Hardware Test Engineer

Job Description
Rockets have not gotten wider. Satellites need far more power than they used to. The only way through is structures that pack into a fairing and unfold into something massive on orbit. Gama is building that: ultra-light deployable solar arrays, from 3 kW to over 100 kW, in a factory sized for 100 MW a year by 2030. Inventing the hardware is one half of the problem. The other half is proving it works
- on the ground, before it ever reaches orbit, and at a pace that keeps up with the factory. As Hardware Test Engineer, reporting to the Head of Lab & Production, you will prepare and run the test campaigns on Gama’s solar arrays, power electronics and batteries, from first prototypes through qualification to production acceptance. You will design the test benches, write and execute the procedures, and make sure every test produces data the design teams can trust. You will work daily with our mechanical, electrical and manufacturing engineers, and help shape how Gama tests hardware as it scales to volume production. Your Mission Will Be To
• Set up, operate and maintain the lab’s test equipment: environmental chambers, thermal vacuum (TVAC), vibration, solar simulators, power supplies, electronic loads and data acquisition systems.
• Define end-of-line and acceptance testing for high-volume production, an unusual scale for the space industry, using best-in-class production test assets to deliver the reliability our products are built on.
• Design and build test benches and fixtures for solar cells, solar array coupons and panels, power electronics and battery modules.
• Write test plans, procedures and reports, and run development, qualification and acceptance test campaigns.
• Develop and maintain test automation and data acquisition software (e.g., Python, LabVIEW), and turn raw data into clear, actionable results for the design teams.
• Own equipment calibration and preventive maintenance, and apply lab safety rules (high voltage, batteries, pressurized and hazardous environments).
• Contribute to the specification of new test equipment, and work with equipment suppliers and external test facilities.
• Support anomaly investigations and root-cause analyses, and feed results back into design and manufacturing. Requirements
• Engineering degree or Master’s in electrical, mechanical, aerospace or physics engineering.
• 3+ years of hands-on experience in a hardware test lab, in space, aerospace, automotive, energy or a similarly demanding field.
• Experience running environmental or electrical test campaigns, from test plan to final report.
• Solid skills in instrumentation and measurement: sensors, data acquisition, power supplies and loads.
• Programming skills for test automation and data analysis.
• A rigorous, safety-minded approach, with care for documentation and traceability.
• A proactive attitude, full ownership of your test campaigns, and the interpersonal skills to work with many teams at once.
• Professional level English; French is a plus. Nice to have
• Experience with space qualification testing: thermal vacuum, thermal cycling, vibration and shock.
• Knowledge of photovoltaic testing (I-V curves, solar simulators, electroluminescence) or battery testing (cycling, abuse and safety tests).
• Familiarity with space testing standards.
• Experience setting up a lab from scratch in a startup or scale-up.