Hardware-in-the-Loop Engineer

CHAOS Industries is redefining modern defense with a multi-product portfolio that gives the ultimate advantage—domain dominance. The company's products are powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™), empowering warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams to act faster, adapt rapidly, and stay ahead of evolving threats. 

CHAOS Industries was founded in 2022 and has raised a total of $1 billion in funding from leading investors, including 8VC, Accel, and Valor Equity Partners. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, and London. For more information, please visit www.chaosinc.com .

Role Overview:  

CHAOS is seeking a skilled Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Engineer to join our hardware engineering team. In this role, you will design, build, and maintain HIL simulation environments that enable full system integration testing of our Effector platforms — bridging the gap between software development and flight hardware. You will work closely with GNC, software, and systems engineers to ensure our vehicles are thoroughly validated before ever leaving the ground.  

The ideal candidate has hands-on experience building and operating HIL or SIL simulation environments for embedded or autonomous systems.  

This is a full-time, on-site position in El Segundo, CA.  

Responsibilities:  

Design and develop HIL test benches for full effector system integration, including flight controllers, ESCs, sensors, and ground control systems  

Integrate high-fidelity simulation models (flight dynamics, actuator, and sensor models) that accurately replicate real-world behavior  

Integrate hardware components - including autopilot boards, communication links, power systems, and peripherals - into HIL systems  

Develop automated test suites and regression frameworks to validate software and firmware changes against HIL environments  

Collaborate with software and integration/test engineers to define test plans and acceptance criteria for new features and hardware releases  

Debug complex hardware-software interactions by analyzing HIL test data, logs, and telemetry  

Maintain and improve test infrastructure, including simulation software, real-time targets, and data acquisition systems  

Document test methodologies, procedures, and results clearly for cross-functional team use  

Support transition of HIL-validated systems to integration and flight test phases  

Minimum Requirements:  

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.  

3+ years of experience in hardware-in-the-loop testing, embedded systems integration, or a closely related discipline  

Hands-on experience building and operating HIL or SIL simulation environments for embedded or autonomous systems  

Proficiency in real-time simulation platforms (e.g., dSPACE, NI VeriStand, or similar)  

Strong programming skills in Python and/or C/C++ for test automation and system scripting  

Familiarity with flight controller software such as PX4, ArduPilot, or equivalent  

Experience with communication protocols common in drone systems (MAVLink, CAN, UART, SPI, I2C)  

Solid understanding of effector system architecture, including propulsion, navigation, and control loops  

Experience with version control systems and CI/CD pipelines for automated testing  

Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills across hardware and software domains  

Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance  

Preferred Requirements:  

Master’s degree in Engineering  

Experience with ROS or ROS 2 for simulation and integration testing  

Familiarity with MATLAB/Simulink for flight dynamics or control system modeling  

Exposure to flight test operations and transitioning systems from HIL to field testing  

Experience with FPGA firmware development or embedded Linux environments  

Knowledge of RF systems, …