Integration Engineer - Hands

1X; San Carlos (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental and vision

PTO & parental leave

401(k) match

FSA / HSA options

Commuter benefits

Disability & life insurance

Employee assistance program

Onsite meals

Job summary

1X is building humanoid robots for real-world home use, and the Hands team develops the dexterous hands that power NEO. The Hardware Test Engineer will create the tests, software, and fixtures needed to validate hand actuators and sensors on the production line.

You will work across hardware, firmware, and software interfaces, turning observed faults into clear root-cause analyses and scalable testing processes for high-cycle validation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronics, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
• 5+ years of professional hardware test, validation, or manufacturing test engineering.
• Experience writing software for test and test automation, including pass/fail scripts, data logging, and plotting.
• Strong electromechanical fundamentals: motors, encoders, gearing, and friction.
• Comfort working in Linux, SSH, and troubleshooting disks and networks.
• Hands-on bench experience with oscilloscopes, multimeters, power supplies, thermocouples, load cells, wiring, and fixturing.
• Embedded and firmware literacy: build/flash firmware and read C/C++ to trace faults.
• Working knowledge of Git, including branching and clean merge requests.

Responsibilities

• Build and own tests that prove NEO's hands work, develop test software, stations, and procedures.
• Bridge bench and production line, translating test results into root causes and scalable tests.
• Create pass/fail scripts, log data, and plots for repeatable hand actuator validation.
• Own test PCs and production stations, keep them healthy and networked.
• Turn failures into root-cause summaries to drive design and process fixes.
• Design test fixtures and jigs to speed validation of hands and actuators.

Job description

About 1X

We’re building humanoid robots that work in home - doing the chores, handling the tasks, and giving people their time back. Simple, but it’s not.

To do this right, we have to solve robotics, AI, manufacturing - at the same time, at scale, in a form factor that has to be safe enough to live with your family. If you’re inspired by this, you’ll thrive here. We’ve been at this since 2014 and we’re at the point where the hard problems are behind us and the hard work is in front of us.

NEO is our flagship - a home robot designed to move, learn, and operate in the real world alongside real people. We’re not demoing it - we’re shipping it. We’re excited to meet you, if this excites you.

If you’ve spent your career working on problems that matter and want to see them actually reach the world - this is that moment. We’re scaling, we’re hiring with intention, and we need people who want to build something that will genuinely change how humans spend their time - safely creating abundance for all.

About the Team

The Hands team builds the hands that let NEO grasp, manipulate, and help around the home. Packed with motors, encoders, gearing, and sensors, NEO’s hands are among the most dexterous and highest-cycle subsystems on the robot, and every one of them has to be proven before it ships.

Test engineering sits at the center of that work, from early bench characterization and design validation through production test and field returns. We partner closely with electrical, firmware, mechanical, and manufacturing engineering to make sure what we design is what we build, and that it keeps working.

Your Charter

Build and own the tests that prove NEO’s hands work. You will develop the test software, stations, and procedures that characterize hand actuators and sensors, catch failures early, and keep production moving with confidence.

As a Hardware Test Engineer, you’ll bridge the bench and the production line, understanding what each test is actually measuring, turning raw data into clear root causes, and building tests that technicians can run reliably at scale.

Key Outcomes

• Build automated pass/fail test scripts that log data and generate plots to characterize hand actuators, encoders, and sensors with repeatable, trustworthy results
• Own and maintain test PCs and production stations, keeping them healthy, networked, and running validated software
• Turn failures into answers by pulling logs, pinpointing the moment a failure happened, and writing clear root-cause summaries that drive design and process fixes
• Write repeatable procedures and build tests that technicians can run safely and consistently on live production equipment
• Design and build test fixtures and jigs that speed up validation of hands, grippers, and high-cycle actuators

Key Competencies

• Strong electromechanical intuition with a clear understanding of what a test is actually measuring, not just how to run it
• Rigorous, data-driven debugging with the ability to trace a fault from a log or waveform back to its source in hardware, firmware, or the test itself
• Production mindset: careful with live equipment, disciplined about procedures, and focused on repeatability
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills and comfort working across hardware, firmware, and software boundaries
• Ownership mindset with a bias toward execution, accountability, and continuous improvement

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Computer Engineering, or a related field
• 5+ years of professional experience in hardware test, validation, or manufacturing test engineering
• Experience writing software for test and test automation, including pass/fail test scripts, data logging, and plotting
• Strong electromechanical fundamentals: motors (FOC basics, torque, current, back-EMF), encoders, gearing, and friction
• Comfort working in Linux, including SSH, process and service management, and troubleshooting disks and networks
• Hands-on bench experience with oscilloscopes, multimeters, power supplies, thermocouples, load cells, wiring, and fixturing
• Embedded and firmware literacy: able to build and flash firmware onto boards and read C/C++ well enough to trace a fault back to its source
• Working knowledge of Git, including branching, keeping branches up to date with main, and opening clean merge requestss

Preferred Skills

• Robotics experience, ideally with robotic hands, grippers, or high-cycle actuators
• Basic fixture design experience, including CAD and 3D printing for test jigs
• Experience building automated test infrastructure, CI/CD workflows, or hardware-in-the-loop validation systems
• Experience supporting manufacturing, deployment, or field operations for complex products
• Familiarity with ROS, robotic middleware, or real-time distributed control systems

What does a successful 1X Team Member look like?

Team members at 1X who thrive here are builders. They move fast, own their work completely, and treat time like it’s the one thing you can’t get back - because it is. They say what they mean, finish what they start, and hold themselves to a standard before anyone has to ask. We push each other to be better, and we do it with honesty and respect.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Generous paid time off, company holidays, and parental leave
• 401(k) plan with company match (100% on the first 3% of contributions, 50% on the next 2%)
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA) options
• Commuter benefits (transit and parking)
• Short-term and long-term disability, and life insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for mental health, financial, and personal support
• Onsite snacks and catered lunches

Equal Opportunity Employer

1X is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, marital status, medical condition, genetic information, disability, military or veteran status, justice system impact, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.