---
title: 'Test Engineer at Hadrian Automation'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/test-engineer-hadrian-automation-los-angeles-5g21q04f737y'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-10'
---

# Test Engineer at Hadrian Automation

- **Company:** [Hadrian Automation](https://feeny.ai/companies/hadrian-automation)
- **Location:** Los Angeles, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-11-05
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-10
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/hadrian-automation/1e44ac25-3b60-44a2-bf72-5d6cbf40b77d

## Job description

Hadrian - Manufacturing the Future Hadrian is building autonomous factories to reindustrialize America. By combining AI, advanced software, robotics, and full-stack manufacturing, we help aerospace and defense companies build rockets, satellites, aircraft, ships, and other mission-critical systems up to 10x faster and at significantly lower cost.

Following our $1.37B Series D at a $7.87B valuation, Hadrian is rapidly expanding our manufacturing footprint, launching new capabilities across welding, casting, forging, electronics, additive manufacturing, and more, while scaling our Factory-as-a-Service platform to transform how critical products are built.

Backed by leading investors including JPMorgan Chase, Valor Equity Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, 137 Ventures, Lux Capital, T. Rowe Price, and Morgan Stanley, we’re building the future of American manufacturing—and looking for exceptional people to help make it happen.

If you’re ready to take on the most challenging and rewarding work of your career while helping create American manufacturing jobs for generations to come, you’re exactly who we’re looking for.

## The Role

Test Engineering is a brand new team at Hadrian, built from the ground up with no legacy test framework to work around. As a Test Engineer, you'll be the responsible engineer and technical lead for all proof and functional testing on a large manufacturing program for complex weldments. You'll set the test strategy for the program and decide what we test, how, and why. You'll use engineering first principles to decide which requirements we meet, exceed, or push back on, and you'll make the calls on cost, schedule, quality, and safety. You'll lead the design of the test equipment, make sure every test is safe, and coordinate the engineers and technicians who build and run it. You'll be on the floor for first articles, hand each test off to production, and set the standards the team carries to the next program. The program is in its development phase today, and scope will grow as it moves into production. Many of the test capabilities will take 6 to 12 months to build, so the work you do now shapes how the factory runs later. If you like building a test program from an empty floor, leading through your expertise, and owning the outcome, this role is for you.

## What You’ll Do

- Own the test strategy and test plan for every program requirement, from customer spec to final data package
- Interpret customer test specs, and negotiate changes when you disagree
- Lead the selection, purchase, and integration of hydrostatic, proof, and functional test equipment into the work center. Design custom pressure systems, fixtures, and data acquisition when nothing off the shelf fits.
- Own test safety: hazard analysis, stored energy calculations, and engineering controls for every test you stand up
- Set the data collection, labeling, storage, and traceability requirements for program testing, and work with our controls, software, and data teams to build the tools
- Write test automation, process plans, work orders, and training materials, and set the standard the rest of the team follows
- Hand each test off to production with clear accept/reject criteria and trained technicians
- Deliver a complete test data package to the customer showing compliance with every agreed requirement
- Lead customer reviews and witness tests
- Mentor engineers and technicians on pressure testing, test design, and safety
- Work with build engineering, factory automation, factory planning, production, and workforce training to keep testing in step with the build. The line should never be waiting on a test result.

## What We’re Looking For

- Bachelor's degree in mechanical, electrical, aerospace, or chemical engineering
- 5+ years in test, launch, controls, integration, or fluid systems engineering
- Deep pressure test experience. You've planned, run, and signed off on hydrostatic or proof tests on large, complex hardware.
- Strong command of pressure system design: P&IDs, relief sizing, stored energy, and codes like ASME BPVC Section VIII, B31.3, and PCC-2
- Experience specifying, installing, and commissioning test equipment and data acquisition systems (NI, Dewesoft, HBK, or similar)
- Test automation in Python, LabVIEW, or similar
- A record of leading test programs or cross-functional projects from start to finish
- Experience making and defending tradeoffs across cost, schedule, quality, and safety with customers and internal teams, and knowing when to change course
- Able to travel to other sites and support occasional nights and weekends around test events

What Will Set You Apart

- System-level testing on hardware more complex than a single pressure vessel
- You've designed, built, and commissioned your own pressure test equipment
- You've stood up a new test lab or test capability from scratch
- You've built or maintained hydraulic systems
- You've led failure investigations and root cause corrective action
- You've led or mentored a team of engineers or technicians
- Time on console for test or launch operations
- A background in auto racing, aerospace testing, or launch
- Work in a regulated manufacturing environment with strict reporting and traceability requirements (AS9100, ASME code work, or similar)
- 5S or a similar program in a high-mix shop
- Hosting customer or third-party witness tests

## Benefits for Full-time Employees

- Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans for employees 401k
- Relocation support may be provided for certain situations, based on business need.
- Flexible vacation policy
- Equity

ITAR Requirements To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen or national, lawful permanent resident, protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.

Use of AI in hiring Hadrian uses AI-assisted tools in our recruiting and hiring processes to help our team work more efficiently. This may include tools that help organize and analyze recruiting data, as well as an AI-powered notetaker that can record and transcribe interviews and help coordinate feedback. These tools support our team and are not used to make hiring decisions. All candidate evaluations and hiring decisions are performed by humans. If an interview will be recorded, you will be notified in advance and may opt out at any time with no impact on your candidacy. Candidate data processed through these tools is subject to the same protections described in our [Privacy Policy](https://www.hadrian.co/privacy-policy).

