Senior Hardware QA & Reliability Engineer — Rugged IoT

Workshop; Austin, Northern (TX, KY); Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity package

Health insurance

Paid family leave

Unlimited PTO

Strong team culture

Job summary

Drover is seeking a device QA / Test Engineer to ensure reliability of our ear tag system in field conditions. You will design test plans, build fixtures, run environmental and reliability tests, and report results from day one, with opportunity to lead a QA function as we scale.

In this early-stage startup, you’ll work cross-functionally with hardware, firmware, and contract manufacturers to catch failure modes early, maintain calibration records, and turn test data into actionable design and

Qualifications

• Experience in hardware test engineering for physical products (IoT, rugged electronics, wearables, or automotive).
• Experience building test automation, fixtures, or DAQ/instrumentation from scratch.
• Ability to work in early-stage startups with ambiguity.
• Strong data analysis and clear ship/no-ship recommendations.
• Willing to work in-person in Austin.

Responsibilities

• Own the test strategy for the Drover ear tag, from component-level verification through full-unit environmental and reliability testing.
• Help design and manage environmental and reliability tests — thermal cycling, ingress (IP-rating), UV/solar exposure, tumble, impact/drop, vibration, and accelerated life testing (e.g. HALT).
• Build bespoke test rigs, fixtures, and data acquisition setups to automate and scale testing across hundreds of units.
• Write test plans that trace directly back to product and reliability requirements, and deliver clear pass/fail evidence to engineering leadership.
• Partner with hardware, firmware, and our contract manufacturer to catch failure modes early, rather than at end-of-line.
• Maintain calibration records, test versioning, and full traceability across procedures and equipment.
• Analyze test data and turn it into clear, actionable recommendations for design and manufacturing decisions.
• Help stand up quality processes and test infrastructure that scale as we move from seed-stage prototypes to commercial production volume.
• Help with early customer support to resolve early issues, high willingness to put on boots and travel out to ranchers to help debug.

Skills

Hardware testing

QA / reliability validation

Data analysis

Test automation

In-person Austin

Tools

Test rigs

DAQ systems

Instrumentation

Automation scripts

Job description

Drover is seeking a device QA / Test Engineer to ensure reliability of our ear tag system in field conditions. You will design test plans, build fixtures, run environmental and reliability tests, and report results from day one, with opportunity to lead a QA function as we scale.

In this early-stage startup, you’ll work cross-functionally with hardware, firmware, and contract manufacturers to catch failure modes early, maintain calibration records, and turn test data into actionable design and