Principal Test Equipment Design Engineer

Associates Systems LLC; Tucson (AZ); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401K

Paid time off

Job summary

Associates Systems LLC is seeking a Principal Test Equipment Design Engineer based in the United States, Arizona. The ideal candidate will provide leadership in design and development of advanced test platforms and automated test architectures for defense programs.

The role requires at least 8 years of engineering experience, with strong skills in electrical design and test equipment development. Applicants must be U.S. citizens and able to obtain an Interim Secret clearance.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of relevant engineering experience.
• Experience in an engineering design and development environment.
• 4+ years of direct experience with test equipment design and development.
• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Ability to obtain Interim Secret clearance prior to start.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, integration, and deployment of complex factory test systems.
• Develop test hardware, software, and/or firmware from requirements definition through manufacturing or customer deployment.
• Support test capabilities across power, RF, analog, digital, hardware, software, and firmware domains.
• Design and support customized and COTS Automatic Test Equipment systems.

Skills

Electrical design

Test equipment development

Software automation

Technical leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics

Tools

TestStand

LabWindows/CVI

LabVIEW

MS Project

Jira

Confluence

Job description

All Qualified candidates will be responded to in 24 hours or less. Interim Secret required prior to start. Employment type: Full Time W-2 or Contract. Rate: open to Negotiation. Benefits: including Health, Dental Vision, PTO, Holidays, 401K, etc.

Principal Test Equipment Design Engineer

Location: Tewksbury, MA

Schedule: Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM–5:00 PM

Clearance: Interim Secret required prior to start; active/transferable U.S. security clearance preferred

Citizenship: U.S. Citizenship required

Role Summary

We are seeking a Principal Test Equipment Design Engineer to support the development of advanced test platforms, factory test systems, and automated test architectures for defense programs.

This role is suited for an engineer with a strong background in electrical design, test equipment development, software automation, and technical leadership. The engineer will support the full test equipment lifecycle, from requirements definition and architecture through design, integration, verification, deployment, troubleshooting, and final sell‑off in production or field/depot environments.

The work may include analog, digital, RF, high‑power, embedded software, firmware, ATE, COTS instrumentation, custom fixtures, interface cabling, and harnessing.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, integration, and deployment of complex factory test systems.
• Develop test hardware, software, and/or firmware from requirements definition through manufacturing or customer deployment.
• Support test capabilities across power, RF, analog, digital, hardware, software, and firmware domains.
• Design and support customized and COTS Automatic Test Equipment systems.
• Support custom electro‑mechanical fixtures, interface assemblies, cabling, harnessing, and test architectures.
• Work with engineering, production, operations, and external partners to define test capability and capacity needs.
• Identify test readiness issues, technical risks, and optimization opportunities throughout the development lifecycle.
• Lead medium‑to‑large technical teams to meet project budget, schedule, and performance commitments.
• Provide technical direction, mentoring, and work assignment support to engineers and junior team members.
• Support manufacturing operations through hands‑on troubleshooting and debugging of test systems.
• Collaborate with design engineering teams to resolve production, lab, and deployment issues.
• Prepare and present project status to functional leadership, program leadership, and stakeholder groups.
• Track and report cost, schedule, financial, earned value, risk, and opportunity status.
• Contribute technical, cost, and schedule inputs for bid and proposal efforts.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of relevant engineering experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, or related technical field typically required.
• Experience in an engineering design and development environment.
• 4+ years of direct experience with test equipment design and development.
• Experience leading technical teams, engineering projects, or multi‑discipline technical efforts.
• Experience with test hardware, test software, firmware, integration, verification, or deployment.
• Experience supporting production, manufacturing, factory test, lab test, or field/depot test environments.
• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Ability to obtain Interim Secret clearance prior to start.

Preferred Qualifications

• Active and transferable U.S. government security clearance.
• Experience with National Instruments tools such as TestStand, LabWindows/CVI, and/or LabVIEW.
• Experience with digital, analog, RF, and/or power supply test hardware design.
• Experience with commercial test and measurement equipment, including oscilloscopes, DMMs, network analyzers, power supplies, and related lab instrumentation.
• Experience with automation of commercial test equipment.
• Experience with project management tools such as MS Project, Jira, Confluence, and EVMS tracking software.
• Strong decision‑making, troubleshooting, and technical problem‑solving skills.
• Experience supporting ATE, COTS test systems, custom fixtures, cabling, harnessing, or production test architectures.
• Experience communicating technical status, risks, schedules, and execution plans to engineering and program leadership.