Test Program Lead: Compressors & Chiller R&D

Jobtailor; California (MO); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor seeks a hands-on Test Program Owner to lead compressor test campaigns from bare-bay setup through validated performance maps. You will establish test cells, define measurement chains, and drive data-driven design iterations with hardware and software teams.

Responsibilities include writing interlocks and abort criteria for high-speed, high-pressure equipment, managing uncertainty budgets, and translating test results into weekly design changes. Travel and relocation may be required.

Qualifications

• Experience commissioning a test stand from a bare bay, including instrumentation, calibration, shakedown, and first article.
• Experience deliberately taking a machine to failure with sufficient instrumentation to determine the cause.
• Experience owning an uncertainty budget and assessing measurement value.
• Experience writing interlock and abort logic for stored energy, high-pressure, or high-speed systems.
• Experience challenging design-team conclusions based on test data.
• Experience carrying failure investigations through root cause and hardware changes.
• Bonus experience in propulsion and engine testing, including hot fire, spin pit, or green run.
• Bonus experience with rotating machinery testing, including compressors, turbines, or motor test benches.
• Bonus experience with data acquisition and rig control, including LabVIEW, NI, or PLC-based stands.
• Bonus experience with thermal and refrigeration performance testing, including COP mapping or calorimetry.

Responsibilities

• Own the test program ownership for compressors, from first spin on the stand to a validated performance map.
• Specify and establish test cells from an empty bay, including motor test bench, high-pressure gas loop, load bank, and instrumentation.
• Define the measurement chain and uncertainty budget for isentropic efficiency and COP measurements.
• Write test plans, interlocks, and abort criteria for high-speed and high-pressure machinery.
• Convert test data into weekly design changes as part of the design loop.
• Collaborate within teams spanning hardware and software to build AI compute infrastructure.

Skills

Test Program Ownership

Measurement Uncertainty Budgeting

Failure Investigation

Interlock Logic Writing

Data Acquisition

Tools

LabVIEW

NI

PLC-Based Stands

High-Pressure Gas Loops

Motor Test Bench

Job description

Jobtailor seeks a hands-on Test Program Owner to lead compressor test campaigns from bare-bay setup through validated performance maps. You will establish test cells, define measurement chains, and drive data-driven design iterations with hardware and software teams.

Responsibilities include writing interlocks and abort criteria for high-speed, high-pressure equipment, managing uncertainty budgets, and translating test results into weekly design changes. Travel and relocation may be required.