Test Engineer

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.

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.
• 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 inform evaluation planning.
• Ensure test readiness including training of test event participants regarding conduct of the event, equipment readiness, and 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.
• 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.
• Self-motivated with ability to self-teach with minimal guidance and quickly become proficient in new tools/technologies.
• 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.
• Knowledge of testing and quality assurance processes and best practices.
• Background with network administration and network simulation tools (e.g. NS-3).
• 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.
• 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.

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

Original Posting Date:

2024-06-12

Pay Range:

Pay Range $65,000.00 - $117,500.00