Test Benches Hardware Engineer
Location: Madrid Tres Cantos, SpainA Joint Venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), Thales Alenia Space is a global space manufacturer delivering, for more than 40 years, high-tech solutions for telecommunications, navigation, Earth Observation, environmental management, exploration, science and orbital infrastructures. Thanks to our diversity of skills, talents and cultures, our customers (governments, institutions, space agencies, telecommunications operators), therefore have Space to Connect, Secure & Defend, Observe & Protect, Explore, Travel & Navigate.Thales in Spain is a leader in technological solutions applied to Defence, Aeronautics, Security, Transportation and Space and, furthermore, is a global centre for excellence in Space, Security of Critical Infrastructures and Transportation. With a turnover of €320 million and a staff of 1,200, it exports approximately 40% of its total production principally to the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America.
We are looking for a hardware engineer for the Test Benches Engineering team in Tres Cantos.
Our team is currently comprised of 25 members, mostly engineers, and is one of the Core units of Thales Alenia Space in Spain, as every spacecraft instrument, equipment and sub-system that is designed and manufactured by our company eventually needs to undergo a thorough electrical and functional validation with our test benches. This last stage, prior to the delivery to the customer, is a key one and demands for robust, safe, automated, well-thought designs of the involved EGSE’s, SCOE’s, Suitcases, cables and harnesses that connect the test bench to the unit under test (UUT). All the hardware elements of a test bench, provided by our hardware engineers, will be controlled thanks to the work of our software engineers in the same Core unit. This combined work results in a complete, automated solution that can perform the specified testing.
Your tasks will include:
- Propose the architecture of the test bench, seeking a balance with the project cost and schedule, engineering best practices, testing requirements, unexpected needs, reusability of the test bench building blocks and ease of automation. More experienced candidates will seek the challenge of balancing the above with a solid test bench architecture.
- Be responsible of the technical performances of the solution.
- Design, develop, integrate and validate the test bench from a HW point of view, in close cooperation with the SW team to provide the complete solution.
- Lead the specification of modules to be subcontracted, and follow up with the subcontractor.
- Lead the procurement of the test bench elements.
- Lead the documentation of the test bench. Even with internal test benches a minimum data package is expected.
- Lead the test bench integration and validation, in collaboration with the software engineers of our team, prior to the connection to the UUT.
- Provide support during the UUT campaigns performed with our test benches.
- Learn about the in-house designs and building blocks that are part of our heritage in test benches. Propose improvements and new additions to our portfolio.
- Participate in the project milestones and meetings.
- Be accountable not only to your Core unit teammates but also to the project team members and project lead, who will belong to different engineering disciplines. The IVVQ process is a collaborative work and our company seeks team players.
Skills and experience:
- Bachelor’s degree in telecommunication engineering, electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, physics or other similar technical discipline.
- Experience of 3 years in the design and development of automated test benches.
- Experience in the design and debugging of electronic boards and modules, in one or several of these areas: analog, digital, radiofrequency, power, optical detection.
- Experience in the use and application of standard and PCI&PXI commercial instrumentation (oscilloscopes, analyzer, meter, generator, sources, data acquisition and control, ...)
- Experience in control protocols: GPIB, USB, I2C, SPI...
- Experience in using design tools (eg. ORCAD, Altium).
- (ideally) Experience in FPGA’s and/or VHDL.
- (ideally) Experience in communication buses: SpaceWire, CAN, 1553...
- (ideally) Experience in C++, Labview, and/or other programming languages.
- (ideally) Experience in agile methodologies: lean, obeya, scrum…
- High level of English is essential. French is a plus.
- Ability to manage and comply with costs and planning.
- Team work, improvement spirit, pragmatic, results oriented, dynamic, accountable.
- Motivated to learn new technologies, space-business processes and tools.
Kind reminders:
- The nature of this job requires on-site work most of the time. Nevertheless smart working equipment & tools will be provided and, depending on the task at hand, teleworking and flexible working time can be agreed with the Core unit manager.
- Availability to travel when required is expected, depending on the assigned project it can vary from 0-5 travels / year.
What do we offer?
- Free meals at the office.
- 28 business days of vacation.
- Pension plan.
- Individual training programs.
- Good working environment.