Heron Power · 5 hours ago
Hardware Test & Reliability Engineer
Scotts Valley, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Mid, Senior Level
$130K/yr - $200K/yrHeron Power is a startup company building cutting-edge power electronics for the 21st-century grid. They are seeking a Hardware Test & Reliability Engineer to develop and operate reliability validation test infrastructure for grid-tied converters, focusing on ensuring uptime, availability, and reliability through hands-on testing and collaboration with design engineering.
Electrical DistributionEnergyIndustrial Engineering
Responsibilities
Design and build electrical reliability test benches for power electronics hardware (inverters, rectifiers, DC/DC, bi-directional stages)
Specify, procure, and integrate lab equipment: power supplies/DC sources, regenerative loads/e-loads/load banks, grid simulators (where needed), DAQ systems, sensors, protection, interlocks, contactors, cabling, fixtures, and safety hardware
Own the bench “system design”: grounding, measurement integrity, EMI-noise-aware instrumentation, protection strategy, safe operating procedures, and maintainability
Build automation hooks for control + logging (Python or similar), and define calibration / measurement integrity practices that keep data trustworthy over time
Translate reliability goals and suspected failure mechanisms into test plans, stress profiles, instrumentation plans, and pass/fail criteria across development and reliability qualification
Execute reliability campaigns (burn-in, power/thermal cycling, accelerated life testing, abuse tests) and evolve them as we learn where the real cliffs are
Drive fast debug loops during excursions: isolate, instrument deeper, reproduce, and verify that corrective actions eliminate the failure and don’t create new ones
Build data workflows that make results actionable: structured logs, automated summaries/plots, clear “what failed / why / what changed / what we verified” reporting
Partner with design engineering (electrical, controls/firmware, mechanical/thermal) and manufacturing test to drive improvements and prevent regressions
Establish smart regression gates: what we re-test every build, every firmware change, every engineering change—so we don’t re-learn the same lessons
Create and maintain test stand documentation: schematics, wiring diagrams, BOMs, calibration records, procedures, and troubleshooting guides
Improve equipment uptime and safety practices; build “common failure modes” playbooks that accelerate iteration and onboarding
You’re not inheriting a mature lab—you’ll build the electrical reliability test capability from the ground up, choosing the “best bang for buck” benches and automation at each phase
High agency, high slope: the test systems and reliability loops you build directly determine how fast we can iterate and ship
You sit at the heart of the learning loop: test → failure → root cause → fix → verified fix
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering (or related field) or equivalent practical experience
Experience designing, building, or operating electrical test setups for complex electrical hardware (power electronics strongly preferred)
Demonstrated ownership across a meaningful chunk of a product lifecycle (prototype → iteration → validation, or development → field issues → corrective actions)
Hands-on comfort with bench power equipment and measurement methods (scopes, DMMs, power analyzers, electronic loads, DAQ/instrumentation, sensors)
Ability to design safe test systems for high power/high voltage hardware (interlocks, protection, grounding, safe procedures)
Strong debugging instincts and ability to drive root-cause closure with design/manufacturing partners
Experience designing repeatable test cells with drawings and instructions to turn scrappy setups into production quality ones
Preferred
Experience with accelerated/environmental stress testing and reliability growth workflows (HALT/HASS, thermal/humidity cycling, power cycling)
Reliability Engineering fundamentals
Familiarity with failure mechanisms in power electronics and structured RCA/corrective action loops
Benefits
Competitive compensation (salary and equity)
Benefits
Company
Heron Power
Heron Power is an energy technology startup that focuses on developing power electronics for the modern electrical grid.
Founded in 2024
51-200 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Heron Power has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (6)
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageTotal Funding
$38MKey Investors
Capricorn Investment Group
2025-05-29Series A· $38M
Leadership Team
C
Chris Tilton
Director of Mechanical Engineering
Recent News
2025-10-13
2025-10-11
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