Test & Quality Lead (IoT Devices & Systems)
Type: Permanent
Salary: Up to £65,000-£75,000 DOE
Location: UK (Northwest England preferred)
Working Pattern: Remote
We've partnered with an established IoT and supply chain visibility business, based in the Northwest, who deliver real-time condition, location and security tracking for pharmaceutical, perishable and high-value cargo shipments worldwide. Since the mid-2010s, they've built a strong reputation in cold-chain and high-value logistics and were recently named in The Sunday Times Tech 100 for 2025. They're now looking for a Test & Quality Lead to take ownership of testing, validation and quality across their IoT device portfolio.
This is a newly created role, introduced to give testing and quality clear ownership within the device engineering team. Historically, much of this work has been absorbed by the hardware and firmware engineers, but the business now wants to build a more dedicated test function around its connected IoT devices.
The focus is hands-on device testing: improving test coverage, building repeatable test processes, supporting firmware regression testing, developing automated test capability and providing a clear view on product readiness. Certification and compliance will still form part of the role, but the priority is a practical test engineer who can take a device, understand how it should behave, define the test approach, identify edge cases and help build robust validation around it. This is not a software QA role, and it is not a route into design engineering. It would suit someone who enjoys practical, independent engineering work across low-power IoT devices, embedded firmware, sensors, connectivity and real-world device behaviour.
Responsibilities
- Test IoT devices across lab and real-world environments, validating performance against product specifications and expected customer use cases
- Break devices and systems down into their component behaviours, defining clear test plans, test cases, edge cases and acceptance criteria
- Build, improve and maintain device-level test capability, including test rigs, automated test equipment and repeatable regression test setups
- Run firmware regression testing and support the development of more automated, continuous test coverage over time
- Validate the accuracy and reliability of device data, including location, temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, vibration, light events, impact and battery life
- Test low-power embedded devices across hardware, firmware, connectivity and platform behaviour, identifying failure modes before products reach customers
- Flash and configure devices with test firmware using standard embedded tooling such as J-Link, GCC-based toolchains and related firmware/debugging workflows
- Use lab equipment such as multimeters, oscilloscopes, spectrum analysers, power supplies and related tools to investigate device behaviour and support debugging
- Carry out minor PCB rework and modification, such as removing antennas, adding test connectors or preparing boards/devices for specific lab or test requirements
- Work closely with hardware and firmware engineers to reproduce issues, diagnose root causes, verify fixes and improve product reliability
- Support external certification and compliance activity, including preparing devices, coordinating technical information and working with test houses where required
- Contribute to FCC, CE, PTCRB, RF/radio and country-specific approvals, with guidance available internally where needed
Skills & Experience
- Proven hands-on experience testing hardware, electronics, embedded systems or IoT devices in real-world conditions
- Strong practical understanding of how embedded devices behave across hardware, firmware, sensors, power, connectivity and software/platform interaction
- Experience creating test plans, test cases, regression tests and structured validation evidence from product requirements or expected use cases
- Comfortable using standard electronics test equipment, including multimeters, oscilloscopes, spectrum analysers, power supplies and related lab tools
- Experience with embedded debugging or firmware test workflows, ideally including tools such as J-Link, GCC-based toolchains, command-line tools or similar
- Ability to flash, configure and exercise devices during test, working closely with firmware engineers where required
- Confidence carrying out minor PCB-level rework or device modification, such as soldering, adding test points/connectors, modifying boards or preparing samples for lab work
- Basic programming or scripting ability, ideally Python or similar, to support test automation, equipment control, logging or repetitive test tasks
- Experience building, maintaining or improving test rigs, automated test equipment, firmware regression setups or production/development test capability would be highly valuable
- Exposure to low-power electronics, microcontrollers, sensors, wireless devices, embedded IoT products or connected hardware would be highly relevant
- Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to investigate product failures, identify root causes and clearly communicate findings to engineering teams
- Strong written documentation and reporting skills, including test plans, test reports, defect evidence, failure analysis and release-readiness summaries
- Experience supporting product certification, compliance testing or working with test houses is valuable, particularly around CE, FCC, PTCRB, RF/radio or EMC testing
Our client offers strong benefits, including private health & dental cover, and the potential to participate in a share scheme.