About Avestec
Avestec is an award-winning Canadian robotics company developing advanced aerial and ground robotic systems for industrial inspection, asset integrity management, confined space operations, and autonomous navigation. Our technologies are deployed across energy, defense, infrastructure, and industrial sectors worldwide.
Position Overview
We are seeking a high-ownership Robotics Field Test Engineer to lead the physical validation, verification, and real-world deployment of our multi-platform autonomous systems. In this role, you will bridge the gap between engineering design, harsh field conditions, and customer environments, validating systems across our commercial fleet of industrial UAVs, crawlers, and contact inspection payloads.
Rather than operating the platforms yourself, you will act as the technical test lead, coordinating closely with professional UAV Test Pilots and Robot Operators to execute structured, rigorous field experiments. You will own the creation of formal verification frameworks, regression testing matrices, and standard operating procedures (SOPs). Furthermore, you will serve as a vital engineering bridge to our clients, traveling directly to heavy industrial sites to manage system integration, lead Site Acceptance Testing (SAT), and provide high-stakes, onsite technical troubleshooting.
Key Responsibilities
- Design, author, and execute comprehensive system-level test plans, verification matrices, and regression testing protocols.
- Define precise operational boundary conditions and pass/fail metrics for field trials and hardware-in-the-loop tests.
- Maintain meticulous, auditable records of test configurations, environmental parameters, and software/firmware versions.
- Translate field failures into high-fidelity bug reports with clear, step-by-step reproduction steps for core GNC, embedded firmware, and software engineering teams.
- Partner with dedicated UAV Test Pilots and robot operators during testing campaigns to ensure test readiness, validate pre-flight/pre-drive checklists, and maintain strict field safety rules.
- Act as the primary engineering point of contact for customer success during real-world deployments.
- Travel frequently to customer installations to lead Site Acceptance Testing (SAT), conduct operator onboarding, and perform complex, hands-on system troubleshooting under tight timelines.
- Analyze complex system telemetry and massive datasets—including flight/drive logs, network packet captures, and multi-domain sensor data (3D LiDAR-SLAM, ultrasonic testing feeds, IMUs)—to isolate intermittent edge-case bugs and system degradation.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Robotics, Aerospace Engineering, Mechatronics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
- 3–5+ years of hands-on experience in systems testing, formal validation (V&V), or field deployment engineering for UAVs, autonomous ground vehicles, or complex industrial robotics.
- Demonstrated proficiency writing highly structured engineering test cases, verification procedures, and field performance metrics.
- Excellent interpersonal skills, professional presence, and ability to navigate high-pressure, live-deployment troubleshooting calmly in front of industrial clients.
- Strong practical understanding of multi-domain mechatronics: electromechanical systems, data communication protocols (CAN bus, Ethernet, serial), power distribution networks, and embedded Linux architectures.
- Willingness and excitement to travel frequently (up to 30-40%) to diverse customer environments, industrial processing facilities, and challenging outdoor landscapes.
- Solid competency parsing and analyzing complex system telemetry using diagnostic tools like PlotJuggler, Foxglove Studio, MAVLink/PX4 logs, or ROS bag files.
Preferred Qualifications
- Familiarity with robotics frameworks such as ROS / ROS2, PX4, ArduPilot, or standard Linux-based autonomy stacks.
- Hands-on experience calibrating multi-sensor payloads (e.g., Camera-IMU temporal alignment, LiDAR-to-Vehicle extrinsics, or VIO/VPS tracking optimization).
- Exposure to or basic understanding of Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) modalities (e.g., Ultrasonic Testing [UT], EMAT, or Dry Film Thickness [DFT]).
- Familiarity with hardware/software safety and environmental qualification standards (e.g., MIL-STD-810G, IP environmental ratings).
Why Join Avestec?
- Work on real-world robotics challenges rather than purely academic projects.
- Contribute to patented technologies deployed globally.
- Collaborate with leading industrial partners in energy, defense, and infrastructure sectors.
- Opportunity to shape the future of autonomous aerial robotics and intelligent inspection systems.
Job Types: Full-time, Fixed term contract
Contract length: 12 months
Pay: $4,500.00-$5,500.00 per month
Location:
Work Location: In person
