Principal Quality Test Engineer (Hardware)

Key areas of responsibility

Hardware test discipline and methods

• Establish hardware test methodologies, protocols and standards across RF, electronics, networking and mechanical products.
• Define test coverage requirements, acceptance criteria and quality gates for all product lines from prototype through production.
• Build scalable, documented test processes that enable repeatable quality verification and traceability.

Test laboratory and capability

• Design and build the hardware test laboratory with appropriate instrumentation, RF test equipment, and automation capability.
• Own equipment selection, calibration, validation and maintenance across the test environment.
• Develop test automation to improve efficiency and reduce cycle time.

Team and culture

• Build and lead a growing hardware QA team, attracting and developing high-calibre test engineers.
• Mentor engineers and establish a culture of quality discipline and technical excellence.
• Work closely with product, engineering, manufacturing and supply chain teams to translate quality requirements into scalable, practical and repeatable processes.

Quality delivery

• Lead hardware quality assurance and testing activities across all product lines and stages of development.
• Identify issues early, escalate risks and provide the engineering team with actionable feedback.
• Ensure products meet specification, reliability and performance standards before shipping.

Key Skills, Experience And Behaviours

We are looking for someone with:

• Extensive experience in hardware test engineering, ideally gained across multiple domains (RF/communications, custom electronics, mechanical products, or similar).
• Proven ability to establish test functions, design test strategies and build scalable quality processes.
• Strong hands-on experience with RF instrumentation, test equipment and measurement techniques.
• Practical understanding of electronics, PCB validation, signal integrity and mechanical product reliability.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguous environments, bringing structure, rigour and clarity to complex technical challenges.
• Experience leading technical teams and mentoring engineers across multiple disciplines.
• Experience in defence, aerospace, communications or similarly demanding technical environments would be valuable but is not essential.
• An RF/CEMA/EW background would be useful but is not essential.

About you

You combine technical depth with sound engineering judgement and a relentless focus on quality and reliability.

• You are energised by the opportunity to build and lead a new capability within a fast-growing, mission-focused company.
• You thrive in an environment with high levels of ownership, autonomy and accountability.
• You are committed to working from Rowden's Bristol HQ at least three days per week, except where customer commitments require additional time.

Working at Rowden

We are committed to building a flexible, inclusive, and enabling company. Our aim is to create a diverse team of talented people with unique skills, experience, and backgrounds, so please apply and come as you are! We also recognise the importance of flexible working and support this wherever we can. We typically operate a flexible, hybrid-working model, with an average 3 days in the office each week (dependent on the role). We welcome the opportunity to discuss flexibility, part-time working requirements and/or workplace adjustments with all our applicants. Rowden is a Disability Confident Committed company, and we actively encourage people with disabilities and health conditions to apply for our roles. Please let us know your requirements early on so that we can make sure you have everything you need up front to help make the recruitment process and experience as easy as possible. Finally, if you feel that you don’t meet all the criteria included above but have transferable skills and relevant experience, we’d still love to hear from you!