C++ Test Engineer (Austin)

Location : Austin, TX

Duration : 6-month contract + extensions

Required Skills & Experience

Expert C++ Developer : Mastery of modern C++ (11 / 14 / 17+) and C++ test frameworks (e.g., GTest) with a test-first development mentality.

DevOps & Automation : Proven experience with CI / CD tools (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI), scripting (Python, Bash), and containerization (e.g., Docker).

Systems-Level Skepticism : A bloodhound personality for finding bugs. Meticulous attention to detail and a refusal to trust abstractions without verification.

Robotics & Hardware Integration : Demonstrable experience working with complex electromechanical systems : sensors, actuators, and communication buses (CAN, Ethernet, I2C).

Simulation & V&V : Proficiency with robotics simulation platforms and an understanding of formal Verification & Validation (V&V) methodologies.

Nice to Have Skills & Experience

Safety & AI : Experience in safety-critical industries (e.g., ISO 26262, DO-178C) or in testing AI / ML-based robotic systems is a significant advantage.

Job Description

Deep Integration Testing : Design and implement rigorous white-box and integration test plans for the entire robotics software stack, from low-level drivers to high-level application logic.

Zero-Trust Validation : Operate with a meticulous, no assumptions mindset, validating behaviors across all abstraction layersverifying that middleware, APIs, and hardware perform exactly as specified.

CI / CD & HIL Automation : Build and manage the complete test automation infrastructure, integrating simulation environments (e.g., Gazebo) and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) test benches into CI / CD pipelines.

Electromechanical Triage : Act as the first line of defense in debugging complex failures on physical robots, leading the hands-on effort to identify the root cause, whether it's in software, firmware, or hardware.

Non-Deterministic Systems Validation : Develop statistical test methods, failure-injection scenarios, and key performance indicators (KPIs) to validate the safety and reliability of non-deterministic systems (e.g., AI / ML perception, path planning).

C++ Test Framework Development : Write clean, maintainable, and robust C++ code specifically for testing, creating unit tests, mock objects, and test harnesses for new and existing features.