Staff Engineer, HIL Design, Hardware Integration & Test Automation
Cariad, Inc. · Mountain View, CA
$161,710–$234,325from the description
Jul 23, 2026
Mountain View, CA
Jul 25, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A hands-on individual contributor role focused on designing and owning the hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test infrastructure used to validate automotive embedded platforms. Day-to-day work spans HIL bench architecture, wire harness and interface documentation, ECU bring-up and debug, and Python-based lab automation. The role also leads a technical roadmap for introducing AI-agent-driven workflows and MCP server interfaces into the hardware integration lab, requiring both deep bench-level hardware skills and cross-functional technical leadership.
Staff level · 8+ years · San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA · Bachelor's required · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Roughly 5 people in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (computer occupations, all other). range 1–8
Applicant volume Light — Few people clear these requirements, so an application that does clear them gets looked at. Worth applying to even if you miss a nice-to-have.
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $188,486 (middle half $139,113–$224,920). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (7)
This role sits at the intersection of embedded hardware engineering, HIL/test infrastructure, and AI-enabled lab automation — no single SOC code fits cleanly. 15-1299 (Computer Occupations, All Other) is used as the best available fit for a hands-on hardware/software integration and test automation staff engineer; 15-1252 (Software Developers) is the closest runner-up given the Python automation and AI-agent workflow ownership.
The role is explicitly onsite at the Mountain View, CA lab; the CBSA is San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA (41940), which encompasses Mountain View.
MCP servers are listed under Required Specialized Skills with firm language ('Define and guide implementation of MCP servers, APIs, or comparable tool interfaces'); marked as required. The 'or comparable' qualifier means alternatives exist but the capability itself is a hard gate.
HIL platform tools (dSPACE, NI/VeriStand, Vector, ETAS, Speedgoat, Keysight) appear under Desired Skills and are listed as preferred with alternatives reflecting the 'such as' framing.
OS/platform experience (Linux, Android, QNX, Yocto) and automotive/safety standards (ISO 26262, ISO/SAE 21434, ASPICE, DO-254, DO-178C) all appear under Desired Skills and are marked preferred.
The Master's degree is listed under Desired Education only; the hard requirement is a Bachelor's in EE, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, Mechatronics, or related discipline.
Ignored 2 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): HIL architecture, wire harness design.
Read the full posting
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