Hardware Test Engineer I, Testbeds & EGSE

About the role

Muon seeks an early-career Hardware Test Engineer to join our Testbeds & EGSE team - the group that builds the Hardware-In-The-Loop (HITL) testbeds behind every Muon mission and the electrical ground support equipment (EGSE) used to interface with our satellites during assembly, integration, and test. You'll help build and design this infrastructure alongside the team's senior engineers: assembling and bringing up testbeds for each mission, and contributing to the design of our next generation of EGSE.

This team sits at the crossroads of disciplines, and so can you: engineers with electrical, embedded software, mechanical, or industrial controls backgrounds all thrive here. What matters most is hands-on instinct, curiosity about how the whole system works, and eagerness to learn fast.

Due to the hands-on nature of this role, it requires onsite work at our San Jose location 5x days a week.

Responsibilities

• Build, integrate, and bring up HITL testbed hardware - racks, avionics modules, harnessing, and external interfaces - for each mission
• Assist in the design of testbed hardware and next-generation EGSE used to power, command, and monitor satellites during integration and test
• Work with the electrical missions team to translate flight hardware designs (block diagrams, schematics, drawings) into each mission's testbed configuration
• Debug hardware and interface issues across testbeds, working alongside electrical, software, and systems engineers
• Maintain testbed support infrastructure - power, network, and lab resources - and help respond when systems go down
• Create and maintain documentation: testbed architecture diagrams, build records, and checkout procedures
• Coordinate with supply chain and production teams on testbed inventory and module builds

Required Qualifications

• 2+ years of hands-on experience building, testing, or debugging hardware in a complex electromechanical system (internships and substantial project work considered)
• Background in electrical engineering, embedded software, mechanical engineering, or industrial controls
• Hands-on hardware skills: assembly, wiring, and basic troubleshooting with tools like multimeters and oscilloscopes
• Understanding of electronics fundamentals and common communication interfaces (e.g., UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, Ethernet)
• Basic scripting or programming ability (Python or Bash)
• Strong problem-solving skills and a hands-on approach to engineering challenges
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills, with a strong desire to learn in a fast-paced environment
• B.S. in an engineering discipline or equivalent hands-on experience
• Comfort in a Linux heavy development environment

Nice-to-have Skills

• Experience with HITL testbeds, test labs, or lab automation
• Experience using RF testing equipment
• Harness design/assembly experience, or familiarity with electrical CAD (Altium) or mechanical CAD (SolidWorks)
• PCBA assembly and rework experience
• Experience with industrial automation or rack-based electronics and networking
• Aerospace or other high-reliability industry experience

Salary

The salary range for this role is $143,000 - $162,000, plus a competitive equity grant and comprehensive benefits package. Final compensation will be determined based on skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location as assessed during the interview process.

Muon is currently registered and able to hire in the following states

AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, IA, ID, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA

ITAR/EAR Requirements

This position requires access to export controlled information.

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations applicable to that information, applicant must either be (A) a U.S. person, defined as a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (green card holder), (iii) refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, (B) eligible to access the export controlled information without a required export authorization, or (C) eligible and reasonably likely to obtain the required export authorization from the applicable U.S. government agency.

The Company may, for legitimate business reasons, decline to pursue any export licensing process.