Reliability Engineer, Drive Unit, Semi

We are looking for a Reliability Engineer for Drive Units Semi with a strong background in complex mechanical systems related to electric vehicle powertrains. In this role, you will play a key role in designing reliability into our ground-breaking drive units for our Tesla Semi. As a successful candidate, you will follow the reliability lifecycle of these products from concept to design, development, manufacturing, and field operation to design-in, confirm and grow exceptional reliability at every stage. 

This role is highly engaging, and you will also be working on one of our most exciting products. You will collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams to understand emerging designs and architectures. You will be responsible for identifying risks associated with these architectures. You will identify appropriate stresses that our products must pass and create test plans, which will be used to assess the reliability of our products. You will provide reliability analyses and suggestions to improve the reliability of our products.

You must have a genuine passion for engineering products that will fundamentally change the world, and you must be self-motivated with the desire to push boundaries. If you have a strong technical first-principles understanding, excellent problem-solving skills, and a genuine fascination for engineering, this is an exciting opportunity to contribute to the cutting-edge technology of Tesla’s products and shape the future. It comes natural to you to deliver results under high pressure with tight schedules.

The level of this position will be determined at the time of the interview.

• Apply solid knowledge of reliability methods and mechanical systems to design accelerated test plans for design validation and demonstration of reliability growth
• Analyze field usage and environmental conditions to optimize requirement setting and test methods
• Facilitate and lead design FMEA sessions to assess product risks, determine validation test plans and drive reliable design choices
• Work with manufacturing quality, service engineering, supplier quality and design teams to identify root causes and drive resolution for failures originating in testing and in the field
• Generate process validation test plans to implement at suppliers, and drive root cause corrective action with suppliers to resolve production process issues
• Provide reliability design guidelines and apply reliability lessons learned to enable continuous improvement

• Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent
• 2+ years of experience working on complex mechanical and/or electro-mechanical systems related to tribology, powertrain technologies, automotive gearbox, bearings, or other rotatory machines
• Solid knowledge of material properties and failure mechanisms for rotatory machines
• Experience with fatigue testing, vibration testing, durability test development for powertrain systems
• Knowledge of burn-in testing, Environmental Stress Screening (ESS), Ongoing Reliability Testing (ORT)
• Knowledge of ReliaSoft Synthesis Platform, including Weibull++, BlockSim, ALTA, RGA
• Working knowledge of applied statistics, and experience with statistical software such as JMP, Minitab, etc.
• Working knowledge of failure analysis techniques such as optical microscopy, SEM, CSAM, X-ray, cross-sectioning and EDX
• Self-driven and focused individual with a proven ability to manage parallel tasks effectively, with a desire to work in a fast-paced environment
• Proven ability to remain engaged, proactive, and positive in tough circumstances