Senior Electronics Test Engineer

Northwood is on a mission to transform connectivity between Earth and space. Satellites are only as powerful as the ground systems that connect to them - without that critical infrastructure, they can’t be steered or send their data back to Earth. Northwood’s global ground network ensures that missions ranging from national security, to global connectivity, to disaster response can unlock their full potential and operate every day without fail. We take a vertically integrated approach to building an end-to-end ground system, delivering technology that is scalable and reliable for both government and commercial customers.

Backed by over $100M from investors like Andreessen Horowitz, Washington Harbour Partners, Alpine Space Ventures, Founders Fund, and others, Northwood has proven its ability to move fast – we’ve stood up a fully operational site in Australia in just 3 months, where similar efforts typically take years.

Northwood is rapidly scaling its global footprint, with 30+ sites planned across 2026 and 2027. We’re building and deploying infrastructure at a pace the industry hasn’t seen before. If you thrive on building quickly, solving hard problems, and seeing your work deployed globally on critical missions, we want you at Northwood.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead integrated test development from concept through production, including test strategy, requirements, and execution plans

• Design hardware, wiring, and electrical systems to support electrical and RF testing for both production and development needs (fixtures, harnesses, interfaces, rack integration)

• Develop modular and reusable test automation software, including frameworks, drivers, and tooling in Linux environments using Python / Rust / C++

• Own test maintainability and reliability across the lifecycle — defining calibration, upkeep, debugging, and continuous improvement of test assets

• Investigate and root-cause failures, driving corrective actions across design, assembly, and test processes

• Support environmental and qualification testing (thermal, vibration, shock), including defining instrumentation and test procedures where needed

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related field

• 5+ years of experience in electronics or hardware test engineering, with demonstrated ownership of complex test systems

• Strong programming abilities (Python, C++, Rust), and comfort developing in a Linux-based environment

• Hands-on experience with electrical test equipment such as power supplies, DC loads, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and network analyzers

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Experience with RF test and characterization, including VNAs and spectrum analyzers

• Experience root-causing issues in integrated electronics (mixed-signal, digital, RF-adjacent systems)

• Familiarity with MIL-STD-810 test methods, including vibration, shock, and thermal testing

• Experience with EMI/EMC troubleshooting and compliance testing, including radiated and conducted testing

• Experience designing test racks / ATE systems (PXI, USB/LXI instrumentation, custom interfaces) and scaling them into production

• Experience building test data pipelines and analysis tooling (structured logs, dashboards, yield metrics)

• Experience writing reusable test software patterns (hardware abstraction layers, driver libraries, test sequencing frameworks)

• Comfort working at the boundary between HW + SW: firmware bring-up, control interfaces (I2C/SPI/UART), fault injection, telemetry capture

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

Electronics Test Engineer/Level 3: $129,000 - $175,000 per year

Electronics Test Engineer/Level 4: $146,000 - $197,000 per year

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related knowledge, skills, education, and experience.

Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package at Northwood. You may also be eligible for equity in the form of stock options or other long-term incentives, as well as potential performance bonuses. We offer comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, a 401(k) retirement plan, short- and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, generous paid time off, and various other perks and discounts.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Northwood is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Northwood is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.