Senior Test Engineer
Helion · Everett, WA
Extracted from the posting
Senior Test Engineer designing, building, and sustaining electrical test racks, fixtures, and PCBA test fixtures for Helion's fusion generators. This hands-on lab role reports to the Production Manager and works with design engineers, R&D engineers, and technicians. Required tools include Python or PLC-based test automation, Altium Designer, and standard lab instrumentation.
About Helion
We are a fusion power company based in Everett, WA, with the mission to build the world's first fusion power plant, enabling a future with unlimited clean electricity. Our vision is a world with clean, reliable, and affordable energy for everyone.
Since Helion's founding in 2013, we have raised $1.5 billion from long-time investors such as Sam Altman, Mithril, and Capricorn Investment Group as well as new investors including Thrive Capital, LightSpeed Venture Capital, SoftBank, and others to propel us forward. Our current prototype, Polaris, has reached record-breaking plasma temperatures of 150 million degrees Celsius (13 keV). Helion is continuing to iterate and on the path to the world's first fusion power plant, Orion.
This is a pivotal time to join Helion. You will tackle real-world challenges with a team that prizes urgency, rigor, ownership, and a commitment to delivering hard truths – values essential to achieving what no one has before. Together, we will change the future of energy, because the world can't wait.
What You Will Be Doing:
As a Test Engineer at Helion, you will be responsible for designing, building, and sustaining the electrical test systems that validate PCBAs, power electronics, and high-voltage assemblies used across our fusion generators. You will operate at the intersection of design engineering and production, ensuring that test infrastructure is robust, repeatable, and safe for hand-on execution by technicians.
Your work will directly enable faster hardware iteration, improved first-pass yield, and reliable delivery of mission-critical electrical systems that support Helion's fusion generators and pulsed-power architecture. This is a hands-on, lab-based role reporting to the Production Manager and working closely with Design Engineers, R&D Engineers, and Technicians/Supervisors. This is onsite role located at our Everett, WA office.
You Will:
- Design and deliver electrical test systems for PCBA and high-voltage assemblies, including test rack architecture, fixture design, instrumentation selection, electrical integration, and supporting automation
- Design test fixture PCBAs used within test racks and fixturing, owning schematic capture, layout, review, and bring-up to enable functional validation and diagnostics of production hardware
- Build, wire, debug, and maintain complete test racks and fixtures, including power distribution, safety interlocks, signal routing, and data acquisition integration
- Develop and maintain data acquisition and control tools using Python or PLC-based systems to support sequencing, measurement, and reporting
- Write and maintain test procedures, calibration standards, and test limits in collaboration with design engineering and production leadership
- Analyze test data to generate FPY, yield, and performance metrics, and partner with design teams to refine thresholds and improve robustness
- Work hands-on with technicians and supervisors to standardize safe, repeatable test execution and continuously improve test system scalability and maintainability
- Support deployment and sustainment of test infrastructure at Contract Manufacturers, including validation of test hardware and associated electronics
Required Skills:
- Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field
- 5+ years of experience developing and supporting electrical or electronic test systems in R&D or production environments
- Demonstrated experience designing PCBAs for test fixtures or test systems, including schematic capture, layout, review, and bring-up
- Proficiency with ECAD tools such as Altium Designer or equivalent
- Strong hands-on experience designing, building, wiring, and debugging test racks, fixtures, harnesses, and control systems
- Working experience with Python or PLC-based systems for test sequencing, automation, and data acquisition
- Proficiency using standard lab instrumentation including oscilloscopes, DMMs, power supplies, electronic loads, and spectrum analyzers
- Strong understanding of electrical safety principles and lab best practices
- Strong analytical skills with experience interpreting FPY, yield, or performance metrics
- Proven ability to collaborate across design engineering, production, and technician teams and communicate clearly at multiple levels
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Benefits
Our total compensation package includes benefits, including but not limited to:
- Medical, Dental, and Vision plans for employees and their families
- 31 Days of PTO (21 vacation days and 10 sick days)
- 10 Paid holidays, plus company-wide winter break
- Up to 5% employer 401(k) match
- Short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance
- Paid parental leave and support (up to 16 weeks)
- Annual wellness stipend
Helion is an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. If you need assistance or an accommodation during the interview process, please let us know.
Compensation: $182K - $214K
