{"id":128120,"url":"https://alion.io/job/sesame-ai-hardware-test-automation-engineer","title":"Hardware Test Automation Engineer","company":{"id":48220,"name":"Sesame AI","domain":"sesame.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/sesame-ai","size_band":"201-500","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":81,"open_postings":22,"ghost_share":0.227,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":148,"computed_at":"2026-10-23T05:54:15Z"}},"role":"Hardware","role_family":"Hardware","seniority":null,"employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["San Francisco, United States","Bellevue, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":150000,"max":260000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":260000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"CI/CD","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"Synthetic Data","optional":false},{"name":"Voice Agents","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-07-14T20:30:13Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-07-14","last_verified_at":"2026-10-23T18:44:40Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":101,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":0,"flags":["company_stale"],"days_open":100},"description":"About Sesame\nSesame believes in a future where computers are lifelike - with the ability to see, hear, and collaborate with us in ways that feel natural and human. With this vision, we're designing a new kind of computer, focused on making voice agents part of our daily lives. Our team brings together founders from Oculus and Ubiquity6, alongside proven leaders from Meta, Google, and Apple, with deep expertise spanning hardware and software. Join us in shaping a future where computers truly come alive.\nAbout the Role\nSesame is building a wearable AI hardware device that brings our voice companion into the physical world. We're standing up our hardware quality function from the ground up, and we're looking for our first dedicated Hardware Test Automation Engineer to build the automation backbone for the program. You'll design and own an automated test rig, a rack of devices wired into our CI/CD pipeline that, on every firmware change, builds, flashes, runs the test suite, and generates reports automatically. You'll establish nightly stability runs, weekly stress runs, and long-duration audio sessions, and you'll build the live performance and stress dashboard that becomes the team's shared source of truth for quality. Your metrics will gate releases and back the performance story we tell investors and customers.\nThis is a high-ownership, high-visibility role at the firmware/wireless/hardware boundary, on a small team that moves fast. You'll partner closely with the firmware team and our hands-on platform tester, and you'll have visibility and authority across both the firmware and the testbed so the two are built to cooperate.\nInitial focus (first ~60 days):\nStand up an automated test framework driven from a programmable Bluetooth central (Android, iOS, or a Pi-based rig, whatever fits), firmware-first then integration-first; even if early runs are short, get the foundation in place before it scales.\n\nEstablish nightly (sanity/stability) and weekly (stress) automated runs, with extended weekend runs for long-duration audio sessions (e.g., 5-hour and 18-hour using synthetic data).\n\nBegin a live performance/stress dashboard: A2DP/throughput, BT link duration, BT latency, battery life, firmware crash counts, and regression flags.\n\nResponsibilities:\nDesign, build, and own an automated hardware test rig integrated with CI/CD (build → flash → run → report) for the device.\n\nImplement throughput/bandwidth, connectivity stress tests (e.g., iPerf, A2DP/AVRCP), including sustained-throughput, connection-stability/range testing, and simulated degraded-connectivity scenarios.\n\nBuild API-level tests (easier to automate than full end-to-end iOS flows) covering throughput, sustained load, and crash detection.\n\nRun long-duration audio session testing (multi-hour, synthetic data) and battery/thermal performance characterization (including full discharge cycling).\n\nBuild and maintain a live performance & stress dashboard with defined safety thresholds and target (\"high-achieving\") benchmarks; automatically flag regressions.\n\nDevelop diagnostic tooling and support automated bug triage for hardware/firmware issues.\n\nProvide daily automation summaries and updates; support ad hoc/cherry-picked test runs when the team needs targeted coverage.\n\nPartner with firmware (and the QA coordinator) to define what is automated vs. manual, API vs. integrated, and which platform drives the rig.\n\nRequired Qualifications:\nHands-on experience building hardware/embedded test automation and integrating it into CI/CD (automated flashing, execution, and reporting).\n\nSolid wireless/networking fundamentals: Bluetooth audio (A2DP/AVRCP), BLE, and throughput testing (e.g., iPerf). You understand what to test, not just how to automate.\n\nStrong scripting/programming (e.g., Python) and the ability to build harnesses and dashboards from scratch.\n\nExperience defining test plans, metrics, and pass/fail thresholds from real data.\n\nComfortable operating in an early-stage, prototype-hardware environment with limited units and evolving specs.\n\nPreferred Qualifications:\nExperience owning an automation testbed for a shipping consumer hardware product (wearables, audio devices, smart cameras, IoT).\n\nPerformance instrumentation experience: latency, sustained throughput, IPC/cycle count, and thread- and core-level tracing on embedded/multi-core platforms.\n\nFamiliarity with Qualcomm chipsets and tooling (e.g., DSP framework, PyDebug) and the realities of vendor bug turnaround.\n\nExperience automating from a programmable Bluetooth central: Android, iOS, a Pi-based rig, or similar; bonus for breadth across more than one.\n\nBattery and thermal test methodology.\n\nExperience with sensor/IMU testing and creative physical test setups for connectivity/range.\n\nSesame is committed to a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered. We welcome all qualified applicants, embracing diversity in race, gender, identity, orientation, ability, and more. We provide reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. Contact  for assistance.\nFull-time Employee Benefits:\n401 (k) max employer match: 3.5% of compensation\n\n100% employer-paid health, vision, and dental benefits for you and your dependents\n\nUnlimited PTO and sick time\n\nFlexible spending account with employer matching up to $1,650/year (medical FSA)\n\nGuardian Employee Assistance Program (EAP)\n\nOpportunity to share in the company's success with competitive stock options\n\nBenefits do not apply to contingent/contract workers.","description_format":"text","description_chars":5545,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Stock options","Unlimited PTO"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Conversational AI","Speech & Audio AI"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-07-14T20:30:13Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 7","filings_12m":7,"filings_prev_12m":0,"green_card_filings_12m":0,"median_offered_wage_usd":162500,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-15T11:24:14+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)"],"filings_for_role_12m":1}],"liveness":{"score":52,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.729,"p_room":0.72,"age_days":100,"expected_fill_days":148,"reasons":["conf:1","win:mid","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-10-23T05:54:15Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":260000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/sesame-ai-hardware-test-automation-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/sesame-ai-hardware-test-automation-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-23T21:31:53Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":3703,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-24T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":48220},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=48220"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fsesame-ai-hardware-test-automation-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fsesame-ai-hardware-test-automation-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fsesame-ai-hardware-test-automation-engineer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/sesame-ai-hardware-test-automation-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fsesame-ai-hardware-test-automation-engineer"}]}