Staff Systems Integration Engineer, Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL)

Atoms

$220K — $280K *
Aerospace & Defense
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in a relevant engineering field or equivalent experience; Master's degree preferred.
  • 8+ years of experience in hardware-in-the-loop or system-level test benches; 6+ years with a Master's.
  • Demonstrated experience in design and commissioning of test benches.
  • Hands-on experience with vehicle networks like CAN, CAN FD, LIN, and Automotive Ethernet.
  • Proficiency in Python and C/C++ with test automation framework development.
  • Experience in robotics middleware and related tooling like ROS.
  • Working knowledge of sensor interfaces like camera serialization and precision time synchronization.

Responsibilities

  • Own the design and construction of system benches, including architecture and physical build.
  • Simulate vehicle systems and generate network traffic for absent controllers.
  • Implement replay of recorded sensor and vehicle data for repeatable tests.
  • Design and maintain automated test frameworks for continuous integration.
  • Execute validation covering fault injection and failure modes for L4 requirements.
  • Decide on build-versus-buy for bench components and manage suppliers.
  • Support cross-functional teams as the main user of the bench and debug system-level failures.
  • Establish engineering standards and lead design reviews for bench documentation.

Benefits

  • Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, and Life Insurance
  • Flexible Spending Account / Health Savings Account Options
  • 401(k) plan
  • Equity awards
  • Unlimited Flexible Time Off and Paid Holidays
  • Paid Parental Leave
  • Pre-Tax Commuter Benefit Plan
  • Team lunches twice a week in-office
Full Job Description
About the role

We are seeking a Staff Systems Integration Engineer to build and own the hardware-in-the-loop system benches that validate our autonomy stack off-vehicle. In this role, you will own the full system bench end to end, from initial architecture and physical build, through commissioning and automation, to daily use by our software and autonomy teams. This is a deeply hands-on role: you will define the bench architecture, build and instrument the hardware, write the automation that runs it, and leave behind strong documentation

What you'll do

  • System Bench Architecture & Build: Own the design and construction of our system benches, including bench topology, electrical architecture, schematic capture, component selection and sourcing, harness design and fabrication, physical build, and commissioning. Establish and document the correlation between bench behavior and vehicle behavior, including where the bench diverges and what that means for test validity.
  • Vehicle & Network Simulation: Simulate the vehicle systems that are not physically present on the bench, so that the autonomy compute operates against a complete simulated vehicle system. This includes generating the network traffic the absent controllers would produce, along with power and ignition states, drive-by-wire actuation, and body and charging behavior across CAN, CAN FD, and Automotive Ethernet. Implement the gateway and signal-override paths that allow an engineer to command any vehicle state, including states the base vehicle cannot readily produce.
  • Sensor Data Replay: Implement replay of recorded sensor and vehicle data into the autonomy compute, time-synchronized to original timestamps and at full rate, so that on-road events become repeatable bench tests. Own the interfaces, data flows, and synchronization across subsystems, beginning with open-loop replay and architecting for closed-loop replay as a follow-on capability.
  • Test Automation & Continuous Integration: Design and maintain the automated test frameworks that allow bench execution to be triggered by a code change, gate software releases, run unattended, and report results in a form that engineers outside the hardware team can interpret without assistance.
  • Fault Injection & Off-Nominal Validation: Define and execute validation covering fault injection, degraded-mode and fail-operational behavior, redundant compute and power paths, and loss-of-communication conditions, in support of L4 requirements and the evidence a system safety case requires.
  • Tooling Strategy & Sourcing: Own build-versus-buy decisions for bench hardware and software, and be accountable for the cost, lead time, and long-term maintenance burden of those decisions. Manage suppliers and vendor toolchains where commercial platforms are selected.
  • Cross-Functional Support & Debugging: Support the autonomy, embedded, hardware, and vehicle integration teams as the primary users of the bench, including access, uptime, and monitoring. Lead root-cause analysis of system-level failures across sensor timing, drivers, harnessing, and compute, and convert findings into design changes and documented corrective actions upstream.
  • Engineering Standards & Documentation: Establish automotive-grade conventions for bench schematics, circuit naming, labeling, harness documentation, and configuration control, and hold internal teams and suppliers to them. Lead design reviews and bring engineers and technicians up to speed on the bench and how to troubleshoot it.


What we're looking for
  • Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field is required, with 8+ years of relevant experience, or a master's degree with 6+ years. Equivalent hands-on experience will be considered in place of the degree.
  • Demonstrated experience designing and building hardware-in-the-loop or system-level test benches from initial architecture through commissioning, including bench topology, schematic capture, component selection, harness design, and bring-up.
  • Hands-on experience with vehicle networks (CAN, CAN FD, LIN, Automotive Ethernet), including restbus simulation, network database authoring (DBC, LDF), and bus analysis tooling.
  • Experience developing real-time plant, actuator, sensor, and power models and deploying them to real-time target hardware, whether model-based or hand-written.
  • Proficiency in Python and a systems language (C, C++, or equivalent), with demonstrated experience building test automation frameworks and integrating them into continuous integration pipelines.
  • Working experience with a robotics middleware and its logging and replay tooling, such as ROS (node development, rosbag, visualization) or an equivalent.
  • Working knowledge of sensor and compute interfaces, including camera serialization (GMSL, FPD-Link), lidar and radar interfaces, and precision time synchronization (PTP/gPTP).
  • Experience with fault injection and off-nominal testing, including forced faults, dropped frames, degraded sensor conditions, and loss-of-communication scenarios.
  • Solid understanding of autonomous driving systems, including sensors, perception, sensor fusion, planning, controls, and vehicle dynamics.
  • Experience delivering first-of-kind work in environments where requirements, vehicle platforms, and software are concurrently in development.
  • Strong written documentation practice covering bench topology, test procedures, and failure analysis, sufficient for engineers who did not build the bench.


What else you need to know

This role is based in our San Francisco office. Atoms is a company driven by invention and continuous change - we are constantly reimagining our industries, building new products, and refining how we operate. We do our best work together. That's why all of our office-based teams work onsite, five days a week.

The base salary range for this role is $220,000-$280,00 per year.

Actual compensation will be determined on an individual basis and may vary depending on experience, skills, and qualifications.

Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package. You may also be eligible for equity awards and an annual performance-based bonus.

Benefits Summary (USA Full-Time Exempt Employees):
  • Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, and Life Insurance
  • Flexible Spending Account / Health Savings Account Options
  • 401(k)
  • Equity
  • Sick Time, Unlimited Flexible Time Off, and Paid Holidays
  • Paid Parental Leave
  • Pre-Tax Commuter Benefit Plan
  • Team lunch in our SoMa office every Tuesday and Thursday

Benefits are subject to change at the company's discretion.
Atoms accepts applications on an ongoing basis.

Ready to join us as we serve those who serve others?

#LI-Onsite

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