Gridware

Real-time grid monitoring and predictive maintenance

R&D Test Engineer - Instrumentation

Hardware Validation & TestingConfirmed live in the last 24 hours

Full-timeSan Francisco, CA, USA$125k - $145k /yrHybrid

About the Job

Requirements

A bachelor's degree in an engineering or related technical field, plus at least 3 years of hands-on test, instrumentation, or lab engineering experience; equivalent practical experience is also welcome.
Knowledge of instrumentation fundamentals, including sensor selection, mounting and wiring, signal conditioning, calibration, noise, grounding, sampling rate, and sources of measurement error.
Electronics bench-work skills, including soldering, harnessing, custom cabling, and basic circuit troubleshooting.
Practical shop skills, including experience with light power tools, basic fabrication, wiring, and harnessing.
A track record of designing and executing instrumented tests in an industrial or research setting.
Ability to produce clear technical documentation, including test plans, standard operating procedures, and reports that others can follow independently.
Ability to plan and execute tests within a scientific framework owned by researchers, adapt to new information, and ask questions that help ensure robust data.

Responsibilities

Develop and improve prototype physical experimentation infrastructure by designing and building test fixtures, rigs, and setups with research and technician colleagues, and translating test intent into physical setups that produce trustworthy data.
Architect, source, assemble, and operate electromechanical test setups end to end, including scoping builds, selecting and procuring components and instrumentation, managing vendors and machine shops, and commissioning setups at the bench and test facilities.
Select, mount, wire, and calibrate sensors on test articles and fixtures, including strain gauges, load cells, accelerometers and inertial measurement units, thermocouples, and displacement and position sensors.
Set up data acquisition systems using LabVIEW to collect and parse data in formats usable by downstream data-processing pipelines.
Prepare equipment, execute experiments, maintain clean records, and deliver organized, well-labeled datasets, particularly for novel or evolving tests.
Improve test repeatability by writing standard operating procedures, setup and calibration procedures, and test reports; train other teams and technicians to run mature methods and support handoff until they are self-sufficient.
Partner with research engineers to turn test intent into an executable plan and ask questions needed to ensure the test addresses the intended question.
Own the research and development lab and its equipment, including fixtures, instrumentation, calibration status, consumables, and safe operation; plan and conduct preventative maintenance.

Desired Qualifications

Proficiency in LabVIEW, including writing data acquisition code, light automation, and data processing, and experience with National Instruments hardware such as cDAQ hardware, CompactRIO, and high-frequency modules.
Experience conducting instrumented field and outdoor tests outside a controlled laboratory environment.
Experience owning measurement quality end to end, including calibration traceability, verification, repeatability studies, and measurement uncertainty.

Salary Range: 125000 to 145000 (Currency: USD) (Pay period: per-year-salary)

About Gridware

Gridware is a San Francisco-based technology company dedicated to protecting and enhancing the electrical grid. We pioneered a groundbreaking new class of grid management called active grid response (AGR), focused on monitoring the electrical, physical, and environmental aspects of the grid that affect reliability and safety. Gridware’s advanced Active Grid Response platform uses high-precision sensors to detect potential issues early, enabling proactive maintenance and fault mitigation. This comprehensive approach helps improve safety, reduce outages, and ensure the grid operates efficiently. The company is backed by climate-tech and Silicon Valley investors. For more information, please visit www.Gridware.io.

Role Description

We are seeking a curious, hands-on R&D Test Engineer with an instrumentation focus to join our Physical R&D team. You will own the test infrastructure our scientists depend on: designing and building fixtures, instrumenting test systems, developing data collection methods, running experiments, and turning one-off prototype setups into repeatable systems.

Our scientists define what to investigate, and together you collaboratively define how; examples include fixturing, sensor selection, data acquisition, procedure, and controls. You will build the systems that make those tests possible, run the experiments, and ensure they produce trustworthy data. The work spans a wide range of environments, including our lab, warehouse, outdoor microgrid, and future pilot-scale settings, each requiring solutions tailored to the environment and test goals.

