Senior Automation Engineer (hil)

Samsara Samsara · Enterprise · San Francisco, CA · STCE & Maintenance

Samsara is seeking a Senior Automation Engineer to join their Smart Trailers and Connected Equipment team. The role involves architecting automated systems for asset gateway and sensor product lines, focusing on Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) environments for embedded systems. Responsibilities include developing automated suites for RTOS-based systems, scaling automation infrastructure and CI/CD pipelines, performing root cause analysis, and supporting field validation. The ideal candidate has 5+ years of experience in embedded systems automation, HIL expertise, Python proficiency, and familiarity with CI/CD tools.

What you'd actually do

  1. Partner with firmware development and product teams to define automation goals, expand coverage, and ensure high-velocity, high-integrity firmware releases.
  2. Develop and execute comprehensive automated suites targeting RTOS-based embedded systems, including the programmatic validation of connectivity stacks (Cellular, GPS, BLE, WiFi, CAN).
  3. Scale automation infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines, and reporting tools to accelerate release cycles and maximize autonomous coverage.
  4. Perform in-depth root cause analysis on failures identified through automated frameworks and system stress testing.
  5. Support field validation through automated log analysis and issue triage to ensure firmware resilience in real-world industrial deployments.

Skills

Required

  • 5+ years of experience in embedded systems or firmware automation engineering
  • Hands-on expertise building and maintaining HIL environments and custom automated frameworks for physical devices
  • Solid experience automating RTOS-based embedded systems (Zephyr, FreeRTOS, or similar)
  • High proficiency in Python for sophisticated framework architecture and test development
  • Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines (Buildkite, Jenkins), version control (Git), and scalable automation architectures
  • Proven ability to perform low-level troubleshooting and root cause analysis on complex embedded hardware

Nice to have

  • Agentic workflows to enable rapid automation prototyping and autonomous development
  • Strong knowledge of Cellular, GPS, BLE, WiFi, and CAN technologies and their associated automation and debug practices
  • Experience with Unix/Linux system network automation and reliability engineering
  • Experience with hardware debugging tools (logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, J-Link) to assist in automation development
  • Bachelor’s degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field
  • A track record of thriving in high-growth, fast-paced technology organizations

What the JD emphasized

  • architect responsible for the automated systems
  • orchestrating high-performance Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) environments
  • architect of your own career
  • 5+ years of experience
  • Hands-on expertise
  • Solid experience
  • High proficiency in Python
  • Proven ability