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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Test Engineer - **Company:** Cowboy Space Corp. - **Location:** United States - **Experience:** Experienced - **Salary:** $130,000.0 - $190,000.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Data Reduction, Python (Programming Language), Systems Integration, Test Data, Build Management, Industrial Software - **Published:** September 4, 2026 - **Apply:** https://startup.jobs/test-engineer-cowboy-space-corp-9775653 ## About the Role * 4-8 years of relevant test experience: propulsion, fluids, energetics, or industrial systems where a mistake had physical consequences * First-principles depth in fluids, thermo, and structures, enough to reason about a system on a whiteboard before opening a tool * Experience creating P&IDs and building the system they describe * Experience integrating and troubleshooting mechanical and electronic systems together, because that's where the failures live * Experience with high-pressure or hazardous environments, and the habits that come with it * Experience writing and operating test procedures * Enough software to be dangerous: data reduction, control sequences, scripting. Python preferred * Self-direction: you'll often be the only person who knows the state of your system * Strong writing. A procedure and a test report are both writing jobs * Willingness to own large and small tasks alike, with a humble and positive attitude * Bachelor's degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering, or similar Nice to Have * Designing cryogenic fluid systems from scratch * Hands-on liquid rocket engine hotfire experience, on the stand rather than adjacent to it * LOX and methane or LNG specifics: cleanliness, materials compatibility, ignition * Control system work: PLCs, sequencing, interlocks, valve and actuator selection * Fabrication literacy (welding, machining, tube bending) * Structural, proof, burst, or environmental test experience alongside propulsion ## Description How fast we can test will set how fast this program moves. You are being hired to make that cycle short: build the stands, then run them. Fluids, mechanical, instrumentation, and controls, from blank sheet through commissioning into routine operation. Hardware and software, mechanical and electrical, testing components, engines, and full stages. When something misbehaves at two in the morning, you figure out whether it's the article, the stand, or the sensor., * Design and build fluid, mechanical, instrumentation, and control systems for component, engine, and stage-level test * Own P&IDs and take fluid system designs from schematic through procurement, fabrication, and checkout * Operate, maintain, and troubleshoot those systems once live, including the electrical and software side * Safely operate high-pressure and cryogenic systems: LOX, LNG, high-pressure gas * Write test procedures people can follow under pressure, then run them as test conductor * Perform hazard analysis and set the safety controls, exclusion zones, and abort criteria for your setups * Instrument tests so they answer the question: sensor selection, calibration, DAQ, and sample rates that survive the actual event * Reduce and present test data, and drive anomalies to root cause rather than a retest * Own your stand project schedules, especially the long-lead items nobody else is watching ## Related Videos - [Dirty Tests And How To Clean Them](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/515-dirty-tests-and-how-to-clean-them) - [A Hitchhiker's Guide to Resource Efficient Software](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1414-a-hitchhiker-s-guide-to-resource-efficient-software) - [Answering the Million Dollar Question: Why did I Break Production?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1171-answering-the-million-dollar-question-why-did-i-break-production) - [What I learned as a developer from accidents in space](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/642-what-i-learned-as-a-developer-from-accidents-in-space) - [SMART Test Automation - the experience of legacy transformation](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100215-smart-test-automation-the-experience-of-legacy-transformation) - [Modern Data Architectures need Software Engineering](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1030-modern-data-architectures-need-software-engineering) ## Related Articles - [How We Built a Worry-Free System That Runs for 10+ Years – And What We’d Do Again](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/751-how-we-built-a-worry-free-system-that-runs-for-10-years-and-what-we-d-do-again) - [The 8 Best Code Testing Tools](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/402-the-8-best-code-testing-tools) - [Should senior developers refuse interview coding challenges?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/29-should-senior-developers-refuse-interview-coding-challenges) - [What is a Test Plan: Guide to Test Planning](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/191-what-is-a-test-plan-guide-to-test-planning) - [Is Software Engineering Hard?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/448-is-software-engineering-hard) - [Dev Digest 129 - Now that's what I call private data!](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/468-dev-digest-129-now-that-s-what-i-call-private-data)