Reliability Engineer

Swift Solar•San Carlos, CA

1d•$110,000 - $150,000•Onsite

About The Position

As a Reliability Engineer at Swift, you’ll drive cell-package interactions and module-level reliability, addressing the unique challenges of a first-generation technology moving from concept through certification and towards manufacturing. On a typical day, you might schedule and execute reliability tests on tandem mini-modules and full modules—spanning environmental, thermomechanical, and accelerated life tests such as damp heat, thermal cycling, UV, and outdoor exposure—then evaluate the results. You might perform failure analysis on tandem modules, design a non-standard accelerated stress protocol to reproduce a field failure, or coordinate third-party testing with external labs. You’ll contribute a reliability perspective, collaborate with the Product Management team on lifetime modeling, and develop hypotheses you communicate clearly to the Materials R&D, Process Engineering, and Product Development teams. As an early hire, you’ll help shape how the reliability function operates as the team grows and interacts with every part of the company along the way.

Requirements

3–5 years of experience in PV module reliability, spanning from R&D to third-party validation and certification.
Demonstrated ability to diagnose failure mechanisms and translate findings into data-driven insights for cross-functional teams.
Experience working with external testing labs to define and complete testing.
Solid understanding of PV cell and module device physics.
Proven ability to work well with cross-functional teams (R&D, Product Development, Engineering, Manufacturing), showing strong communication and empathy.
Proficient in statistical analysis software (e.g., JMP) and the application of statistics to reliability analysis.

Nice To Haves

Experience with more than one PV cell type.
Experience developing non-standard accelerated testing protocols for a first-generation technology.
Familiarity with reliability engineering tools (e.g., FMEA, 8D, RCA, DFR).
Experience sourcing reliability test equipment.
An understanding of why solving climate change is an urgent and critical challenge.
Genuine enthusiasm for the challenges that come with working at a startup.

Responsibilities

Drive cell-package interactions and module-level reliability.
Address the unique challenges of a first-generation technology moving from concept through certification and towards manufacturing.
Schedule and execute reliability tests on tandem mini-modules and full modules (environmental, thermomechanical, accelerated life tests like damp heat, thermal cycling, UV, and outdoor exposure).
Evaluate the results of reliability tests.
Perform failure analysis on tandem modules.
Design non-standard accelerated stress protocols to reproduce field failures.
Coordinate third-party testing with external labs.
Contribute a reliability perspective to product development.
Collaborate with the Product Management team on lifetime modeling.
Develop hypotheses and communicate them clearly to Materials R&D, Process Engineering, and Product Development teams.
Help shape how the reliability function operates as the team grows.