Test Automation Technical Lead

PE Global is currently recruiting for an ATE Technical Lead to join our client based in Cambourne. The role is an initial 24-month contract, working on a hybrid basis with a minimum of 3 days per week onsite.

To lead the development, deployment, and lifecycle ownership of Automated Test Equipment for a product line. This role combines hands-on technical leadership, multidisciplinary project execution, production-line support, and close collaboration with internal engineering teams and external manufacturing partners.

Responsibilities

• Lead the architecture, development, validation, deployment, and lifecycle management of ATE systems for a product line.
• Own the ATE technical roadmap, ensuring maintainability, standardization, scalability, and alignment with product and production needs.
• Define tester requirements, test strategies, integration plans, acceptance criteria, documentation packages, and production transfer plans.
• Lead tester bring-up and integration across mechanical, electronic, embedded, software, fixture, instrumentation, and production interfaces.
• Manage ATE project execution end-to-end, including requirements, design reviews, gate approvals, planning, scheduling, risk management, and stakeholder communication.
• Work closely with CMOs to support production readiness, tester deployment, issue escalation, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement across time zones.
• Coordinate technical activities with hardware, software, embedded, mechanical, operations, manufacturing engineering, quality, and external subcontractors.
• Provide Tier 2 and technical-lead support for production ATE systems, including troubleshooting, calibration, failure analysis, reliability improvement, and yield optimization.
• Analyze test and manufacturing data to identify trends, root causes, yield improvements, and opportunities for process optimization.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary product and platform teams in the UK, Israel and California, USA.

Requirements

• B.Sc. or higher in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Minimum 5 years of hands-on experience in ATE system integration, development, validation, deployment, and production support.
• Proven experience leading technical projects in a multidisciplinary engineering or manufacturing environment.
• Strong hands-on expertise with hardware systems, embedded interfaces, networks, instrumentation, debugging, and system-level integration.
• Strong hands-on experience with National Instruments TestStand, automated test development, hardware integration, and production support environments, or equivalent automated test platforms.
• Proficiency in Python and test automation development, including debugging, tool creation, data processing, and system integration.
• Strong analytical skills for test data analysis, failure investigation, process improvement, and yield optimization.

Desirable Skills

• Experience working with Linux-based systems, command-line tools, and SQL databases in engineering or manufacturing environments.
• Experience with manufacturing databases, production data pipelines, and engineering data analysis tools.
• Experience with hardware communication protocols such as I2C, SPI, UART, Ethernet, or similar embedded and instrumentation interfaces.
• Experience with automated instrumentation, fixture design considerations, tester safety, calibration, and production maintainability.
• Knowledge of server, platform, and test-station management in production environments.
• Experience working with subcontractors, external vendors, CMO production teams, and procurement processes for tester or prototype parts.

Please note PE Global cannot provide visa sponsorship for this role, candidates will need the full right to live and work within the UK for at least the next 24 months.

Although it is not possible for us to respond to all applications, we at PE Global will do our upmost to give you feedback on your application. You have sent your Cv into us as a company and even though you have sent your CV to a particular position, we are making the reasonable assumption that you are active on the job market and as part of our normal recruitment service we will discuss other suitable positions with you. You are free to opt out of this so please specify in your application to us if you just want to be contacted in relation to a specific vacancy. Your Cv is sent to a central recruitment inbox which a number of people in the applicable PE Global division have access to and so this means that you might not be contacted by the named person in this advert