Test Engineer III - Contract

ASI is expanding its teams to support its current ramp-up across development work, customer projects, and product deployments. This is a full-time W-2 contract position. The selected candidate will interview with ASI and work as an integrated member of the ASI team. W-2 employment, payroll, and benefits will be administered through one of ASI's staffing partners. Development phases of this nature typically span up to project completion (typically 2-4 years), though scope and duration are driven by business needs.

JOB SUMMARY

The Test Engineer III develops, executes, and improves verification and validation activities for ASI's autonomous wheel loader platforms. This role translates system requirements, customer workflows, and heavy-equipment operating scenarios into structured test plans, procedures, test cases, and measurable acceptance criteria covering integrated hardware, software, sensors, vehicle controls, hydraulics, implements, and autonomous functionality.

As a Level III engineer within ASI's five-level engineering structure, this position independently owns moderately complex testing assignments from planning through execution, analysis, traceability, and reporting while receiving guidance on broader program-level validation strategy. This role also serves as a strong Jama Connect user and team resource, helping maintain accurate requirements, test cases, verification evidence, review workflows, baselines, and traceability between system requirements and validation results.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop and execute verification and validation plans for autonomous wheel loader systems, subsystems, and software features
• Translate system requirements, customer workflows, and operational use cases into measurable test objectives, acceptance criteria, and validation evidence
• Create detailed test procedures, test cases, checklists, data-collection plans, and technical test reports
• Independently own moderately complex testing assignments from initial planning through final documentation and issue closure
• Maintain Jama Connect requirements, test cases, verification links, review items, baselines, and traceability for assigned validation work
• Ensure test activities and results remain traceable to system requirements, interface requirements, safety requirements, and customer acceptance criteria
• Support Jama review workflows, requirement updates, test-case organization, exports, reports, dashboards, and change-impact reviews
• Partner with systems engineering, software, electrical, mechanical, perception, GNC, reliability, and field teams to maintain clear requirement-to-test-to-evidence traceability
• Develop test scenarios involving autonomous navigation, loading, material handling, bucket control, digging, carrying, dumping, stockpile interaction, truck loading, route execution, and work-area behavior
• Validate autonomous vehicle behavior across loading zones, stockpiles, haul paths, dump locations, intersections, slopes, confined areas, and uneven terrain
• Conduct functional, performance, integration, regression, endurance, and system-level testing
• Test steering, propulsion, braking, speed control, path tracking, stopping accuracy, implement control, hydraulic behavior, and vehicle stability
• Evaluate system performance under varying payloads, material types, grades, surface conditions, traction levels, speeds, and environmental conditions
• Validate autonomous capabilities involving localization, navigation, perception, obstacle avoidance, route compliance, communications, vehicle control, and task execution
• Test vehicle responses to personnel, equipment, vehicles, obstacles, geofences, changing conditions, and unexpected events within active work areas
• Develop representative work cycles, duty cycles, endurance scenarios, and customer-use scenarios for wheel loader validation
• Conduct testing using simulation, recorded-data replay, software-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop, laboratory, shop, and full-vehicle environments
• Configure test vehicles, payload conditions, instrumentation, sensors, software, logging systems, and supporting equipment
• Collect and organize vehicle logs, system data, measurements, photographs, videos, and other objective test evidence
• Analyze vehicle, autonomy, hydraulic, sensor, implement, and control data to identify performance limitations and unexpected behavior
• Evaluate test results against requirements, specifications, performance targets, and established acceptance criteria
• Document defects clearly and communicate technical findings to engineering and project teams
• Reproduce reported issues involving vehicle control, bucket operation, hydraulic response, localization, perception, route execution, loading, dumping, or material-handling behavior
• Support cross-functional troubleshooting, failure investigations, and root cause analysis activities
• Verify corrective actions through targeted testing, regression testing, and issue-closure activities
• Develop scripts and tools to improve test automation, data processing, visualization, reporting, and repeatability
• Support requirements reviews, design reviews, test-readiness reviews, system-readiness reviews, and release-readiness assessments
• Coordinate testing activities with engineers, field testers, equipment operators, customers, and project stakeholders
• Support customer demonstrations, field deployments, operational acceptance testing, and on-site troubleshooting
• Follow company, customer, and site-specific safety requirements while testing autonomous and heavy-equipment systems
• Contribute to improvements in testing standards, Jama workflows, test procedures, documentation, tools, and team practices

