About the roleAs the Manager of Hardware System Validation, you will lead a 0 to 1 initiative to build out Applied Intuition's hardware system validation department. You will own hardware validation and reliability testing across automotive, trucking, defense, construction, mining, and agriculture products. Working directly with external automotive and defense customers, you will hire, scale, and lead a multidisciplinary validation team spanning electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, software automation, and systems engineering to ensure all hardware hits our strict KPI and quality targets.
At Applied Intuition, you will:- Build the hardware system validation function from 0 to 1 and scale the team cross-functionally
- Define, architect, and execute system test plans and reliability validation processes across all hardware products
- Hire and direct a validation engineering team across electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, software automation, and systems engineering
- Work directly with external customers to translate operational requirements into rigorous hardware validation test specs
- Ensure all physical AI hardware products hit strict electrical, mechanical, environmental, and system-level KPIs
- Develop automated test execution scripts and software pipelines to streamline test coverage and hardware validation cycles
We're looking for someone who has:- BS or MS degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field
- 10+ years of experience in hardware system validation, testing, and reliability engineering
- 5+ years of experience leading and managing cross-functional technical teams (Electrical, Mechanical, Automation, and Systems Engineers)
- Mixed product background spanning consumer electronics and one or more target sectors: automotive, trucking, defense, construction, mining, or agriculture
- Deep expertise defining hardware system test requirements, environmental reliability tests, and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) validation setups
- Hands-on coding proficiency in Python, C++, or scripting languages for test automation, data analysis, and hardware control
Nice to have:- Hands-on experience shipping high-complexity hardware in both early-stage startup (0 to 1) and mass-production environments
- Familiarity with automotive reliability standards (e.g., ISO 16750, AEC-Q100) or MIL-STD environmental testing protocols
- Strong commitment to customer success and raising technical quality bars across complex hardware platforms
Don't meet every single requirement? If you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.
