Environmental Test Laboratory Manager
Job description
Senior hands-on leadership role to build and run Harmattan AI's environmental test laboratory from scratch, defining capabilities, procuring equipment, setting up the facility and leading a small technician team. The lab supports validation of autonomous defense systems and hands test procedures to the quality team for production.
At a glance
- Work mode
- Remote · Paris, France
- Languages
- English – working-level, French
What you'll do
- Establish the capabilities needed, then specify, evaluate and procure machines covering climatic and thermal cycling, water and dust ingress, vibration and UV ageing, including a large climate room in which a drone can be flown under controlled wind and temperature
- Draw the line between tests worth owning and those better bought from external labs, such as accredited qualification or rare capital-heavy tests, and revisit that line as the product range grows
- Contribute to the choice of premises, then take the site from layout and utilities through to installation, safety and commissioning
- Recruit and lead a team of two to three lab technicians, set the working standards, and grow the team's capability as the lab ramps up
- Assist the validation modules on the lab validation of their projects, and peer-review the environmental sections of their test plans, making sure the right tests, conditions and acceptance criteria are defined
- Work with the quality team to transfer test procedures as products reach PVT and mass production, so that production-line testing stays consistent with what validation defined
What we're looking for
- At least 10 years in environmental testing, including setting up or substantially developing a test lab
- Strong command of environmental test methods and the equipment behind them: climatic and thermal cycling, vibration, water and dust ingress, UV, and the standards that frame them
- Proven equipment judgement: able to specify, evaluate and procure test machines, and to argue build-versus-buy and in-house-versus-external on both cost and technical merit
- Experience leading a small technical team, or clear readiness to step into that responsibility
- A rigorous, methodical approach to test planning, acceptance criteria and documentation
- Comfortable working across functions with engineering, validation and quality, and translating between them
- Engineering degree in a relevant field (mechanical, materials, electronics, physics or similar), or equivalent experience
- Working-level English
Nice to have
- Experience with defence or aerospace test standards (MIL-STD-810, RTCA DO-160 or similar)
- Familiarity with lab accreditation and metrological traceability such as ISO/IEC 17025
- A background in drones or robotics
- French is a plus
Your team
Validation Laboratory
A new environmental test laboratory to be built from a blank page and then run
Apply
About Harmattan AI
A next-generation defense prime building autonomous and scalable defense systems
Harmattan AI is a next-generation defense prime building autonomous and scalable defense systems. Following the close of a $200M Series B, valuing the company at $1.4 billion, it is expanding its teams and capabilities to deliver mission-critical systems to allied forces.
Key facts
- Defense
- Closed a $200M Series B
- Valued at $1.4 billion
- Has a Paris-area site and a Swiss site
What they value
- Building technologies with real-world impact
- Pursuing excellence in everything we do
- Setting ambitious goals
- Taking on the hardest technical challenges