Consideration of Criminal History Hadrian will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of all applicable laws. We do not ask about criminal history on our application, and we do not consider criminal history before making a conditional offer of employment.

Hadrian Is An Equal Opportunity Employer Hadrian does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, marital status, mental status, physical disability or any other legally protected status. When necessary, the Company also makes reasonable accommodations for disabled candidates and employees, including for candidates or employees who are disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

## About Hadrian Automation

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Hadrian builds AI-powered autonomous factories to manufacture precision components for the aerospace and defense industries, aiming to reindustrialize American manufacturing.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series C)
- **Headquarters**: Los Angeles, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2021
- **Founders**: Chris Power

## Core Business
- **Primary Industry**: Defense and Space Manufacturing, Advanced Manufacturing
- **Target Customers**: B2B; startups, Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, and major defense contractors across space, shipbuilding, and aviation.
- **Mission/Purpose**: To rebuild America’s industrial base with highly automated factories that combine process engineering, AI, and robotics, helping space and defense manufacturers produce at scale in the U.S. and giving American workers the tools to compete globally.

## Products & Services
- **Precision Components Manufacturing**: Produces precision parts for aerospace and defense customers, from prototype to production.
- **Opus (Factory Autonomy Platform)**: A full-stack, AI-powered platform that interprets legacy designs and automates manufacturing and inspection processes, enabling world-class speed, quality, and utilization.
- **Factories-as-a-Service**: Dedicated manufacturing or inspection cells deployed in Hadrian facilities or customer sites, as well as entire product, assembly, and component factories designed and operated by Hadrian.
- **Atlas Supply Chain Platform**: A "Supply Chain as a Service" offering that gives customers a single, scalable path from early development through full-rate production, managing end-to-end procurement across a vetted network of suppliers.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed.
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding of **$363.95M** across 8 rounds.
- **Revenue**: Annual revenue estimated at **$3.0M** (per LinkedIn).
- **Notable Investors**: Lux Capital, Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, T. Rowe Price (led Series C).
- **Growth Signals**:
    - Headcount of **325 employees** (as of recent data), with **+112.9% YoY growth**.
    - **156 active job postings** (as of mid-2026), with job postings up **+457.1% YoY**.
    - Opened a new 270,000 sq ft factory in Mesa, AZ (Factory 3), creating 350 new jobs.
    - Unveiled **Factory Four**, a 2.2 million sq ft facility in Huntsville, AL.
    - Launched **Hadrian Maritime** to serve naval production.
    - Acquired **Datum Source** (2024) to strengthen supply chain capabilities.
    - Added veteran security and defense leaders (Caleb Sima as CSO, Wallis Laughrey as VP of Munitions) in June 2026.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Full-Stack Automation**: Their AI-powered "Opus" platform automates the entire manufacturing and inspection process, reducing reliance on skilled labor and increasing speed.
- **Speed & Cost**: Claims to deliver parts up to 10x faster and 2x cheaper than the legacy defense industrial base.
- **New American Workforce**: Their system trains factory technicians in 30 days or less, solving the skilled labor shortage.
- **Flexible Capacity**: Offers a "Factory-as-a-Service" model, providing dedicated facilities or production lines integrated into customer sites, reducing overhead for clients.
- **Deep Defense & Space Focus**: A clear, singular focus on the most demanding and high-stakes manufacturing challenges in the U.S., creating a strong moat.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling Production Capacity**: Rapidly expanding factory footprint (Torrance, Mesa, Huntsville) to meet surging demand from defense and space programs.
- **Broadening Capabilities**: Expanding into new domains like naval production (Hadrian Maritime) and munitions.
- **Deepening the Tech Stack**: Continuing to invest in Opus and the Atlas platform to drive further automation and efficiency.
- **National Security Mission**: Positioning itself as a critical partner in reindustrializing the U.S. defense industrial base.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-Driven**: A clear and compelling mission to rebuild America’s industrial base and enable a free, abundant, spacefaring future.
- **High-Growth Environment**: Explosive growth (headcount up 113% YoY) with hundreds of open roles across engineering, manufacturing, and business functions.
- **Impactful Work**: Directly contribute to building the factories and software that produce critical components for rockets, satellites, jets, and ships.
- **Culture of Solving Hard Problems**: The company explicitly seeks people who "solve hard problems" across software, hardware, and operations.
- **Locations**: Major hubs in **Los Angeles, CA**; **Mesa, AZ**; and **Washington D.C.**, with a new massive facility in **Huntsville, AL**.
- **Diverse Roles**: Actively hiring for Software Engineers, Manufacturing Engineers, Robotics Engineers, Technicians, and business talent.
- **Backing**: Strong financial backing from top-tier VC firms (a16z, Founders Fund, Lux Capital), providing stability and resources.

## Sources
1. [hadrian.co](https://www.hadrian.co/)
2. [hadrian.co/about](https://www.hadrian.co/about)
3. [hadrian.co/careers](https://www.hadrian.co/careers)
4. [linkedin.com/company/hadrianautomation](https://www.linkedin.com/company/hadrianautomation)
5. [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/hadrian-1)

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