Senior Testing Engineer - Robotic Hardware and Controls (m/f/d)

About the Role at RobCo At RobCo, we develop AI-powered robotic systems that make industrial processes more autonomous, efficient, and scalable. Our Autonomous Manufacturing Platform combines modular industrial hardware with physical AI, enabling rapid deployment and continuous optimization in real production environments. With locations in Munich, San Francisco, and Austin, and backed by leading investors such as Lightspeed, Lingotto Innovation, and Sequoia, we are working to redefine industrial automation. At RobCo, we automate the ordinary, so humans can do the extraordinary. To achieve this, we are looking for an ambitious Senior Hardware-Software Integration & Validation Engineer (m/f/d) to help us establish RobCo as leading provider of automation solutions. In this key role, you will bridge the gap between our physical hardware and intelligent control systems. You won't just follow standard test procedures, you will design the validation framework that ensures our autonomous manufacturing platforms are bulletproof, safe, and ready for global scale. Your Responsibilities - Define the Standards: Act as the technical authority to decide exactly how we prove our hardware and controls work together at major milestones. - Cross-Layer Debugging: Tackle the toughest issues where mechanical backlash, electrical noise, and control-loop timing collide using tools like oscilloscopes and log parsers. - Stress & Margin Testing: Push the hardware into the corners of its envelope through thermal, vibration, and load-cycling campaigns to publish actual performance margins. - Negative & Fault Testing: Validate how the system behaves under fault conditions (e.g., sensor dropouts, power spikes) to ensure safe degradation and predictable recovery. - Traceability & Regression Tracking: Catch drift, wear, and slow regressions across firmware updates before they ever reach the field. Map field observations back to lab tests to continuously perfect our validation strategy. - Gatekeeper Role: Hold red-flag authority at gate reviews. You provide the data-backed confidence to green-light a release or halt it. Your Profile - Experience: 5+ years in system integration, test, or validation engineering within robotics, automotive, or aerospace. - Technical Fluency: Strong Python skills (pandas, numpy, pytest) for hardware automation and data/signal analysis. - Control Fundamentals: A solid grasp of servo loops, motor characterisation, and encoder behavior. - Industrial Protocols: Working knowledge of EtherCAT, CAN, and TCP/IP, alongside comfort reading electrical schematics and mechanical drawings. - Systems Thinker: The ability to mentally map how a control-loop tweak ripples through thermal, mechanical, and electrical behaviors. - Communication: Clear ability to convey technical risks to non-technical stakeholders without diluting the underlying reality. - Language: Very good English skills (German is a plus). Why join RobCo? - Develop modular, software-defined robotics solutions with us that set new standards in automation. - Help us build robots equipped with state-of-the-art AI that perceive their environment, analyse data, and make intelligent decisions in real time. - As part of a very dynamic and fast-growing scale-up, you will take on responsibility from day one, drive your own projects, and see the direct impact of your work. - Flat hierarchies, open communication, and regular 360° feedback enable fast decisions and support your professional and personal development. - Work out across Germany in over 7,200 studios with our subsidised Wellpass membership. - Flexible working hours, a modern office, and—depending on the role—the option to work from home. - Regular team events—from relaxed beer & pizza nights on the rooftop terrace to shared experiences on ski trips or at Oktoberfest. About RobCo RobCo was founded in late 2020 in Munich and develops AI-powered robotic systems that bring learning and autonomy to industrial processes. The Autonomou