Test Engineer, R&D
Aurelius Systems · San Francisco
Who We Are:
Aurelius Systems is a VC backed defense tech startup building autonomous, edge deployed directed energy systems for counter-UAS. We build laser weapons to shoot down drones.
We're a small team of engineers, former US military operators, and subject matter experts scaling America's directed energy dominance. The first cost effective, reliable and robust laser weapon system.
Our namesake isn't an accident. Marcus Aurelius wrote about doing the work in front of you, every day, without excuses. Henry Ford didn't wait for permission to reinvent manufacturing. That's how we operate — small team, unreasonable output, no hiding behind the unachievable.
In addition to our San Francisco lab, we’ve opened a Detroit manufacturing hub and we field test weekly on our own 400-acre private range.
The Role & Your Impact:
We're hiring a Test Engineer, R&D to build our test infrastructure from the ground up: test automation, harnessing, simulation, and HITL environments.
You'll work closely with hardware, software, and electrical teams to define what needs testing and why, then build the tooling to test it. You're responsible for the process end to end: Test design, execution, analysis, and driving design through findings.
If you're driven to understand how and why robotic systems strain, and to catch these strains before they fail, we'd love to meet you.
What You'll Own:
Testing end-to-end: setup, operation, data collection, teardown, post-test analysis, and failure writeups
Wire test electronics, build harnesses, instrumentation setups, and test fixtures
Develop automated test procedures in Python
Debug across firmware, power rails, and electrical — root cause from first principles
Work directly with embedded, electrical, and mechanical engineers to reproduce bugs, validate fixes, and prevent regressions
Develop test plans, acceptance criteria, and readiness gates as we move from prototype to production
Partner with the hardware team on DFM and production readiness
Build HIL and SIL test environments
Enforce safety procedures in high-power, high-voltage testing environments
What We're Looking For:
Strong electrical wiring and bench skills — scopes, logic analyzers, power supplies, DMMs, harness fabrication
Python or scripting for test automation. You build your own tools.
Strong debugging instincts across firmware, power rails, and electrical
Comfort with DFM concepts — you understand how production constraints shape what's testable
Performance, reliability, and safety testing as a combined skill set. You know how to stress a system, log what breaks, and define pass/fail criteria that actually matter.
Clear written communication around failures and root cause. Your test reports tell a story, not just a data dump.
Robotics or defense companies with real electromechanical products where you wrote test code and wired test setups.
Not a fit if: Your test experience is purely environmental/mechanical (vibe table, thermal chamber operator). Your debugging stops at the firmware layer. You've only operated someone else's test infrastructure. You've never wired your own bench setup. Your test experience lives entirely in Jira.
Nice-to-Haves:
HIL or SIL test environment build experience (we'll need to build these — having done it before is a plus, but not required day one)
MIL-STD, DO-178, or other safety critical testing standards exposure (even if informal)
Environmental, vibration, thermal, or shock testing exposure
High-voltage or high-power test environment experience
Familiarity with ITAR-controlled systems or working in cleared environments
Active security clearance or ability to obtain one
Education:
BS in Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Aerospace, or equivalent. Equivalent hands-on experience also considered.
What you've built matters more than where you went to school.
How You Operate:
Extreme bias for action. You'd rather build a prototype tomorrow than model it for a month
Rigorous testing mindset. You characterize your own systems before the field does
Comfortable with ambiguity and fast, constantly iterating in a startup environment
Your brain only releases dopamine when you're building
You debug from first principles, not Stack Overflow
Clear communicator across mechanical, electrical, optical, and software teams
Self-directed. You identify what needs to happen next and do it without being told
Why Join Aurelius Systems?
Build more in 1 month than most engineers build in 1 year. We field test weekly. Your work goes downrange, not into a filing cabinet.
Career velocity is real. At ~10 engineers, there are no layers between you and impact.
Work on a problem that actually matters. Small cheap drones are changing warfare. Our laser systems are the asymmetric answer — infinite magazine, near zero cost per shot, scalable to every base, border, facility, and truck.
Join the densest defense startup ecosystem in the country. California is where the next generation of defense companies are being built.
How We Work:
Core hours are Monday through Friday, 9 to 6. When we're sprinting toward a demo or field test, the team ramps up — nights, weekends, whatever it takes to ship. When the sprint lands, we ramp down. We don't manufacture intensity for show.
Benefits:
Competitive salary + equity
United Health Care medical, dental, and vision coverage
Flexible 18 days PTO + 5 sick days
Travel to field test events and range days
Covered daily lunches and office snacks + drinks
E-bike / scooter stipend ( Up to $500)
Direct access to leadership and real ownership over your work
Export Control Notice:
This role requires access to export-controlled information or items that require "U.S. Person" status. As defined by U.S. law, individuals who are any one of the following are considered to be a "U.S. Person": (1) U.S. citizens, (2) legal permanent residents (a.k.a. green card holders), and (3) certain protected classes of asylees and refugees, as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).
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