Quality Check Intern - Hardware

Instawork is on a mission to create meaningful economic opportunities for skilled hourly professionals in communities around the globe. Our AI-powered labor marketplace helps local businesses scale, and enables global technology companies to push the frontiers of robotics and AI. Backed by world-class investors like Benchmark, Spark Capital, Craft Ventures, Greylock, Y Combinator, and others, we’re looking for exceptional talent to reimagine the way the world works.

Quality Control Intern – Hardware

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Instawork is on a mission to create meaningful economic opportunities for skilled hourly professionals in communities around the globe. Our AI-powered labor marketplace helps local businesses scale, and enables global technology companies to push the frontiers of robotics and AI. Backed by world-class investors like Benchmark, Spark Capital, Craft Ventures, Greylock, Y Combinator, and others, we're looking for exceptional talent to reimagine the way the world works.

Role Overview

The Quality Control Intern – Hardware is the checkpoint every recording rig passes through, in both directions. When rigs return from the field, you inspect their condition, run a functional check, and capture a short test recording that you review to confirm the cameras, footage, audio, and storage are all working. Before any rig goes back out, you give the final sign-off that it is field-ready.

This is a small role with an outsized impact: a rig that leaves your desk in a bad state means a Field Officer travels to a business, records for hours, and returns with unusable or missing data — a full day lost, and sometimes a burned business relationship. Your job is to make sure that never happens. Precision, consistency, and discipline are the whole game here.

What You'll Own

• Nothing goes to field without your approval; nothing comes back without your inspection and log.
• You are the last line of defense on rig quality before it reaches a business.

Key Responsibilities

1. Inbound Inspection (rigs returning from cities)

• Receive rigs and accessories (cameras, SD cards, card readers, cables, mounts) as they return from the field
• Check physical condition — damage, loose mounts, worn cables, cleanliness — and log it
• Verify all issued components are present against the checkout record; flag anything missing

2. Functional QC & Test Recording

• Power up each rig and confirm cameras open, storage is available, and the device is charged/charging correctly
• Capture a short test recording and review it: cameras correctly aligned, footage clear and stable, audio present, timestamps correct
• Confirm the SD card reads correctly, the previous session's data has been offloaded, and the card is cleared and ready for reuse
• Only mark a rig "field-ready" once every check passes

3. Outbound Approval (clearing rigs for field)

• Give the final go/no-go before a rig is handed to a Field Officer
• Ensure the rig leaves fully charged, correctly configured, and with the right accessories
• Sign off in the tracker so every field-ready rig is traceable to your check

4. Fault Handling & Escalation

• Quarantine any rig that fails QC so it cannot accidentally go to field
• Log the exact fault clearly (which component, what's wrong) and escalate hardware faults to the Hardware/IT team
• Follow up so repaired rigs are re-checked before they re-enter circulation

5. Documentation & Discipline

• Maintain clean, complete QC records in Google Sheets — every rig, every check, pass/fail, date/time, and reason
• Keep the QC and quarantine areas organized and controlled
• Follow the QC checklist exactly, every single time — no shortcuts, no assumptions

Skills & Requirements

Mandatory

• Some technical or hardware familiarity — comfortable handling phones/cameras, SD cards, cables, and basic device settings
• Basic computer knowledge; comfortable with Google Sheets
• High attention to detail and accuracy
• Discipline to follow a checklist the same way every time

Preferred

• Exposure to device QC, hardware testing, electronics, or camera/AV equipment
• Experience handling or tracking physical inventory/assets

Personal Qualities

• Meticulous and detail-obsessed — catches the small thing others miss
• Reliable and consistent under repetitive, high-volume work
• Honest — never marks something "passed" without actually checking it
• Organized, disciplined, and comfortable in a fast-paced on-site environment

Role Scale & Logistics

• On-site at the inventory hub, shift-based (6 PM to 3 AM)
• Reports to the Inventory Manager; escalates hardware faults to the Hardware/IT team
• High-responsibility, hands-on QC role — critical to keeping usable field hours high

About Instawork

Join our team to help us build something that matters! We’re looking for superstars who want to help us shape the future of work. With hubs in San Francisco, Bangalore, and Chicago, city offices in New York, Phoenix, and Singapore, we're back to working together in-person five days a week because we believe the best ideas happen when great people collaborate face-to-face. We also value diverse perspectives and encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds.