Embedded Software Test Engineer (auto)

As a Senior Embedded Software Test Engineer at Optics11, you own the embedded software system-test capability for our sensing interrogator platforms. You define, automate, execute, and continuously improve Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) and box-level integration and regression testing so that software and firmware release candidates are qualified on representative hardware before they move downstream to formal verification, FAT (Factory Acceptance Test), field, or application validation.

Your scope covers the integrated behavior of embedded Linux applications and services, internal and external APIs, hardware interfaces, firmware and FPGA interactions, system control, calibration and configuration, diagnostics, data acquisition, boot and update behavior, recovery mechanisms, and sensor interfaces. You build and maintain automated test frameworks, HIL benches, test harnesses, CI/CD integration, and objective release evidence that make product behavior repeatable, observable, and measurable.

You are part of the Sensing Platform Team and work closely with Embedded Software, FPGA/Firmware, Electronics, Photonics, Architects, Product System Engineering, Product Integration, Verification & Validation, Lifecycle Engineering, application/software teams, and external development partners. The primary ownership of this role is integrated interrogator/HIL system-level testing and release qualification. It complements developer-owned unit and component testing and does not replace independent formal verification, compliance, environmental, or end-to-end application validation performed downstream.

• HIL & System-Level Test Development
• Own the interrogator/HIL test strategy, system-level regression suite, and embedded software/firmware release qualification approach for the Sensing Platform.
• Translate product, software, firmware, and interface requirements into test plans, acceptance criteria, coverage objectives, and automated regression tests.
• Design, build, and maintain HIL test setups using representative hardware, simulated or real sensor inputs, and remotely controlled lab equipment.
• Develop maintainable Python-based test automation for device control, test orchestration, data capture, analysis, and reporting.
• Integrate hardware-based regression testing into CI/CD pipelines, enabling repeatable and largely automated testing of release candidates.
• Maintain traceability between requirements, test cases, defects, results, and release evidence.
• Release Qualification & Failure Analysis
• Qualify embedded software and firmware releases on representative interrogator hardware before downstream V&V, FAT, field, or application validation.
• Design and execute system, negative, stress, endurance, fault-injection, restart/recovery, upgrade/rollback, and robustness testing based on product risk.
• Analyze logs, system state, performance, timing, communication behavior, and data outputs to identify regressions and integration issues.
• Triage failures and support root-cause analysis across software, firmware, FPGA, electronics, photonics, sensors, and system interfaces.
• Reproduce field, production, and customer issues in laboratory/HIL environments and turn important failures into permanent regression coverage.
• Provide clear, evidence-based input on release readiness, known limitations, unresolved defects, and coverage gaps.
• Test Engineering & Technical Ownership
• Identify quality risks, missing coverage, weak observability, testability limitations, and failure scenarios, and drive practical improvements.
• Evaluate test frameworks, HIL architectures, simulation approaches, instrumentation, and automation solutions.
• Work with Software, Firmware/FPGA, Electronics, Photonics, Systems, Integration and V&V engineers to improve design-for-testability, interfaces, diagnostics, and acceptance criteria.
• Own significant HIL, system-test, and automation workstreams with minimal guidance, while keeping test environments, tooling, configurations, and documentation reliable and reproducible.
• Contribute to requirement, design, code, test-plan, and test-result reviews.
• Collaboration & Continuous Improvement
• Collaborate across multidisciplinary engineering teams to solve complex integration and product-quality issues.
• Communicate test results, quality risks, defects, dependencies, and release readiness clearly to technical stakeholders.
• Share knowledge and mentor peers in embedded software testing, HIL automation, failure analysis, and robust test design.
• Continuously improve automated coverage, CI/CD quality gates, test reporting, diagnostics, test-environment stability, and release processes.
• Reduce flaky, manual, and repetitive testing through reusable test assets and reliable automation.

Strong experience testing embedded products on physical hardware and integrated systems throughout the product-development lifecycle.

You'll be working with clients in the defense and security sectors, obtaining a Certificate of No Objection issued by the AIVD (Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service) is mandatory. This means you will need to undergo a security screening. For more information, please refer to details on security screening.

• Join one of Europe’s most promising deep-tech scale-ups.
• Shape the future of a rapidly growing multidisciplinary R&D organization.
• Competitive salary and benefits package.
• Enjoy regular team activities and company events.
• Fresh team lunches provided every day.