Test Engineer, Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL)
nimble-robotics
Other Engineering, Quality Assurance
San Francisco, CA, USA
USD 100k-150k / year + Equity
Posted on Oct 4, 2025
About Nimble
Nimble is an AI robotics company building the autonomous supply chain to enable fast, efficient, and sustainable commerce. We’re developing a general-purpose robot AI and a warehouse generalist superhumanoid robot, the first robot in the world capable of performing all core warehouse functions. We recently closed a $106M Series C at a $1B valuation, and we are continuing to grow our world-class team.
Mission: to empower and inspire mankind to accomplish legendary feats by inventing robots that liberate us from the menial.
Vision: invent the Autonomous Supply Chain – everything from the inside of factories and warehouses to your front door – powered by industry-generalist superhumanoids to deliver faster, more efficient, and more sustainable commerce.
Our founding team comes from the AI labs at Stanford and Carnegie Mellon and our board of directors include famed robotics and AI legends including Marc Raibert (founder of Boston Dynamics), Sebastian Thrun (founder of GoogleX, Waymo; Stanford Professor and considered the father of autonomous vehicles) and Fei-Fei Li (Chief Scientist of AI at Google and Director of Stanford’s AI Lab).
Join us and leave your mark on the future of robotics, AI, and global commerce.
Link: Nimble Closes $106 Million Series C Funding Round, Scales Fully Autonomous Fulfillment with FedEx
Why Join Nimble?
At Nimble, we are committed to building legendary products, a legendary team, and a legendary legacy. Join us and become part of an ambitious, humble, and resourceful culture where your work will leave a lasting impact on the future of robotics and commerce.
Nimble's Core Values:
Be relentlessly resourceful - Challenge conventions and overcome obstacles.
Be legendary - Be the very best and do work that inspires.
Be humble - Prioritize growth, learning, and doing whatever is needed to further the mission.
Be dependable - Take ownership and deliver with high agency.
Role Summary
You will be taking on a critical responsibility for ensuring the reliability and functional safety of our core robotics control software and firmware. This role sits at the intersection of development and manufacturing, focusing on validation across the software development lifecycle. You will bridge the gap between engineering design and production quality, ensuring that ECUs and sub-assemblies are robust before they reach the final assembly line.
Key Responsibilities
- Firmware and Software Validation: Design, develop, and execute comprehensive test plans for robotics control software, real-time operating systems (RTOS), and embedded firmware (e.g., motor drivers, sensor interfaces, communication handlers). This includes Integration Testing of low-level robotics modules.
- HIL System Design and Operation: Develop and maintain the HIL test environment, combining physical hardware (ECUs, sensors, motor controllers) with simulated dynamics and environments to assess real hardware responses under stress and failure injection.
- Test Fixture Development: Oversee the development and calibration of HIL test benches used to perform functional checks and electrical safety tests on sub-assemblies, ensuring consistency and high-speed throughput.
- Data Acquisition and Diagnostics: Integrate high-speed data acquisition (DAQ) systems and cloud infrastructure to capture and analyze sensor readings, power metrics, and communication bus traces (CAN, I2C), providing deep diagnostic capabilities for hardware and firmware failures.
- Regression Management: Collaborate with software and electrical engineering teams to implement validation procedures for new firmware releases, ensuring compatibility and verifying that new features do not introduce regressions into established hardware functions.
Essential Qualifications
- BS or MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Robotics.
- 1-3 years of professional experience in validating embedded systems, control software, or robotics firmware/middleware (e.g., experience with ROS/ROS2, custom control frameworks is a plus).
- Experience with Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulation and test methodologies.
- Strong programming skills in Python, or Rust for developing automated test scripts and analysis tools.
- Deep understanding of electrical testing, digital and analog I/O, and communication protocols common in robotics (CAN, Ethernet, USB, Serial).
- Familiarity with test planning principles, requirements traceability, and formal defect management processes.
Culture:
We embrace challenges and strive to make the impossible possible each day. We’re not in this to do what’s easy or to be mediocre. We want to create something legendary and leave our mark on the world. We’re ambitious, we’re gritty, we’re humble and we’re relentlessly resourceful in pursuit of our goals. If this sounds like you then you might be a great fit!
Nimble Robotics, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We make all employment decisions based solely on merit. We provide equal employment opportunity to all applicants and employees without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable state, federal or local laws.
Nimble's Benefits
Paid Time Off
Enjoy the time you need to travel, rejuvenate, and connect with friends and family.
Health Insurance
Nimble provides medical, dental, and vision insurance through several premier plans and options to support you and your family.
Paid Parental Leave
Enjoy paid bonding time following a birth.
Commuter Benefits
Take the stress out of commuting with access to fully-paid parking spots.
Referral Bonus
Get a cash bonus for any friend or colleagues that you refer to us that we end up hiring.
401k
Contribute towards a 401k for retirement planning.
Equity
Be an owner in Nimble through our equity program
100000 - 150000 USD a year