ESSENTIAL EDUCATION, WORK EXPERIENCE, JOB SKILLS

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics, Systems Engineering, or a related technical field
• Typically five or more years of experience in test engineering, verification and validation, systems integration, product testing, or a related engineering role
• Strong experience using Jama Connect for requirements management, test-case management, traceability, reviews, baselines, reporting, and verification evidence
• Experience developing and executing test plans for complex hardware and software integrated systems
• Experience translating technical requirements and operational scenarios into test procedures and measurable acceptance criteria
• Experience conducting functional, integration, regression, performance, endurance, or system-level testing
• Ability to independently plan, coordinate, execute, and document moderately complex testing assignments
• Experience analyzing test data, system logs, and technical results to identify failures and performance limitations
• Strong troubleshooting skills involving integrated mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, software, sensor, and vehicle systems
• Experience with test instrumentation, data-acquisition equipment, diagnostic tools, or vehicle logging systems
• Strong understanding of requirements traceability, defect management, configuration control, verification evidence, and product-development lifecycles
• Experience using Python, MATLAB, C++, Excel, or comparable tools for test automation and data analysis
• Experience working in Linux-based environments
• Ability to read and interpret system requirements, electrical schematics, mechanical drawings, hydraulic diagrams, software interfaces, and technical documentation
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to producing accurate, repeatable, traceable, and objective test evidence
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to work effectively with engineering, field, operations, customer-facing, and project teams
• Ability to travel and work in laboratory, shop, customer, and outdoor field-testing environments

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience testing wheel loaders, construction equipment, mining vehicles, agricultural equipment, industrial machinery, or other off-road heavy equipment
• Familiarity with loading, digging, carrying, dumping, stockpile management, truck loading, material handling, grading support, or site-preparation workflows
• Understanding of wheel loader dynamics, hydraulic systems, bucket control, payload effects, braking systems, or off-road vehicle controls
• Experience validating autonomous systems on slopes, haul roads, loose surfaces, uneven terrain, confined work areas, or active construction and mining sites
• Experience testing autonomous vehicles, robotics systems, embedded systems, or vehicle-control platforms
• Familiarity with ROS, ROS2, or comparable robotics middleware
• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop, software-in-the-loop, simulation, or recorded-data replay testing
• Experience testing perception, GNC, localization, navigation, vehicle-control, implement-control, or embedded-software systems
• Familiarity with cameras, LiDAR, radar, GPS/GNSS, IMUs, encoders, or other robotic sensing technologies
• Experience with CAN communication, embedded controllers, vehicle-control units, hydraulic controllers, drive-by-wire systems, or heavy-equipment interfaces
• Experience developing automated test scripts, data-analysis tools, or test frameworks
• Experience helping teams improve Jama structures, requirement quality, traceability models, review processes, or verification workflows
• Familiarity with Jira, TestRail, Polarion, Confluence, PLM systems, or comparable requirements and test-management systems
• Experience supporting failure analysis, root cause analysis, FMEA, or reliability testing
• Familiarity with functional safety concepts and validation practices for autonomous or safety-critical systems
• Experience supporting customer demonstrations, field deployments, or operational acceptance testing

BENEFITS

ASI offers a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• 401k with employer match
• Generous HSA contribution
• PTO, paid holidays, and flextime
• ASI covers 90% of employee medical plan costs

At Autonomous Solutions, Inc. (ASI), we are committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace where all employees and applicants have equal opportunities. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other legally protected characteristic. ASI complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws regarding nondiscrimination in employment and is dedicated to providing reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities throughout the hiring process.

Your employment with ASI will be "at will," meaning that either you or ASI may terminate your employment at any time for any lawful reason, with or without cause or advance notice.