Senior Test Engineer - Turbine Test Facility & Campaigns

Approach Venture; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Company-paid medical/dental/vision

Lunch provided

Job summary

Approach Venture LLC in El Segundo, CA is hiring first dedicated test engineer to create the test program for a new MW-class turbine power system. You will build the test floor, stands, and data pipeline for safe, repeatable campaigns, from initial assembly to scalable testing across disciplines.

The role is hands-on from day one, involving testing of high-temperature hardware, for a megawatt-class unit, with equity and on-site collaboration with a small, senior team.

Qualifications

• B.S. or higher in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Track record running hardware test campaigns, including commissioning rotating machinery or high-pressure, high-temperature systems
• Strong hands-on skills on both the mechanical and electrical side of a test setup
• Solid grounding in sensors, instrumentation, and data acquisition
• Comfort working across mechanical, fluid, electrical, and software interfaces to find root causes
• Clear communicator and natural leader who enjoys picking up new skills and teaching them to others

Responsibilities

• Specify and stand up the company's first dedicated test facility, covering floor layout, utilities, safety systems, and the infrastructure needed for high-pressure, high-temperature hardware
• Design, build, and maintain test stands, rigs, and fixtures for development units and production hardware
• Author test plans, operating procedures, and methods that make every campaign safe and repeatable
• Select instrumentation and build out the data acquisition, recording, and storage systems behind each test
• Get hands-on during assembly, wiring, and commissioning of the first machine and its supporting stands
• Process and analyze test results, then turn them into clear findings for the design, controls, and systems teams
• Run test logistics so instrumentation, fixtures, spares, and consumables are ready ahead of each campaign
• Work across mechanical, fluids, electrical, and software disciplines to troubleshoot hardware and close out issues quickly

Skills

Sensors & DAQ

Hands-on mechanical

Hands-on electrical

Leadership & communication

Education

B.S. or higher in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering or related field

Tools

Python

LabVIEW

cRIO

DAQ systems

Job description

Senior Test Engineer - Stand Up the Test Program for MW-Class Turbine Power Systems

El Segundo, CA | On-site

Opportunity Summary

We are hiring our first dedicated test engineer to create the test program for a new class of turbine-based power systems. Working directly with the founding team, you will take an empty floor and turn it into a working test operation: specifying the facility, designing the stands that hold the hardware, writing the procedures that keep people safe, and building the data pipeline that turns every run into an engineering decision.

This role is hands-on from day one. You will be on the floor for assembly, wiring, and first spin of the initial machine, then carry what you learn into the systems and standards the team will rely on as testing scales from development units toward production.

About Us

We are a venture-backed, seed-stage energy hardware company in the South Bay building compact turbine power systems that convert heat into dispatchable electricity, with on-site power for data centers among our first markets. Our founders come from propulsion, defense, and industrial turbine programs and bring more than five decades of combined design, analysis, and test experience. A megawatt-class unit is in development to run on natural gas first, with a near-term path to pairing with nuclear heat sources.

Job Duties

• Specify and stand up the company's first dedicated test facility, covering floor layout, utilities, safety systems, and the infrastructure needed for high-pressure, high-temperature hardware
• Design, build, and maintain test stands, rigs, and fixtures for development units and production hardware
• Author test plans, operating procedures, and methods that make every campaign safe and repeatable
• Select instrumentation and build out the data acquisition, recording, and storage systems behind each test
• Get hands-on during assembly, wiring, and commissioning of the first machine and its supporting stands
• Process and analyze test results, then turn them into clear findings for the design, controls, and systems teams
• Run test logistics so instrumentation, fixtures, spares, and consumables are ready ahead of each campaign
• Work across mechanical, fluids, electrical, and software disciplines to troubleshoot hardware and close out issues quickly

Qualifications

• B.S. or higher in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related discipline
• Track record running hardware test campaigns, including commissioning rotating machinery or high-pressure, high-temperature systems
• Strong hands-on skills on both the mechanical and electrical side of a test setup
• Solid grounding in sensors, instrumentation, and data acquisition
• Comfort working across mechanical, fluid, electrical, and software interfaces to find root causes
• Clear communicator and natural leader who enjoys picking up new skills and teaching them to others

Preferred Experience

• Built a test cell, lab, or full test facility starting from an empty space
• Test background in rotating machinery, combustion, natural gas, cryogenic, or high-pressure and high-temperature systems
• Hazard analysis and test safety work for pressurized or high-energy systems
• Python, LabVIEW, cRIO, or similar DAQ and test software, plus experience organizing large test datasets
• Comfortable reading and building from P&IDs
• Combustion rig or burner management system experience
• Instrumenting rotating machinery, such as vibration, speed, and bearing temperature measurement
• Previous early-stage startup experience

Why Join Us

• Define how the company tests hardware, with no legacy processes to work around
• Work side by side with technical founders and a small, senior engineering team
• Real hardware on the floor and a megawatt-class machine headed to test
• Broad ownership and fast decisions at an early-stage company
• Meaningful early-stage equity
• Company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Stocked kitchen with coffee, snacks, and lunch provided

Compensation Details

$160,000 - $210,000 + equity