Integration Engineer - Hands

1X; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 125,000 - 221,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

401(k) with match

Paid time off

FSAs/HSA

Commuter benefits

Disability & life insurance

EAP

Onsite meals

Job summary

1X is hiring a Hardware Test Engineer to build and own the end‑to‑end test suite for NEO's hands and high‑cycle actuators. You will develop test software, stations, and procedures that characterize actuators and sensors, catch failures early, log data, and keep production moving with confidence.

You’ll collaborate with electrical, firmware, mechanical, and manufacturing teams to ensure testability aligns with design intent.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Computer Engineering or related field.
• 5+ years of hardware test, validation, or manufacturing test experience.
• Experience writing software for test, data logging, and plotting.
• Strong electromechanical fundamentals: motors, encoders, gearing, friction.
• Linux experience including SSH, process/service management, and troubleshooting.

Responsibilities

• Build automated pass/fail test scripts with data logging and plotting.
• Own and maintain test PCs and production stations.
• Turn failures into root-cause summaries to drive fixes.
• Write repeatable test procedures for technicians on live equipment.
• Design and build test fixtures and jigs to speed validation of hands and actuators.

Skills

Test software

Lab instrumentation

Electromechanical basics

Linux proficiency

C/C++ tracing

Git workflows

Firmware flashing

Manufacturing test

Education

Bachelor's in Electrical/Mechatronics

Tools

Oscilloscopes

Multimeters

Power supplies

Fixtures & jigs

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.

Compensation

$125.1K – $220.8K Offers Equity