HIL and Infrastructure Lab Technician (R6008)

This is a highly hands-on position with direct accountability for lab operations while also building, maintaining, configuring, and troubleshooting the systems that enable software development and integration testing. Candidates for this role will own the day-to-day management, readiness, organization, and growth of Hivemind's Hardware-in-the-Loop and engineering laboratories. Shield AI is a venture-backed defense-tech company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems.

Responsibilities

Own daily operations and technical readiness for HIL and infrastructure laboratories; Build, install, configure, inspect, and maintain HIL racks, test benches, compute systems, network equipment, storage, power distribution, simulation hardware, flight hardware, and supporting lab infrastructure; Own and maintain accurate asset control for lab and program equipment, including receiving, tagging, serial-number tracking, location, custody, configuration, calibration, maintenance, spares, and disposition records; Manage lab schedules, equipment reservations, maintenance windows, integration priorities, and competing cross-program demands; Perform wiring and fabrication tasks such as cable assembly, connector installation, crimping, soldering, continuity checks, cable routing, rack assembly, panel modification, bracket installation, and minor mechanical rework; Read, apply, and update wiring diagrams, electrical schematics, rack elevations, mechanical and installation drawings, cable and port maps, bills of material, work instructions, and interface-control documentation; Support software development by provisioning and restoring development and test environments, imaging computers, installing approved software, managing configurations, collecting logs, and assisting with automated lab workflows; Diagnose and resolve lab issues across power, wiring, compute, networking, software, instrumentation, and mechanical interfaces; Manage procurement coordination, incoming inspection, shipping and receiving, vendor repair activity, consumables, tool control, calibration, equipment staging, and capacity planning; Establish, maintain, and enforce lab standards for safety, access, cybersecurity, export control, electrostatic-discharge protection, foreign-object-debris prevention, cleanliness, labeling, and configuration management; Own and maintain lab operating procedures, build records, maintenance logs, configuration baselines, status dashboards, issue trackers, and work instructions; Support customer integration events, demonstrations, operational exercises, and evaluations by preparing representative lab environments, reproducing field issues, and incorporating approved updates into HIL configurations and test infrastructure

Requirements

5+ years of hands-on experience supporting engineering laboratories, integration and test facilities, avionics, mission systems, electronics, IT infrastructure, industrial equipment, or comparable technical operations; Hands-on experience operating or supporting engineering laboratories, integration facilities, test environments, maintenance operations, or mission systems in the defense, aerospace, aviation, robotics, manufacturing, or another mission-critical industry; Demonstrated experience assembling, installing, maintaining, and troubleshooting electro-mechanical equipment, test infrastructure, computing systems, electronics, or avionics hardware; Experience maintaining accountable assets, serialized hardware, inventory, tools, calibration, spares, shipping and receiving, maintenance history, or configuration records; Strong planning and organizational skills with demonstrated ability to own shared lab operations and coordinate schedules, equipment availability, maintenance activities, priorities, and dependencies across multiple teams or programs; Ability to read and work from wiring diagrams, electrical schematics, mechanical and installation drawings, rack layouts, bills of material, work instructions, and technical manuals; Competence with wiring, cable and connector work, fabrication, hand tools, digital multimeters, continuity testing, rack integration, and safe electro-mechanical troubleshooting; Comfort working with Windows- and Linux-based computers, installing and configuring software, collecting logs, documenting technical work, and communicating clearly with software and hardware engineers; Ability to obtain a SECRET clearance

Nice to have

A degree in engineering technology; an associate degree in electronics technology, information technology, avionics, or a related technical discipline; equivalent military or vocational training; or relevant demonstrated experience; Experience supporting HIL, SIL, VIL, avionics, flight-system, robotics, or systems-integration laboratories; Familiarity with Python, Bash, PowerShell, or another scripting language for asset records, health checks, configuration, data collection, reporting, or routine lab workflows; Experience supporting software-development or continuous-integration teams, including environment provisioning, software deployment, source control, build systems, automated testing, or test orchestration; Experience with aircraft systems, autonomy software, embedded computing, real-time simulation, sensors, communications equipment, or uncrewed vehicle integration; Familiarity with Ethernet networking, managed switches, IP addressing, serial communications, CAN, time synchronization, remote access, and basic network troubleshooting; Experience with CAD viewers or tools used to review or update electrical drawings, mechanical drawings, rack layouts, cable drawings, or lab floor plans

Benefits

Full-time regular employee offer package: Pay within range listed + Bonus + Benefits + Equity; Temporary employee offer package: Pay within range listed + temporary benefits package (applicable after 60 days of employment)