Test engineer Jobs in Chula Vista, CA

Role: Test and Quality Engineer

Location: San Diego, CA (in-office)

Salary: $105,000 - $145,000 / yr + stock options, 401k matching, and other benefits.

Role Overview:
Seasats is growing our Manufacturing Operations team to support growing production scale and complexity. The Test and Quality Engineer plays a critical role in establishing how quality is protected throughout the production stream.

This role takes a quality-centric approach to manufacturing: identifying parts and components that present the highest risk, determining where in the flow they should be tested, and designing the fixtures, procedures, and processes needed to run tests that catch issues early. The goal is to reduce infant mortality, prevent escapes, minimize rework, and avoid repeated final acceptance tests caused by problematic components.

This is a production-focused test role. You'll work closely with Operations and Engineering to design tests that de-risk manufacturing and incoming quality—not R&D experiments. The ideal candidate has a mechatronics, test engineering, or similar background and is comfortable building practical test solutions across mechanical, electrical, and electro-mechanical systems.

Role Details:
You will:

Production Test Strategy

• Identify high-risk components and systems across the production stream
• Determine where and how testing should occur to catch issues as early as possible
• Partner with Operations Program Manager (OPM) and Engineering teams to prioritize test development based on production risk and impact

Test Design & Fixture Development

• Design and build fixtures to test mechanical production components
• Design and build board-level testing fixtures for in-production electrical assemblies
• Work with the Electrical Engineering team to improve board designs for testability where appropriate
• Work with the Mechanical Engineering team to improve designs for easier, more reliable testing
• Design and build cable test solutions (e.g., pinout and continuity testing) for in-production cables

Incoming Quality & Production Support

• Design and implement tests to address incoming quality control (IQC) issues
• Partner with Operations, Quality, and Materials to investigate and resolve recurring quality problems
• Support production teams by improving test coverage and reducing ambiguity during build and acceptance

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Mechanical, Electrical, Software, Operations, and Quality stakeholders
• Translate real production failures into actionable test improvements
• Clearly document test procedures and ensure they are usable by technicians and operators

About You:

You're someone who naturally thinks about failure modes, risk, and prevention. You enjoy building practical test systems that catch problems before they become expensive, time-consuming failures. Key qualifications include:

• Background in test engineering, mechatronics, manufacturing quality, or a related field
• Experience designing and building test fixtures for mechanical, electrical, or electro-mechanical systems
• Comfort working hands-on with hardware in a production environment
• Ability to collaborate with engineering teams to improve designs for testability
• Strong problem-solving instincts and attention to detail
• Clear written and verbal communication skills
• Interest in building systems and standards from the ground up

About Seasats:

At Seasats, we're passionate about delivering maritime robotics solutions to redefine the maritime industry. Our primary products are autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs), designed to carry sensors at sea for months at a time. Our ASVs provide persistent monitoring and data acquisition to defense, scientific, and commercial customers, and have autonomously crossed both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. After thousands of years in which the only way to gather information from the ocean was to put people on a boat, these uncrewed vessels are transforming how humanity monitors and interacts with the ocean. Here, you'll find the space and opportunity to do your life's best work.

Along with your salary, you'll receive perks including:

• Competitive insurance (including a 99% employer-covered Gold HMO plan or other options)
• 401k matching up to 4% of salary
• Four free lunches per week
• An employee activity fund
• A pet-friendly office
• Unlimited/Flex PTO

Hiring Notes:

When applying, you'll be asked to provide a resume and answer a few screening questions.

Please note that we are currently unable to sponsor employment visas, so candidates must be independently authorized to work in the United States.

We appreciate diverse perspectives and life experiences, and we're committed to building a team that reflects a wide range of backgrounds. Seasats provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination of any type based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under federal, state, or local law.

We look forward to reviewing your application!