
Hardware Test Technician at Base Power Company (Austin, TX)
Base Power Company· Austin, TX·
Role details
Base Power Company at a glance
Base Power installs home batteries and sells below-market energy in Texas, earning its margin from the grid instead of your bill.
Base Power is a next-generation power company that installs whole-home backup batteries and sells fixed-rate, below-market electricity to homeowners, primarily in Texas. It coordinates its fleet of distributed batteries as a single grid asset, earning revenue from wholesale energy markets so it can keep customer rates low.
$1.3B raised · latest: Series C · $1B · October 2025 · backed by Addition, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners
Summary
The Hardware Test Technician provides hands-on technical support for hardware reliability and testing, including assembling, testing, and troubleshooting prototypes and components. The role involves ensuring lab safety, coordinating with vendors, and tracking project timelines to support the engineering team in a fa...
Job description
About Base
Base is America’s next-generation power company. We’re rebuilding the foundation of modern civilization–electricity–by deploying a vast network of distributed batteries that is transforming today’s fragile, centralized grid into a resilient and abundant system. We are engineers, operators, and creatives solving some of the most complex, interdisciplinary challenges of our time.
About the Role
Base is hiring a Hardware Test Technician to keep our reliability and test lab moving. You'll build harnesses, wire thermocouples, rework boards, and prep hardware before and after test, and you'll help keep the lab safe, stocked, and on schedule.
What You'll Do
- Support test engineers by assembling, testing, and troubleshooting prototypes, components, and equipment.
- Rework boards, wire and label thermocouples, build harnesses, and run inspections before and after testing.
- Keep the lab safe, clean, and organized.
- Work with vendors on purchasing, service, and support for lab equipment.
- Track timelines, materials, and progress so engineers have what they need to hit deadlines.
What You'll Bring
- High school diploma or equivalent. An associate's degree in Engineering Technology, Industrial Technology, or a related field is a plus.
- Hands-on experience supporting design, testing, or assembly in an engineering or technical environment.
- Harness building, thermocouple wiring, and data acquisition setup. These are a must.
- Strong organization and attention to detail.
- Clear communication with engineers and vendors.
Preferred Skills
- Lab experience with batteries or high voltage.
- IPC J-STD-001 or IPC/WHMA-A-620 certification.
- Google Workspace and basic IT troubleshooting.
About the Team
Our hardware reliability and test team breaks Base products before our members can. We run mechanical, electrical, environmental, and abuse testing from component to full system, track how the fleet holds up in the field, root-cause the failures that matter, and feed fixes straight back to design. Homeowners across the country rely on Base for whole-home backup and lower electricity bills. Our network of home batteries also helps keep the grid stable as demand climbs from AI, electrification, and extreme weather. We build in-house and expand at a speed and cost incumbents can't match, and this team makes that possible.
Please note: Base is a startup, which means priorities shift and evolve quickly. Your role may expand or change based on the needs of the business at any given time, so the responsibilities listed may not be exhaustive.
Our Values
- First Principles Thinking: Question assumptions. Principles > rules.
- Operate at Base Pace: Focus on what matters, act quickly, and learn by doing.
- Give & Get Feedback: Be direct, be humble, and maintain a growth mindset.
- Everyone’s an Owner: Follow through on commitments and own results.
- Strong Opinions, Loosely Held: Drive clarity and make calls with imperfect information.
- Committed to the Mission: Rebuilding the grid is a big challenge. We work hard because we care deeply about the impact we’re creating. We work in-person. It’s not a 9-to-5. We are all-in.
- Fun & Optimism Coexist with Grit: Collaboration and celebration coincide with the intensity of building real things.
Do the best work of your life at Base.
Why work at Base Power Company
- Culture: Described as "intense, fast-paced, and deeply mission-driven." The company demands high output, ownership, and a bias toward action. It's explicitly stated as "not for everyone, and that's by design." This is a high-ownership, low-ambiguity environment.
- Work Model: On-site at Base HQ in Austin, Texas. Proximity to the product and team is central to how they move fast. "Do I need to be based in Texas? Yes."
- Hiring Speed: Fast process — aim for 1st conversation to offer in ~2 weeks.
- Interview Process: 3-4 hour on-site including technical assessments and behavioral/team conversations. Focus on "how [you] approach problems, communicate tradeoffs, and collaborate."
- Non-traditional backgrounds: Explicitly welcome: "We care about what you've built and how you think, not the logos on your resume. Some of our best people came from non-traditional paths."
- Engineering Culture: Heavy focus on hardware + software + field operations. Talent sources heavily from Tesla, Anduril, SpaceX — firms known for hardcore engineering and manufacturing excellence. Roles span hardware engineering, firmware, software, manufacturing, field installation/service, operations, growth, and design.
- Team Composition: ~29% of employees are in technical roles; ~15% in operations; significant representation of trades workers (11).
- Notable Perks: Opportunity to work on physical infrastructure deployed at scale; chance to contribute meaningfully to grid modernization and American energy resilience.