Actuator Test Engineer (Robotics)

Location: Palo Alto, United States; on-site

Company

hirify.global develops Physical AI and robotics systems for real-world industrial deployment on factory floors.

What you will do

• Design and build dynamometer test systems with mechanical drivelines, load application, and torque, position, and thermal sensors.
• Design and fabricate fixtures and test stands for actuator, gearbox, and driveline validation, including accurate 2D drawings with GD&T.
• Run characterization tests covering torque, speed, efficiency, thermal performance, stiffness, friction, bandwidth, lifecycle, backlash, and torque sensor accuracy.
• Integrate motors, encoders, torque sensors, and other electromechanical components onto test rigs.
• Build scalable test procedures and data pipelines, generate visualizations, and quantify unit-to-unit variation, drift, wear, and outliers.
• Perform post-test teardown inspections of gears, bearings, lubrication, wiring, and sensors, and document findings.

Requirements

• At least 3 years of hands-on experience testing and characterizing electromechanical or robotic hardware.
• Ability to design and build fixtures, stands, drivelines, and other test hardware from concept through fabrication.
• Proficiency with 3D CAD and 2D drawings with GD&T according to ASME Y14.5.
• Understanding of motors, planetary, harmonic/strain-wave, and cycloidal gear transmissions, encoders, torque/force sensors, and thermal behavior.
• Experience with dynamometer setups or equivalent custom test rigs, from concept through fabrication.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field, or equivalent hands-on experience; ability to maintain clear test documentation.

Nice to have

• Experience with planetary, harmonic/strain-wave, and cycloidal actuators and their trade-offs.
• Experience scaling test or calibration pipelines across a large fleet of test systems.
• Manufacturing process familiarity and first-article inspection experience.
• Experience with CATIA V6.

Culture & Benefits

• Hands-on work with physical robotics systems for industrial deployment.
• Ownership of difficult engineering problems spanning design, fabrication, testing, and analysis.
• Collaboration across robotics and hardware engineering disciplines.