Physical AI Sr. Engineer - Lab Technical Lead

Senior Engineer, Physical AI Lab Technical Lead Employer:

• Inabia Solutions & Consulting Location: Boston, Massachusetts Work Arrangement: Onsite, five days per week Employment Type: W-2 Compensation: Competitive compensation Work Authorization: U.S.
• Citizen or Green Card Only About the Role This is not a traditional lab technician position.
• Inabia Solutions & Consulting is seeking a Senior Engineer and Physical AI Lab Technical Lead who can own technical execution from initial design through testing, troubleshooting, and final documentation.
• You will not simply follow test plans.
• You will help create them.
• You will design and build test benches, lead prototype hardware integration, diagnose complex failures, and establish reliable testing and documentation practices for the lab.
• This position is designed for an experienced, hands-on engineer who is equally comfortable reading a schematic, analyzing a communication bus, writing a Python test script, and physically assembling or modifying hardware.
• You will support foundational Physical AI work involving next-generation robotic platforms.
• The work spans electrical bring-up, mechanical integration, test automation, reliability engineering, and system-level troubleshooting.
• You will collaborate directly with hardware engineers, AI researchers, and lab operations personnel to ensure builds are completed correctly and test results are accurate and repeatable.
• Key Responsibilities Test Bench Design and Execution Design, build, configure, and operate test benches for prototype robotic hardware, including power systems, motion actuation, sensor arrays, and communication interfaces.
• Develop test plans and acceptance criteria in partnership with hardware engineers.
• Own test execution, data collection, results analysis, and documentation.
• Build custom fixtures, jigs, and test setups using mechanical fabrication, electrical wiring, and software scripting.
• Operate and maintain diagnostic equipment, including oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, multimeters, and signal analyzers.
• Train junior lab personnel on equipment operation, testing procedures, and safe laboratory practices.
• Improve test processes to increase repeatability, accuracy, and efficiency.
• Hardware Builds and Systems Integration Support and lead prototype hardware builds involving actuators, sensors, compute modules, power distribution systems, and communication networks.
• Integrate sensors such as force and torque sensors, inertial measurement units, encoders, and vision systems.
• Perform PCB bring-up, board-level debugging, and system-level validation.
• Read and interpret electrical schematics, PCB layouts, wiring diagrams, and mechanical drawings.
• Diagnose hardware issues at the component, board, subsystem, and platform levels.
• Validate communication buses and protocols, including CAN, EtherCAT, and RS-485.
• Troubleshoot communication timing, signal integrity, configuration, and protocol issues.
• Provide Design for Manufacturability and Design for Assembly feedback based on hands-on build and integration experience.
• Troubleshooting and Failure Analysis Lead root-cause analysis for hardware failures involving power, compute, communications, actuation, sensing, and mechanical systems.
• Reproduce and document failures using a structured and repeatable process.
• Prepare clear failure-analysis reports with findings, supporting data, recommended corrective actions, and resolution status.
• Develop and maintain a lab debugging playbook that documents known failure modes, diagnostic methods, and resolution procedures.
• Serve as the primary technical escalation point for complex laboratory and prototype hardware issues.
• Translate hands-on troubleshooting findings into clear information that engineering teams can use to make design and program decisions.
• Track corrective actions through validation and closure.
• Reliability Engineering Design and execute reliability and environmental test programs, including thermal cycling, vibration, mechanical stress, and long-duration soak testing.
• Analyze failure data to identify trends, recurring issues, and systemic hardware risks.
• Partner with hardware engineers to recommend and validate design improvements.
• Support reliability planning using established engineering methods and test standards.
• Maintain calibration records and test equipment certifications.
• Ensure measurement accuracy, testing consistency, and data integrity throughout the lab.
• Establish repeatable procedures for equipment maintenance, calibration, and test readiness.
• Technical Leadership Provide hands-on technical direction during prototype builds, hardware bring-up, testing, and failure investigations.
• Review test plans, build procedures, and engineering documentation for completeness and technical accuracy.
• Mentor junior engineers and lab personnel in hardware testing, troubleshooting, equipment use, and documentation.
• Identify laboratory capability gaps and recommend equipment, tooling, fixtures, and process improvements.
• Coordinate with engineering and lab operations teams to prioritize work and resolve technical blockers.
• Promote a disciplined approach to safety, configuration control, test execution, and documentation.
• Required Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Mechanical Engineering, or a closely related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• At least seven years of hands-on experience in hardware development, test engineering, systems integration, reliability engineering, mechatronics, or a related discipline.
• Advanced proficiency with electronic test and diagnostic equipment.
• Demonstrated experience troubleshooting hardware at both the component and system levels.
• Ability to independently read and interpret electrical schematics, PCB layouts, wiring diagrams, and mechanical drawings.
• Experience designing and building test benches, custom test fixtures, and laboratory setups from the ground up.
• Experience leading prototype hardware builds, bring-up activities, or complex integration efforts.
• Strong understanding of electrical, mechanical, and embedded hardware interfaces.
• Ability to document testing procedures, build instructions, troubleshooting methods, and failure-analysis findings clearly.
• Strong technical judgment and the ability to work effectively in a fast-moving environment with changing requirements.
• Ability to work onsite in Boston five days per week.
• Preferred Qualifications Experience working in robotics, Physical AI, autonomous systems, or an advanced hardware research and development environment.
• Familiarity with high-degree-of-freedom robotic systems, servo drives, motor controllers, or embedded motion-control systems.
• Experience with reliability engineering methods such as Failure Mode and Effects Analysis, Highly Accelerated Life Testing, Highly Accelerated Stress Screening, or Weibull analysis.
• Python scripting or programming experience for test automation, data logging, instrument control, and results analysis.
• Experience with Hardware-in-the-Loop testing systems and methodologies.
• Experience with CAD tools such as SolidWorks, Fusion 360, or similar platforms for fixture design and technical documentation.
• Experience with CAN, EtherCAT, RS-485, or other industrial and embedded communication protocols.
• Knowledge of laboratory safety practices, equipment calibration, configuration management, and engineering change control.
• What Success Looks Like Success in this position means prototype builds proceed with fewer avoidable delays, test results are accurate and repeatable, and complex failures are diagnosed through a structured process.
• The lab has clear build procedures, test plans, calibration records, and debugging documentation that allow engineering teams to move quickly without sacrificing quality or safety.
• You will be expected to solve difficult technical problems directly while also building the processes and technical capability needed to prevent those problems from recurring.
• A Day in the Role Your morning may begin with the bring-up of a new actuator module.
• You verify power sequencing and communication before handing the module to the robotics engineering team.
• When a CAN bus timing issue appears, you analyze the logic trace, identify a firmware configuration mismatch, validate the correction, and document the resolution for future builds.
• Later, you may meet with hardware engineers to review the test plan for an upcoming environmental stress campaign.
• Based on prior test results, you recommend strengthening an acceptance criterion before testing begins.
• The afternoon may involve instrumenting a new test bench for a six-axis force and torque characterization run.
• Before leaving, you update the build log, record equipment configurations, and communicate the day’s technical findings to the broader team.
• Why Join Inabia Solutions & Consulting Inabia Solutions & Consulting provides technology consulting, engineering, and workforce solutions to organizations addressing complex business and technical challenges.
• This role offers the opportunity to take a hands-on technical leadership position in an emerging Physical AI environment where your work will directly influence hardware quality, laboratory capability, and engineering execution.
• Equal Employment Opportunity Inabia Solutions & Consulting is an equal opportunity employer.
• Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other status protected by applicable law.
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