Test Engineer

Leidos hiring for Test Engineer jobs in Herndon, VA, US

Description

Are you interested in improving and shaping the transportation industry in a group of intelligent and motivated individuals?  Consider joining the Leidos team operating FHWA’s Saxton Transportation Operations Laboratory (STOL), a USDOT research lab focused on the improvement of transportation operations, safety, mobility, and environmental impacts.  STOL provides a variety of services to boost the advancement and adoption of emerging technologies, including automation and communication in vehicles and on the roadside.   

Learn about STOL here: https://highways.dot.gov/research/laboratories/saxton-transportation-operations-laboratory/saxton-transportation-operations-laboratory-overview   

To promote these goals, Leidos is seeking a Test and QA Engineer who is motivated by variety, thrives in a challenging environment, seeks professional growth, and will be a key part of a team developing, testing, and extending a variety of applications and components in support of transportation research.  This person will play a role in testing and evaluating technologies to advance the future of transportation.   

Systems of interest relate to the following: 

• Connected Automated Vehicle (CAV) use cases and applications
• Cooperative Driving Automation (CDA) Systems applications
• Vehicle-to-infrastructure, Vehicle-to-pedestrian, and vehicle-to-vehicle communication hardware systems and standards 
• Traffic operations
• Intelligent transportation systems

The successful candidate will work closely with fellow engineers, software developers, test engineers and managers to comprehend the concept of operations and requirements; identify testing and evaluation needs; develop and execute test plans; and install, evaluate, and manage applications and communications hardware. The candidate should enjoy working in a lab environment and in real-world, hands-on settings developing and testing new solutions, tools, and opportunities to advance the state of technology and promote adoption. The Test Engineer will be part of a dynamic research team that advances connected and automated vehicle technologies for FHWA.   

Primary Duties Include:  

• Develop testing and evaluation (T&E) campaign plans, test plans and data management plans.
• Work with project teams, customers, and external stakeholders to grasp Concept of Operations or T&E requirements. 
• Write test procedures and protocols to assess system reliability and evaluate the ability of systems to meet performance standards and specifications.
• Develop test simulations to evaluate how systems react under different conditions and analyze system failure to assess the integrity and reliability of system performance. 
• Develop the functional and technical performance metrics based on the test plan goals or test scenario objectives. 
• Collect, analyze, and evaluate test data and report results to conclude if system designs and architecture meet specifications and performance expectations. 
• Plan the testing logistics and assist with identifying and obtaining the use of needed laboratory or field operational test facilities.
• Coordinate with program Systems Engineering (SE) team and review T&E-related SE information to leverage functional analysis, system descriptions, parameter selection and dependencies, Modeling and Simulation, and initial performance risk assessments to inform evaluation planning.
• Ensure test readiness including training of test event participants regarding conduct of the event, equipment readiness, and security, legal, and privacy compliance arrangements.
• Conduct field/virtualized distributed testing with in-house or external teams to execute the T&E of one or more systems, including physical testing of automated vehicles and connected infrastructure.
• Perform integration, verification, validation, and/or regression testing of Connected Vehicle- and Infrastructure-based applications on various platforms. 
• Actively convey issues and solutions to internal and external teams.
• Interacting with in-house and external development teams to identify, understand, and resolve technical goals and challenges. 
• Participate in customer and supplier technical interchange discussions.
• Manage the day-to-day activities of the test team that consists of hardware (electrical and mechanical) engineers, software engineers, and technicians. 
• Support planning, estimation, scheduling, and resource management of test development and execution.

Required Education & Skills: 

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Engineering, Electrical, Computer Science, Mechanical, Engineering or closely related field.
• Minimum of 2 years of experience developing comprehensive test plans, scenarios, and performance metrics.
• Minimum of 3 years of exposure working in a lab and/or test environment.

• Background/working knowledge with Linux and Windows operating systems. 
• Background/working knowledge testing, evaluating, and troubleshooting software written in C++ and/or Python in a Linux environment.
• Familiarity and/or practice using automated test tools on software projects.
• Background with hardware/software-in-the-loop test development and testing
• Working knowledge on programs using the Agile Scrum methodology and Agile frameworks using toolsets such as Jira and Confluence.
• Self-motivated with ability to self-teach with minimal guidance and quickly become proficient in new tools/technologies.
• Interest in hands-on work with hardware and software. 
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to follow through on commitments and deliver quality products on or ahead of schedule. 
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance (which includes three years of immediate residency in the US). 
• Work on-site and travel to test sites within the United States to sponsor occasional test events that could span multiple weeks (15% on average). 
• Hold a valid driver’s license in the US and have a good driving record. 

Preferred Education & Skills: 

• Knowledge of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), V2X, simulation, CDA, and CAV’s
• Comprehension of connected and/or automated vehicle operations. 
• Familiarity of the systems engineering processes and procedures, particularly testing and quality assurance.
• Ability to identify efficiencies and process improvements between the development and testing disciplines.
• Knowledge of testing and quality assurance processes and best practices.
• Knowledge of safety best practices for full scale vehicle testing, especially involving pedestrians
• Background with network administration and network simulation tools (e.g. NS-3). 
• Comprehension of vehicle kinematics, dynamics, and controls, including sensors and its calibration. 
• Prior work with Java, Python, SQL, C++, C#, C. 
• Familiarity with simulation environments (e.g. SUMO, CARLA, etc.)
• Hands-on setup of data collection hardware and software. 
• Prior involvement deploying robotics platforms in the real world and/or in simulation. 
• Familiarity with connected vehicle and ITS standards including IEEE 1609, 3GPP Rel 14/15 PC5, SAE J2735/J2945/J3161, NTCIP 1202/1218. 
• Background with wireless standards including IEEE 802.11 & 1609, 3GPP LTE & 5G, SAE J2735 & J2945. 

• Previous engagement with external communities and stakeholders. 

Anticipated pay range for this role: $80,000 - $100,000 

While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.