Sr. Test Engineer

Position Overview

As a Senior Test Engineer, you own how Velo3D proves its metal additive manufacturing printers are ready to ship and keeps them running. Every printer passes through three stages of test:

• Subsystem bring-up (Level 600) — power up and verify each subsystem in turn: electrical and safety interlocks, argon gas and compressed air, cooling, motion, powder handling, laser optics, controls and software.
• System validation (Level 700) — confirm the subsystems work together and the printer meets its acceptance criteria.
• Final qualification (Level 800) — the last qualification checks and sign-off before a printer is released.

You own the procedures for bring-up and validation, sign off final qualification, and keep our internal printers qualified and available. Test Technicians execute your procedures; you are their technical escalation point.

Success looks like higher first-pass yield, shorter bring-up cycle time, failures caught in test rather than in the field, and recurring incidents closed with permanent fixes.

Responsibilities

• Procedures — Author, revise and release the bring-up (Level 600) and system validation (Level 700) procedures through engineering change control; set acceptance limits.
• Final qualification — Own Level 800 qualification and release sign-off; direct technician support and confirm printers arrive from system validation complete.
• Test equipment — Specify, build and validate test stations, fixtures and instrumentation; own gauge capability and calibration requirements.
• Internal fleet — Own incidents on internal printers to closure (ITRS, Splunk, Datadog); support software releases and user acceptance testing.
• Root cause — Lead root cause and permanent corrective action for test failures and recurring incidents with Hardware, Software, suppliers and Quality.
• Data and automation — Track yield, cycle time and downtime; write Shell/Python tooling to automate data capture, monitoring and repetitive steps.
• People and quality — Train Test Technicians on procedures, mentor junior engineers, and keep records to AS9100 standards.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s in Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronics or related engineering, or equivalent experience.
• 3–5 years in test, bring-up or manufacturing engineering on complex capital equipment (semiconductor, laser, medical, aerospace or automation).
• Has authored and released revision-controlled test procedures and led root cause to a verified fix.
• Hands-on across electrical (schematics, DMM, scope, megger), gas and fluid systems (P&IDs, leak-down), precision motion and optics.
• Controls and computing: firmware, PLC/controller interfaces, IP/Modbus networking, Linux/Windows, Shell and Python.
• Clear communicator who makes decisions from data and never skips a step under schedule pressure.

Preferred

• Experience taking a new product from prototype into production test (new product introduction).
• Laser systems or metal additive manufacturing experience.
• Tracking equipment reliability and uptime — mean time between failures (MTBF) and mean time to repair (MTTR).
• Statistical process control (SPC) to monitor test results, and measurement system analysis (MSA) to prove test equipment is accurate and repeatable.
• Structured root cause methods such as 8D (eight-step problem solving) and 5-Why.
• Working in an aerospace or ISO quality system (AS9100 or ISO 9001).

Working Conditions

• Export control: must be ITAR-compliant (U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident).
• Laser safety, LOTO, compressed gas and metal powder training provided and must be maintained.
• Onsite at Fremont and Livermore; exposure to high voltage, Class 4 lasers, inert gases, metal powders and noise; PPE as posted.
• Standing, ladders and occasional confined spaces; lift up to 50 lbs; occasional off-shift work for machine-down events

About the Company

Velo, Velo3D, Sapphire and Intelligent Fusion are registered trademarks of Velo3D, Inc. Without Compromise, Flow, Flow Developer, and Assure are trademarks of Velo3D, Inc.

With the only SupportFree laser powder bed fusion capability, we enable on-demand manufacturing of production quality Titanium, Inconel, and Aluminum parts with an unprecedented degree of design freedom and quality control. The VELO3D award-winning solution includes an integrated offering of hardware and software: Sapphire® metal AM production printer, Flow™ print preparation software, Assure™ quality assurance and control system, and an integrated manufacturing process that runs throughout the printing operation.

Our team enjoys excellent benefits including healthcare coverage and 401(K) employer contributions. We believe in transparency and recognizing exceptional efforts through our monthly all-hands meetings and team member appreciation awards.

Our job titles may span more than one career level. The starting base salary for this full-time position is between $120,000 and $148,000. This salary range reflects the minimum and maximum target for this position in the U.S. The actual base pay is dependent upon many factors, such as work experience, job-related skills, related education, work location, and market demands. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. In addition to a competitive base salary and a comprehensive benefits package, this position may be eligible for other forms of compensation such as participation in a bonus and equity program, as applicable.

Velo3D provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to, and prohibits discrimination and harassment based on, race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.