Back to Jobs

Job Description

Overview

Antares is on a mission to make clean energy abundant from Earth to the Asteroid Belt by building mass-producible, inherently safe microreactors. As a Senior Test Technician, you will work closely with Test Engineers to build and maintain test infrastructure for the R1 reactor, ensuring data quality and high operational uptime.

Responsibilities

  • Build, assemble, and maintain test rigs, fixtures, and support equipment for R1 components and subsystems
  • Install and route instrumentation including thermocouples, pressure transducers, strain gauges, flow meters, relays, solenoid valves, and electrical wiring
  • Set up and operate data acquisition systems, sensors, and control hardware
  • Execute tests following established procedures and document conditions, results, anomalies, and operator observations
  • Support the Test Engineer in developing test setups, executing test campaigns, and improving procedures
  • Fabricate brackets, mount points, plumbing, wiring harnesses, and mechanical components
  • Maintain test areas, equipment, tools, and safety systems to ensure a clean and safe working environment
  • Participate in troubleshooting of test stand issues including mechanical, electrical, and instrumentation problems
  • Assist in root cause investigations by documenting failures, inspecting hardware, and gathering data for engineering review
  • Maintain accurate records of test configurations, instrument calibrations, hardware changes, and run logs
  • Support procurement, receiving, and organization of test components, sensors, and consumables

Requirements

  • HS Diploma or GED
  • 5+ years of hands-on experience as a test technician, engineering technician, lab technician, or similar technical role
  • Experience assembling mechanical systems, test fixtures, or prototype hardware
  • Experience with instrumentation integration (thermocouples, pressure transducers, strain gauges, etc.)
  • Familiarity with data acquisition systems and basic test software
  • Ability to read engineering drawings, schematics, wiring diagrams, and work instructions
  • Strong mechanical aptitude and experience with hand tools and shop tools
  • Ability to work safely around high-energy systems, heavy equipment, and complex test setups

Additional Information

  • Ability to work long hours and weekends as necessary to support critical milestones
  • Ability to lift 50 lbs
  • Standing, climbing, bending, grasping, pulling, pushing, and carrying are required to perform job functions
  • Located in Torrance, CA in a brand new facility with large open spaces for team collaboration, R&D, and production
Apply for This Position

How this job compares in Los Angeles, CA

Pay in context

At roughly $54/hr, this posting sits about 35% above the $40/hr median for welding jobs in Los Angeles, CA — toward the top of a $30–$58/hr middle band drawn from 73 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 70% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. Pay that far above local median usually comes attached to something: a harder cert requirement, travel, night shift, or overtime that isn't really optional. Worth establishing which before you accept.

The local market in Los Angeles, CA

We're tracking 103 other active welding openings in Los Angeles, CA right now, from 64 different employers. 58 of them were added in the last week. Across California as a whole we're tracking 650 other active welding openings from 315 employers. A metro this active generally means you have real leverage — employers here are competing for the same welders. Browse every welding job in Los Angeles, or widen the search to California.

Antares currently has 5 other openings live in California, which is usually a sign of either steady growth or steady turnover — worth asking which in the interview.

The most active employers in California at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are SpaceX (34), Honeywell Aerospace (16), and Aerotek (13). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within California, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Santa Ana at $53/hr, Redondo Beach at $51/hr, and Long Beach at $42/hr. If you can relocate or commute, that spread is worth factoring in.

Similar openings near Los Angeles, CA

Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. Test Technician IV figures were last recalculated when this page was built.