Robotics Automation Engineer in Test

Job description

**About Machina Labs:** Engineering moves at software speed. Manufacturing doesn't. Yet. Machina Labs is changing that. We build intelligent, software-defined factories that produce complex metal structures directly from digital design. By integrating advanced metal forming, robotics, and automated production inside a flexible factory architecture, we enable customers to move from prototype to production in weeks, not years. Backed by Lockheed Martin, Toyota, and NVIDIA, we're building the manufacturing infrastructure that defense, aerospace, and advanced mobility programs will run on. If you want to work on hard problems that matter and see them fly, drive, and defend, this is the place. **Job Description:** Machina Labs is seeking a **Robotics Automation Engineer in Test** to own quality, validation, and release execution across our robotics and industrial automation software stack as we deploy and scale production cells. This role is responsible for defining and enforcing quality strategy for robotics and automation systems, validating release candidates, and supporting deployments to production cells. You will work hands-on with physical systems, running tests and experiments on cells, supporting issue triage, and acting as a gatekeeper for production releases. This position operates closely with robotics, controls, and software teams and has the authority to approve the transition from release candidate to official release. The ideal candidate combines strong robotics and automation engineering fundamentals with a disciplined approach to testing, validation, and production readiness in hardware-integrated environments. ### Key Responsibilities: - Own and drive quality strategy for the robotics and industrial automation software stack, including ROS2, C++, Python, Beckhoff TwinCAT, and Structured Text PLCs. - Define, formalize, and maintain test plans, validation procedures, and release criteria for robotics and automation systems. - Execute smoke tests, system validation, and acceptance testing of release candidates on production cells. - Serve as release authority, approving or blocking promotion from release candidate to official production release. - Deploy software and automation releases to production cells and support rollout activities. - Automate testing and validation workflows to improve coverage, reliability, and release velocity. - Run tests and experiments on production and development cells, independently or in collaboration with robotics and automation engineers. - Triage and support cell-level issues, performing initial investigation and escalating to engineering teams as needed. - Partner with Software Engineers in Test when required, including large release validation, user support, feedback collection, and extended testing efforts. - Contribute to continuous improvement of testing, deployment, and validation processes as the platform scales. ### Basic Qualifications: - Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or comparable practical experience. - Experience testing software systems, including writing test scripts or test code. - Hands-on experience with automated testing frameworks or tools. - Ability to debug issues across software and automation interfaces. - Strong problem-solving and communication skills. ### Preferred Qualifications: - Experience testing industrial automation systems, robotics, or hardware-software integrated products. - Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, versioned deployments, and release validation. - Experience supporting deployments and troubleshooting issues in production environments. - Background working in small, fast-moving engineering teams where quality ownership is critical. \*This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities required for this role. Duties and responsibilities may change based on business needs.