About the Position

Field Test Engineer

San Francisco, CA

Atoms is building the machines that power the next era of progress. We are creating Physical AI-real-world robots for industries like food, mining, and transport. Our systems are designed to understand, predict, and control the real world with precision, making complex physical operations more reliable, scalable, and productive.

We are roboticists, engineers, operators, and builders. We believe the next great technology companies will transform not only information but the physical systems that shape everyday life.

If you want to work on hard problems with real-world impact, join us.

Responsibilities

Plan and run scenario cases at proving grounds: translate a case specification into a test procedure, set up instrumented targets and VUT’s, define approach conditions and tolerance bands, and execute enough valid runs to support a result.
Run scenario cases on public roads with safety drivers, route and condition selection to actually encounter the target scenario, in-vehicle protocol, driver briefing, abort criteria, and disciplined recording of what occurred.
Own the risk assessment for the testing itself: site layout, personnel positions, exclusion zones, emergency stop provisions, weather and surface limits, and the conditions under which a test does not run.
Own instrumentation and ground truth - ego positioning, target position and velocity, timing synchronisation, video and data acquisition.
Own tolerance bands, the number of valid runs a result requires, and the rejection of runs that fall outside them, with the reason recorded.
Write test reports a safety case engineer can cite directly: what was run, under what conditions, against what criteria, with what outcome, and every deviation from the procedure.
Own proving ground scheduling, test equipment and its calibration, and third-party test service relationships.
Report what is not testable as specified, what needed adaptation to run at all, and what no available venue can stage.
Use AI tooling to remove the drudgery: first-draft procedures generated from case specifications, automated validity checking of runs against tolerance bands, and report drafting from acquisition data.

Requirements

5+ years hands-on vehicle test engineering, ADAS or AV testing, proving ground operations, or OEM and Tier 1 vehicle test.
Hands-on with the equipment: instrumented targets including soft cars and pedestrian and cyclist targets, driving robots, RTK or GNSS ground truth, timing synchronisation and data acquisition.
Experience executing published test procedures, Euro NCAP or NHTSA crash-avoidance procedures or equivalent.
Rigour about validity. You reject runs that fall outside tolerance and record why, without being asked and without being talked out of it.
Safety-of-test judgment. You have stopped a test, or refused to start one, and can explain the call.
Data ability in Python or similar, comfortable reducing acquisition data and producing a defensible result.
Comfort using AI tooling to automate procedure drafting, run validity checks and report generation.
Clear written communication. Your reports become cited evidence in arguments other people sign.
Willingness to travel to proving grounds and test routes regularly, and to work the hours that test windows and weather actually allow.

We Offer

Competitive salary range: $170,000 - $215,000 per year.
Equity awards
Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, and Life Insurance
Flexible Spending Account / Health Savings Account Options
401(k)
Sick Time, Unlimited Flexible Time Off, and Paid Holidays
Paid Parental Leave
Pre-Tax Commuter Benefit Plan
Team lunch in our SoMa office every Tuesday and Thursday

About the Company

At Atoms, you’ll work on one of the defining challenges of our time-bringing automation into the physical world to drive real, lasting impact. We exist to uncover valuable unknown truths and turn them into progress, which means constantly pushing beyond what’s known and building what doesn’t yet exist. The work is ambitious and often challenging, but it’s grounded in a shared sense of purpose and a team committed to seeing it through together. Our work only matters if it serves others, and we know that meaningful progress depends on the trust of the people we serve and the strength of our team-so we invest in both, creating an environment where you can do your best work and grow.

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Field Test Engineer

Job description