About Forterra

Forterra is a leading provider of autonomous systems for ground-based movement in the working world. Amongst some of the earliest innovators in the field of driverless technology, Forterra is focused on building systems that protect front-line soldiers and enable civilian workers in our industrial base. Forterra is the go-to provider of ground autonomy solutions for the U.S. Department of Defense, which harnesses the technology for asymmetric warfare in critical conditions.

About The Role

As a System Test Engineer you will play a critical role in ensuring the functional safety, reliability, and performance of autonomous vehicle subsystems. Your primary focus will be on designing, executing, and maintaining comprehensive test plans for critical vehicle functions—including emergency stop systems, autonomous navigation, sensor fusion, and control logic. The System Test Engineer is responsible for ensuring new software meets Forterra's design requirements

and performance metrics through applicable scenarios and use-cases. Forterra is a fast-growing company expanding our autonomy solution across multiple vehicle platforms. This is an on-site role requiring hands-on exposure to cutting edge technology and real-world environments.

What You'll Do

• Develop, document, and manage the implementation of test procedures to validate requirements at the vehicle-level.
• Identify permutations of test scenarios from user journeys and use-cases for the vehicle under test.
• Identify and procure necessary hardware and software resources for test execution, including designing or sourcing custom test interfaces as needed.
• Execute test procedures, ensuring accurate data collection and thorough documentation of results and observations.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (systems engineering, software, hardware, safety) to define V&V strategies for new features and validate bug fixes.
• Write scripts to monitor key metrics and root-cause defects.
• Provide regular updates on project status, test progress, and timelines to ensure alignment with program milestones.
• Participate in hardware design reviews, offering testability and verification feedback to improve design robustness.
• Engage in requirement reviews to assess test feasibility and contribute to the definition of verifiable, measurable hardware requirements.
• Adapt and refine test strategies to ensure compatibility with the application’s operational conditions and performance targets.

What We're Looking For:

• Ability to read and interpret system requirements and derive relevant test conditions.
• Working understanding of autonomous system architectures including perception, planning, and control subsystems.
• Demonstrated experience designing, executing, and analyzing system-level or subsystem-level tests for autonomous vehicle features
• Experience defining test objectives from requirements, developing structured test procedures, executing tests in physical environments, and performing post-test data analysis to validate system behavior.
• Experience working in the autonomy or automotive field, with exposure to vehicle systems such as perception, control, or drive-by-wire; familiarity with real-time embedded systems, sensor integration, or advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS)
• Experience working on DoD programs

What We Need:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, or a related field.
• 1-5 years of experience in an Engineering role
• Familiarity using CI/CD tools (e.g. GitLab, Jenkins)
• Experience applying LabVIEW, Python, MATLAB and/or other languages suitable for data collection and analysis
• Working understanding of command-line Linux.
• Proven experience in troubleshooting technical problems independently or with moderate guidance.
• Candidate should be a flexible team player with good oral and written communication skills, and able to work effectively in a very fast-paced environment with team members from many different disciplines
• Customer-focused mindset and sense of quality.
• Ability to travel up to 25% of the time for testing and/or other events

What We Love to See:

• Experience with automotive and defense safety standards such as ISO 26262 and/or MIL-STD882E.
• Understanding of automotive electronics and a familiarity with communication protocols such as
• Ethernet, CAN, and LIN.
• Understanding of Ethernet and socket programming (e.g. TCP/IP, UDP, HTTP)

US Salary Range
 $100,000—$120,000
 

The salary range for this role is an estimate and is based on a wide variety of compensation factors. The salary offered to candidates will vary based on a variety of factors including (but not limited to) relevant work experience, education, specialized training, critical expertise, training, and more. Equity in Forterra is included in most of our full-time, high-demand roles and is therefore considered part of Forterra’s overall compensation package. In addition to base salary and equity, Forterra offers competitive benefits for full-time employees including:

• Premium Healthcare Benefits: Three plan options, including an HSA-eligible plan, with Forterra covering 80% of the plan premium for you and your dependents.  
• Basic Life/AD&D, short and long-term disability insurance plans 100% covered by Forterra, plus the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your dependents.
• Extremely generous company holiday calendar including a winter break in December.
• Competitive paid time off (PTO) offering 20 days accrued per year.
• A minimum of 7 weeks fully paid parental leave for birth/adoption. 
• A $9k annual tuition reimbursement or professional development stipend.
• Fully stocked beverage refrigerators with all the Celsius your little heart desires. 
• 401(k) retirement savings plan, including traditional, Roth 401(k), and after-tax deferral with company match up to 4%.

Your recruiter will be able to share more information about our salary and benefits offering during the hiring process.  

Forterra is an equal-opportunity employer, providing and promoting equal employment opportunity in accordance with local, state, and federal laws. Forterrans are unique, talented individuals who are united through a shared passion to deliver autonomous systems that enable national resilience and a robust supply chain. All qualified applications will receive equal consideration for employment.