be determined based on skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location as assessed during the interview process.

About Muon Space

Founded in 2021, Muon Space is an end-to-end Space Systems Provider that designs, builds, and operates LEO satellite constellations delivering mission-critical data. Our revolutionary, integrated technology stack enables customers to optimize every dimension of their missions for faster time-to-orbit and superior constellation remote sensing performance. Our state-of-the-art facility in the heart of Silicon Valley is optimized for manufacturing spacecraft and rapid, flexible payload integration at scale. From climate monitoring to national security, Muon Space is dedicated to delivering Earth Intelligence for a safer and more resilient world.

Taking Care of Our Team

At Muon salary is only part of our total compensation package. In addition to salary, full-time employees receive equity compensation as well as benefits including medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401k retirement plan, short & long term disability and life insurance. We also offer three weeks paid vacation for new employees, along with 12 paid holidays, unlimited sick time and paid parental leave.

Our mission embraces the entire planet and we believe our team should too. Muon is dedicated to creating a diverse and dynamic company and workforce. We believe in equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, age, national origin, citizenship, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or gender identity. We value diversity in the workplace, and that starts with our applicants. In addition, if you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.

ITAR/EAR Requirements

This position requires access to export controlled information. To conform to U.S. Government export regulations applicable to that information, applicant must either be (A) a U.S. person, defined as a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (green card holder), (iii) refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, (B) eligible to access the export controlled information without a required export authorization, or (C) eligible and reasonably likely to obtain the required export authorization from the applicable U.S. government agency. The Company may, for legitimate business reasons, decline to pursue any export licensing process.