Hardware Test Automation Engineer

About the Role

Sesame is building a wearable AI hardware device that brings our voice companion into the physical world. We're standing up our hardware quality function from the ground up, and we're looking for our first dedicated Hardware Test Automation Engineer to build the automation backbone for the program. You'll design and own an automated test rig, a rack of devices wired into our CI/CD pipeline that, on every firmware change, builds, flashes, runs the test suite, and generates reports automatically.

You'll establish nightly stability runs, weekly stress runs, and long-duration audio sessions, and you'll build the live performance and stress dashboard that becomes the team's shared source of truth for quality. Your metrics will gate releases and back the performance story we tell investors and customers.

This is a high-ownership, high-visibility role at the firmware/wireless/hardware boundary, on a small team that moves fast. You'll partner closely with the firmware team and our hands-on platform tester, and you'll have visibility and authority across both the firmware and the testbed so the two are built to cooperate.

Initial focus (first ~60 days):

• Stand up an automated test framework driven from a programmable Bluetooth central (Android, iOS, or a Pi-based rig, whatever fits), firmware-first then integration-first; even if early runs are short, get the foundation in place before it scales.
• Establish nightly (sanity/stability) and weekly (stress) automated runs, with extended weekend runs for long-duration audio sessions (e.g., 5-hour and 18-hour using synthetic data).
• Begin a live performance/stress dashboard: A2DP/throughput, BT link duration, BT latency, battery life, firmware crash counts, and regression flags.

Responsibilities:

• Design, build, and own an automated hardware test rig integrated with CI/CD (build → flash → run → report) for the device.
• Implement throughput/bandwidth, connectivity stress tests (e.g., iPerf, A2DP/AVRCP), including sustained-throughput, connection-stability/range testing, and simulated degraded-connectivity scenarios.
• Build API-level tests (easier to automate than full end-to-end iOS flows) covering throughput, sustained load, and crash detection.
• Run long-duration audio session testing (multi-hour, synthetic data) and battery/thermal performance characterization (including full discharge cycling).
• Build and maintain a live performance & stress dashboard with defined safety thresholds and target ("high-achieving") benchmarks; automatically flag regressions.
• Develop diagnostic tooling and support automated bug triage for hardware/firmware issues.
• Provide daily automation summaries and updates; support ad hoc/cherry-picked test runs when the team needs targeted coverage.
• Partner with firmware (and the QA coordinator) to define what is automated vs. manual, API vs. integrated, and which platform drives the rig.

Required Qualifications:

• Hands-on experience building hardware/embedded test automation and integrating it into CI/CD (automated flashing, execution, and reporting).
• Solid wireless/networking fundamentals: Bluetooth audio (A2DP/AVRCP), BLE, and throughput testing (e.g., iPerf). You understand what to test, not just how to automate.
• Strong scripting/programming (e.g., Python) and the ability to build harnesses and dashboards from scratch.
• Experience defining test plans, metrics, and pass/fail thresholds from real data.
• Comfortable operating in an early-stage, prototype-hardware environment with limited units and evolving specs.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience owning an automation testbed for a shipping consumer hardware product (wearables, audio devices, smart cameras, IoT).
• Performance instrumentation experience: latency, sustained throughput, IPC/cycle count, and thread- and core-level tracing on embedded/multi-core platforms.
• Familiarity with Qualcomm chipsets and tooling (e.g., DSP framework, PyDebug) and the realities of vendor bug turnaround.
• Experience automating from a programmable Bluetooth central: Android, iOS, a Pi-based rig, or similar; bonus for breadth across more than one.
• Battery and thermal test methodology.
• Experience with sensor/IMU testing and creative physical test setups for connectivity/range.

Full-time Employee Benefits:

• 401 (k) max employer match: 3.5% of compensation
• 100% employer-paid health, vision, and dental benefits for you and your dependents
• Unlimited PTO and sick time
• Flexible spending account with employer matching up to $1,650/year (medical FSA)
• Guardian Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Opportunity to share in the company's success with competitive stock options

Benefits do not apply to contingent/contract workers.