We’re ALTEN Technology USA, an engineering company helping clients bring groundbreaking ideas to life—from advancing space exploration and life-saving medical devices to building autonomous electric vehicles. With 3,000+ experts across North America, we partner with leading companies in aerospace, medical devices, robotics, automotive, commercial vehicles, EVs, rail, and more.
As part of the global ALTEN Group—57,000+ engineers in 30 countries—we deliver across the entire product development cycle, from consulting to full project outsourcing.
When you join ALTEN Technology USA, you’ll collaborate on some of the world’s toughest engineering challenges, supported by mentorship, career growth opportunities, and comprehensive benefits. We take pride in fostering a culture where employees feel valued, supported, and inspired to grow.
System Validation Engineer
ONSITE in Foster City, CA
We are seeking an experienced System Validation Engineer to join our System Validation (SVT) team. SVT owns system-level validation of the vehicle: confirming that fully integrated systems, with all of their ECUs, subsystems and software working together, behave as intended when observed at the system boundary. This role focuses on behavior that only emerges when multiple real subsystems interact, such as cross-ECU timing, arbitration, fault propagation and network load. Your work will be critical in ensuring world-class reliability for our Robotaxi Service Operations.
In this role, you will:
•Own system-level validation for assigned System Technical Specification (STS) documents, for example Thermal, Steering, Braking, Lighting, Power Management, Network, Charging. Ensure that every STS requirement has a defined verification method and test coverage
•Create and maintain Design Verification Plans (DVPs) per system domain, with full requirement-to-test-case traceability.
•Define system-level test configurations from the system boundary diagram, spanning one or more real ECUs connected to each other and to restbus-simulated peers in parallel, tree or other topologies.
•Design, build and commission system test benches, and work with Vehicle Systems, Hardware and Firmware teams on bench readiness and on the boundary between bench, Software In the Loop (SIL) and vehicle testing
•Execute multi-ECU and cross-domain integration, functional and regression testing on bench and vehicle assets, in nominal and off-nominal conditions, and analyze data to produce actionable insights
•Support test automation and infrastructure planning for system DVPs so that regression coverage scales across vehicle platforms
•Drive system-level defect triage and root cause analysis, track issues to closure for issue resolution, and re-test after fixes
•Support the SFMEA activities led by the Vehicle Systems Integration (VSI) team: review failure modes and mitigations, provide input on testability and detection, and ensure SFMEA findings are covered by system-level tests
•Provide system-level release readiness sign-off against program gate exit criteria, and report coverage, risks and mitigation plans in program reviews.
Qualifications:
•Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering or equivalent
•5+ years of experience in vehicle system validation, system integration or systems engineering roles
•Proven experience validating integrated multi-ECU systems against system-level requirements in one or more vehicle domains
•Deep technical understanding of automotive communication protocols (CAN, LIN, Ethernet), network topologies and 12V power management
•Hands-on experience with system-level testing, including instrumentation, restbus simulation, fault injection and advanced data analysis
•Experience developing system test plans (DVPs) with requirements traceability in tools such as Polarion or IBM DOORS, informed by SFMEA analysis
•Working knowledge of System Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (SFMEA), including how failure modes, effects and mitigations translate into system-level test coverage
•Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to a multi-disciplinary team.
Bonus Qualifications:
•Experience designing HIL or system test benches, including rapid prototyping tools (e.g. dSpace) and xIL environments
•Experience with CI-integrated test infrastructure and test automation at scale
•Experience with automotive diagnostics (UDS) and vehicle bring-up • Experience with ISO 26262 functional safety
•Experience taking a vehicle program from prototype to launch
•Experience in structured problem-solving methodologies such as Six Sigma, Shainin RedX and 5 Why
•Scripting and test automation skills (Python preferred)
Salary Range: $115,000-$135,000/K
The actual salary offered is dependent on various factors including, but not limited to, location, the candidate’s combination of job-related knowledge, qualifications, skills, education, training, and experience
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, genetic information, or pregnancy.
Please beware of job seeker scams and see this important notice on our careers page for more information about our recruiting process.
Compliance Notice: Alten USA is a federal contractor subject to the requirements of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) and Executive Order 11246. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.
Drug Screening Requirement: As a federal contractor, Alten USA maintains a drug-free workplace. All candidates selected for employment will be required to successfully complete a pre-employment drug screening as a condition of hire.