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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Integration and Test Engineer

💰 $ - $

EngineeringQuality AssuranceTestIntegrationSystems

🎯 Role Definition

The Integration and Test Engineer is responsible for planning, implementing and executing system integration and verification activities across hardware, firmware, and software components. This role ensures products meet functional and performance requirements through structured test strategies, automated and manual test execution, root cause analysis, and cross-functional collaboration. The ideal candidate brings strong systems thinking, hands-on lab experience, familiarity with CI/CD and test automation frameworks, and the ability to translate requirements into traceable test cases.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Test Technician / Lab Technician
  • Software or Firmware Engineer (junior)
  • Systems Integration Specialist

Advancement To:

  • Senior Integration & Test Engineer
  • Test Engineering Lead / Manager
  • Systems Verification & Validation (V&V) Manager
  • Principal Systems Engineer

Lateral Moves:

  • Reliability Engineer
  • DevOps / CI-CD Engineer
  • Product Validation Engineer

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Develop, document and maintain comprehensive system-level integration and verification plans that map requirements to test cases, verification methods, pass/fail criteria, and traceability artifacts.
  • Design, build and maintain integration test benches, harnesses, fixtures and emulation environments to validate hardware, firmware and software interfaces under realistic operational conditions.
  • Author detailed test procedures, step-by-step test scripts and acceptance criteria for manual and automated execution ensuring reproducibility and regulatory compliance.
  • Create, implement and maintain automated test frameworks and suites (unit, integration, regression) using tools such as Python, Robot Framework, JUnit, or proprietary frameworks to accelerate verification cycles.
  • Execute system integration tests, functional tests, performance tests and regression tests; log and prioritize defects, verify fixes and close issues with appropriate evidence and test artifacts.
  • Lead interface integration activities across multiple disciplines (electronics, firmware, mechanical, software, network) to resolve ambiguities and ensure end-to-end interoperability.
  • Implement and operate Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL), Software-in-the-Loop (SIL), and/or virtual integration environments to exercise control logic, real-time behavior and fault handling scenarios.
  • Develop and maintain test data sets, test vectors, and stimulus models while ensuring data integrity, version control and repeatable test runs.
  • Integrate automated test execution into CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI) to enable continuous validation, rapid feedback and early defect detection.
  • Perform performance and scalability testing, analyze throughput, latency and resource utilization, and recommend design or infrastructure changes to meet system-level requirements.
  • Conduct root cause analysis for integration and system-level failures, coordinate corrective actions with design teams, and validate mitigation plans through regression testing.
  • Maintain and improve test infrastructure, instrumentation, measurement equipment, and software tools to increase test coverage, efficiency and reliability.
  • Support design reviews, requirements reviews and interface control document (ICD) reviews by providing testability feedback and verification scope recommendations.
  • Manage test schedules, coordinate multi-disciplinary integration windows, and communicate status, risks and dependencies to project stakeholders and program managers.
  • Develop and enforce test standards, best practices and reusable test assets (templates, libraries, fixtures) to scale verification activities across programs.
  • Mentor junior test engineers and lab technicians on test development techniques, data collection best practices and troubleshooting methodologies.
  • Prepare formal verification reports, test summaries, and evidence packages for internal design approval, customer acceptance and regulatory audits.
  • Ensure compliance with applicable safety standards, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and environmental test requirements during integration and verification.
  • Coordinate with suppliers and contract manufacturers for component-level integration, incoming inspection, and first article test support to minimize integration risk.
  • Support field test and product validation activities including system-level acceptance tests, site integrations, and on-site debugging with customers or operations teams.
  • Continuously analyze test coverage metrics, defect trends and verification gaps and drive improvements to the verification strategy and testing automation.

Secondary Functions

  • Maintain the lab inventory, calibration records, and equipment qualification to ensure test instrumentation is traceable and available when needed.
  • Provide ad-hoc troubleshooting and production support for complex integration issues that arise during manufacturing or deployment.
  • Contribute to product release checklists, customer acceptance criteria, and handover documentation for operations and custodial teams.
  • Assist procurement teams with technical specifications for test equipment and tooling purchases.
  • Support cross-functional workshops to improve requirements clarity, testability and system observability.
  • Participate in post-mortem reviews to capture lessons learned and incorporate preventive actions into process updates.
  • Create and deliver training materials and run knowledge-transfer sessions for customers, operations, and new engineering hires on integration procedures and test tools.
  • Help estimate effort, resources and schedule impact for verification activities during project planning and milestone reviews.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • System integration and verification planning: requirements-to-test-case traceability, V-model and test strategy development.
  • Test automation and scripting: Python, Bash, Robot Framework, pytest, or similar scripting languages/tools for automating test execution and data analysis.
  • Continuous integration / Continuous delivery (CI/CD): experience integrating tests into Jenkins, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps or similar pipelines.
  • Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and Software-in-the-loop (SIL): setup, execution and analysis of closed-loop tests for embedded and control systems.
  • Embedded systems and firmware testing: debugging with JTAG, serial consoles, flash programming, and firmware rollback procedures.
  • Test instrumentation and measurement: oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, spectrum analyzers, signal generators and data acquisition systems.
  • Protocols and interfaces: familiarity with CAN, Ethernet, SPI, I2C, UART, USB, TCP/IP and other domain-specific communication buses.
  • Test management and defect tracking tools: JIRA, TestRail, HP ALM, Polarion or similar for test case management and bug reporting.
  • Version control and configuration management: Git, SVN and artifact versioning practices for test assets and environments.
  • Performance and load testing tools: experience benchmarking system throughput, latency and resource utilization with relevant tooling.
  • Root cause analysis methodologies: FMEA, 5 Whys, fault tree analysis and formal defect triage processes.
  • Scripting for data processing and result visualization: MATLAB, Pandas, SQL or similar to analyze test outputs and produce actionable reports.
  • Compliance and environmental testing knowledge: awareness of regulatory, safety, EMC and environmental test requirements relevant to the industry.
  • Virtualization and containerization: Docker, virtual machines and test environment orchestration to enable repeatable integration test setups.

Soft Skills

  • Clear technical communication: ability to write concise test plans, defect reports and verification summaries for cross-functional audiences.
  • Collaborative mindset: strong stakeholder management and ability to work with hardware, software, product and operations teams.
  • Analytical problem-solving: structured troubleshooting and hypothesis-driven debugging under schedule pressure.
  • Attention to detail: rigorous evidence capture, test logging and adherence to pass/fail criteria and versioned artifacts.
  • Time management and prioritization: manage parallel test activities, shifting priorities and tight integration windows.
  • Adaptability and learning agility: quickly adopt new tools, platforms and domain knowledge to meet evolving test needs.
  • Leadership and mentorship: coach junior engineers and influence test best practices across the organization.
  • Customer-focused orientation: translate customer acceptance criteria into verifiable test cases and maintain customer confidence during integrations.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering or related technical field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Systems Engineering, Electrical/Computer Engineering, or similar; relevant certifications in test engineering or systems verification are a plus (e.g., ISTQB, IEEE, Six Sigma, Certified Test Engineer).

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Systems Engineering
  • Electrical or Computer Engineering
  • Computer Science / Software Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering (for electro-mechanical systems)
  • Mechatronics / Control Systems

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3 - 8 years of hands-on integration and test engineering experience, depending on level.

Preferred: 5+ years in system integration and verification roles with demonstrated experience in test automation, CI/CD integration, embedded systems or product-level verification in the target industry (automotive, aerospace, medical devices, industrial controls, or IoT).

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