You will also be the person who makes test methods durable. When an experiment or test grows past an exploratory stage, you mature it through designing fixtureand sending updates, writing SOPs, or training others.

This role sits on the R&D team, which is responsible for the sensing and measurement performance of our devices rather than their design or implementation. It is not a reliability, qualification, or manufacturing test role. You will not own device design, though what you measure will regularly inform it.

Responsibilities

Develop and improve existing prototype physical experimentation infrastructure. Design and build test fixtures, rigs, and setups in collaboration with R&D Technicians and Research Engineers. Translate guidance and test intent from Research Engineers into a physical setup that produces trustworthy data.

Architect, source, assemble, and operate electromechanical test setups end to end. Scope the build, select and procure components and instrumentation, manage vendors and machine shops, and get it working on the bench and at our test facilities.

Instrument test articles and fixtures: select, mount, wire, and calibrate sensors (including strain gauges, load cells, accelerometers and IMUs, thermocouples, displacement and position sensors).

Set up data acquisition systems using LabView that collects and parses data in a format readily ingestible by down stream data processing pipelines.

Run experiments, with an emphasis on tests that are novel, ambiguous, or still changing shape as researchers continue to learn and gain valuable insights from the test infrastructure you create. Prepare equipment, execute the test, keep clean records, and deliver organized, well-labeled datasets.

Work to improve repeatability via writing SOPs, setup and calibration procedures, and test reports. Train other teams and technicians to run mature test methods, and support the handoff until they are self-sufficient.

Partner with research engineers to turn test intent into an executable plan — asking the questions needed to be confident the test will actually answer the question being asked.

Own our R&D lab and its equipment: fixtures, instrumentation, calibration status, consumables, and safe operation as well as plan and conduct preventative maintenance,

Required Skills

Bachelor’s degree in an engineering or related technical field, plus 3+ years of hands-on test, instrumentation, or lab engineering experience. Equivalent practical experience is also welcome.

Instrumentation fundamentals: sensor selection, mounting and wiring, signal conditioning, calibration, and a working understanding of noise, grounding, sampling rate, and where measurement error comes from.

Electronics bench work: soldering and harnessing, custom cabling, basic circuit troubleshooting.

Practical shop skills: experienced with light power tools, basic fabrication and wiring and harnessing.

Track record designing and executing instrumented tests in an industrial or research setting.

Clear technical documentation: test plans, SOPs, and reports that someone else can follow without you in the room.

Comfortable working with researchers as we learn and adapt to new information: able to plan and execute good tests within a scientific framing that others own, and curious enough to ask the questions that keep the tests providing robust data.

Bonus Skills

Proficiency in LabView (writing data acquisition code, light automation and data processing) and NI hardware (cDAQ hardware, CompactRIO, high frequency modules)

Field and outdoor testing: experience running instrumented tests outside a controlled lab environment.

Test measurement ownership: experience taking responsibility for measurement quality end to end — calibration traceability, verification, repeatability studies, and measurement uncertainty.

This describes the ideal candidate; many of us have picked up this expertise along the way. Even if you meet only part of this list, we encourage you to apply!

Gridware Technologies Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

Benefits

Health, Dental & Vision (Gold and Platinum with some providers plans fully covered)

Paid parental leave

Alternating day off (every other Monday)

“Off the Grid”, a two week per year paid break for all employees.

Commuter allowance

Company-paid training

About the Company

Gridware

Real-time grid monitoring and predictive maintenance

Gridware provides a real-time monitoring platform for electrical grids using sensors mounted on power poles to collect data on asset health and status. It analyzes this data to detect faults and predict hazards, giving utilities early warnings for preventative maintenance to prevent outages and wildfires. The system differentiates itself with a pole-mounted sensor network and analytics focused on wildfire risk, enabling proactive maintenance rather than reactive responses. Its goal is to improve public safety and grid reliability while reducing wildfire risk and the financial liabilities faced by utilities.

Company size: 201-500
Company stage: Series B
Total funding: $97.3M
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Founded: 2020

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