Heron Power is a startup company building cutting-edge power electronics for the 21st-century grid. We aim to de-bottleneck the growth of electricity generation and consumption with scalable, innovative, and less costly hardware solutions, accelerating the electrification of everything.
Our first goal is to build better converters (inverters & rectifiers) to connect large-scale renewables, storage, and loads to the grid. Heron's leadership team is made up of seasoned veterans who have designed and shipped gigawatts of power conversion products over the past decade.
Electrical / Electronics Design Engineer - PCBA Test Automation at Heron-power
Job Overview
High-reliability products are built on high-quality test infrastructure.
You will architect and deliver complete automated test cells that integrate power hardware, instrumentation, control software, and data pipelines into reliable, repeatable production and engineering tools.
This role owns the lifecycle loop from:
test requirements → coverage strategy → test architecture → fixture/bench design → automation software → deployment → sustainment → regression and continuous improvement.
If you like turning "we need a test" into a working system that engineering and manufacturing can depend on, this role will feel like home.
How You Will Contribute
Test Strategy & Architecture (PCBA → System → EOL)
Define functional test coverage for PCBAs, subsystems, and full systems.
Architect test solutions balancing coverage, cycle time, cost, and maintainability.
Partner with design engineering to drive Design-for-Test (DFT): test points, boundary scan, firmware testing , and observability.
Define regression strategy to prevent re-learning the same lessons across builds and firmware releases.
Establish pass/fail criteria grounded in real system performance and reliability goals.
Design and deliver automated bi-directional converter testers for AC/DC and DC/DC systems capable of source and sink operation.
Architect high-power test cells including bidirectional AC/DC sources, regenerative loads, grid simulators (as needed), HV measurement chains, contactors and protection systems, interlocks and safe operating procedures, grounding strategy.
Implement automated test sequences for power cycling, efficiency mapping, transient response, fault injection, protection validation.
Ensure high-voltage testing is safe, repeatable, and production-ready.
Test Hardware & Fixture Development
Design and build PCBA functional fixtures (bed-of-nails, pogo, interface boards), harness and connector validation fixtures, subsystem and system-level interface racks, and fault-injection rigs.
Specify and integrate instrumentation including power supplies, electronic loads, DAQs, DMMs, oscilloscopes, power analyzers, CAN/Ethernet/RS-485 tools, and sensors.
Deliver stations that are robust, safe, maintainable, and scalable.
Debug, Yield & Continuous Improvement
Drive rapid debug loops when tests fail.
Improve test observability and diagnostic resolution.
Own station version control, calibration, uptime, and software releases.
Partner with manufacturing to improve yield, reduce escapes, and accelerate learning loops.
Close the loop with design and reliability teams.
What Makes This Role Different
You will build the automated tester capability from the ground up.
Real breadth: PCBA functional → engineering validation → high-power HIL → end-of-line testing → production.
Direct ownership of high-voltage, high-energy automated test systems.
High agency and high slope - the testers you build directly determine how fast we can iterate and ship.
Requirements
We prioritize first-principles thinking, practical skill, ownership, and a proactive mindset. We care as much (or more) about how you work as what you already know.
We calibrate seniority based on demonstrated results, depth, and ownership - not keywords.
Must-Have Requirements
Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechatronics, or equivalent practical experience.
Experience in designing and delivering automated test setups for high-voltage / high-power systems.
Strong fundamentals in circuits and instrumentation
Heron-power · Scotts Valley