HIL Engineer

Strativ Group; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Job summary

Strativ Group in the Bay Area is hiring a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) engineer to own the test capability for a new traction motor platform. There is no rig yet; you will build it from the ground up, from room to plant models to an automated validation framework running in a continuous pipeline.

You’ll use Python and C/C++, develop plant models (Simulink), and integrate CI to test every firmware commit. The role offers strong equity, a small team, and the freedom to set the engineering standard

Qualifications

• 3+ years hardware-in-the-loop experience in test capability development.
• Experience building rigs that validate real-time control software and automated test frameworks.
• Proficiency in Python and C/C++.
• Plant modelling in Simulink is a strong plus.
• Familiarity with automotive validation workflows (OEM/Tier1) is helpful.

Responsibilities

• Specifying and standing up HIL rigs the real time motor control software runs on.
• Develop plant models for a traction motor and inverter with no reference data.
• Create automated test frameworks in Python for embedded software validation.
• Integrate CI and continuous validation pipelines for automatic testing.
• Define test cases for motor control, power electronics and safety features.
• Implement fault injection and coverage for nominal and faulted behaviour.
• Debug across software, firmware and hardware interfaces.
• Define coverage metrics and validation plans at unit, integration and system levels.
• Apply ISO 26262 concepts where they apply.
• Set the engineering standard for future builds.

Skills

Python

C/C++

Hardware-in-the-loop

Tools

dSPACE

NI

Vector

Simulink

Job description

$140,000 - $220,000 + Equity - CA - Bay Area (On site)

We're supporting a venture backed electric motor company building a traction motor that runs with no rare earth magnets in it. It is a drop in replacement, same mounts and the same inverter behind it, so a carmaker can take the magnets and the supply chain risk out of a platform without redesigning around it.

They've raised $30m+, they're under fifty people, and the machine is at C sample going into production with a production contract already signed by a major automotive customers. A global tier one has signed on their onboard charger alongside it. Several years of development are now turning into a product with delivery dates attached.

They're looking for a HIL engineer to own the entire test capability. There is no rig today. The person who takes this seat builds it, from an empty room through plant models and hardware to an automated framework running in a continuous validation pipeline.

What you'll work on

• Specifying and standing up the HIL rigs the real time motor control software runs on
• Plant models for a traction motor and inverter with no reference data anywhere, because nobody has run this machine before
• Automated test frameworks in Python for embedded software validation
• CI integration and continuous validation pipelines, so every firmware commit is tested without anybody pressing a button
• Test cases for motor control algorithms, power electronics and safety critical features
• Fault injection and coverage of faulted as well as nominal behaviour
• Debugging across the software, firmware and hardware interfaces
• Coverage metrics and validation plans at unit, integration and system level
• ISO 26262 concepts where they apply
• Setting the standard for what counts as validated before a build goes on a vehicle

What we're looking for

You'll bring 3+ years in hardware in the loop, and both halves of the discipline rather than one or the other: building rigs that validate real time control software, and writing the automated test frameworks that run against them. Python plus C or C++. The dSPACE, NI and Vector ecosystems all translate, as does anything you have built yourself. Plant modelling in Simulink is a strong plus, and so is having correlated a model against real hardware. Automotive OEM and tier one validation, electric aviation, robotics and embedded systems test backgrounds all work. What matters is that you have built a capability rather than operated somebody'else.

Why this role

• There is no rig, so you build the capability outright rather than inherit one
• Under fifty people, so no test manager above you deciding what gets built
• You sit inside the controls and firmware team rather than alongside it as a QA function
• Generation one hardware, so your decisions become the platform rather than a revision to it
• A machine nobody has ever run, which makes your models and your bench the ground truth
• Set the engineering standard for everyone hired after you
• Strong base, meaningful equity and comprehensive benefits

This is a build from nothing seat for a HIL engineer who is tired of writing scripts against somebody else's bench and wants the whole thing.