QA Engineer (Embedded Marine Systems)

TL;DR

QA Engineer (Embedded Marine Systems): Own system-level and integration testing for maritime autonomy platforms and prototype boats with an accent on hardware/software integration, diagnostics, and safety-critical validation. Focus on testing communication protocols and fail-safe mechanisms, running SITL/HITL loop tests, and producing clear Jira/Confluence reports while collaborating with embedded and field testing teams.

Location: Swindon

Company

hirify.global is a European defence technology company developing and producing advanced UAV and USV systems, including the Virtus VTOL loitering munition platform and maritime autonomy capabilities.

What you will do

• Develop and maintain test plans, scripts, integration procedures, and safety checklists for embedded marine solutions.
• Run diagnostics on physical prototype boats, localize defects, and perform root-cause analysis across hardware and software.
• Validate system integration between software components and marine autopilots, thrusters, steering systems, and payload hardware.
• Test and verify communication interfaces and protocols including MAVLink, RS485, TCP/IP, and RTSP video streaming.
• Verify safety-critical fail-safe mechanisms such as remote emergency shutdowns, geolocation/geofencing, and offline update/recovery systems.
• Support Software-in-the-Loop (SITL) and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL) test environments and document results in Jira and Confluence.

Requirements

• Minimum 3+ years of experience in hardware testing, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing, or embedded systems QA.
• Strong understanding of functional, integration, system, and regression testing, combined with hands-on hardware troubleshooting.
• Experience with embedded communication protocols (e.g., MAVLink, CAN, RS485).
• Strong Linux knowledge and ability to write test scripts in Bash and/or Python.
• Familiarity with Jira/Confluence and Git; ability to write clear, structured test documentation and reports in English.
• Ability and willingness to work on physical boats during harbor/sea trials and field-testing environments.

Nice to have

• Experience in marine robotics, maritime autopilots, USVs, UAVs, or marine electronics.
• Valid marine boating license or experience with outdoor maritime testing operations.

Culture & Benefits

• Work on mission-critical command and control software and autonomy systems deployed in active operational environments.
• Hands-on engineering under real constraints such as low-bandwidth networks and air-gapped devices.
• Collaborate closely with software, systems, and field testing teams to log, track, and eliminate errors quickly.
• Produce stability and safety reviews alongside test and bug reporting in Jira and Confluence.