Test Engineer

Fixed-term, 5 days a week contract, ending 27 February 2026 (Possibility to extend)

About ZELP

ZELP is an agricultural technology company committed to creating a sustainable future for agriculture - one that meets the needs of present and future generations, promoting human and environmental health, animal welfare, and social and economic equity.

Our first focus is to develop and scale technology that measures and mitigates methane emissions in the livestock industry. Today, 1.3 billion people rely on the industry for their livelihoods and food security. However, it is the single biggest human-driven source of methane emissions globally, emitting more than both the oil & gas industry and the coal industry.

The deployment of our technologies on a global scale has the potential to drive half the global methane reduction needed by 2030, and to greatly transform the beef and dairy industries.

ZELP was an inaugural winner of the Terra Carta Design Lab, and has received funding and support from the European Commission, Innovate UK, The Global Methane Hub and the Gates Foundation. 

Job Details

As a key Contract Test Engineer in our Design Engineering team within Zelp you will be pivotal in developing the ZELP Sense device; our first commercial product and a major milestone, and play a direct role in reducing livestock emissions to combat climate change. The role will report to, and collaborate with a Lead Design engineer within the Sense team, contributing to exciting project work. Starting ASAP, this is a Fixed-term, 5 days a week contract role, ending 27 February 2026  with a possibility to extend.

The responsibilities include:

• Developing and executing test plans to validate mechanical (and in some cases electro-mechanical) device performance against requirements prior to DFM for injection moulding.
• Defining clear test plans in collaboration with design and engineering teams.
• Designing and hands-on builds of custom test rigs, including both mechanical and electronic/firmware components.
• Supporting the builds of prototype devices for testing.
• Identifying design weaknesses at speed, proposing improvements, and supporting rapid iteration.
• Communicating clearly and concisely, in a timely manner, recommendations to the design engineering teams.
• Taking a pragmatic approach to testing, so as to achieve useful insights with minimal testing time.
• Fast, logical troubleshooting and root cause analysis of device failures.
• Documentation of test setups, results, and lessons learned in a structured, traceable way.
• Ensuring repeatability and reliability of test rigs and methods.
• Collaborating cross-functionally with design, manufacturing, and supply chain teams.
• Supporting risk assessments, and longer term durability/lifecycle testing.

Required experience:

• Strong hands-on mechanical design and prototyping skills (fixtures, rigs, jigs).
• Practical knowledge of test instrumentation (force, displacement, flow, pressure, current, etc.).
• Experience with CAD (SolidWorks, Fusion 360, or similar) for designing test rigs.
• Comfortable with hand tools, fabrication, and workshop equipment e.g. 3D printing, laser cutting.
• Experience defining test requirements, test methods, and acceptance criteria.
• Strong problem-solving mindset and ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment.
• Good knowledge of electronics fundamentals (sensors, actuators, wiring, PCB use).
• Excellent documentation and reporting skills.

Candidate will likely have exposure to:

• Experience in robust electro-mechanical product development
• Validation of mechanical & electro-mechanical technical requirements through physical testing
• Low volume device assembly

Nice to have experience:

• Data acquisition and logging.
• Experience with Arduino or similar programmable electronics for test automation.
• Design documentation including DFMEA
• Understanding of compliance/regulatory testing (safety, EMC, etc.).
• Farm / Agriculture experience 
• A good understanding of the complete product development lifecycle