Senior Hardware Reliability Engineer

Atoms•San Francisco, CA

3h•$182,000 - $231,000•Onsite

About The Position

Atoms is seeking a Senior Hardware Reliability Engineer to own vehicle-level reliability testing and hardware issue resolution for its on-road program. The role runs a dedicated test fleet, plans and executes durability and environmental testing, and leads high-priority vehicle hardware issues from initial report through root-cause analysis, corrective action, and verification. It is hands-on work based in the garage, on the road, and at test sites and labs. The position is based onsite in Atoms’ San Francisco office five days per week, with regular time in the garage and on the road and travel to test sites and external labs. The engineer will coordinate fleet exposure and testing, investigate returned hardware, collaborate across mechanical, electrical, firmware, and software engineering teams, and turn test and field findings into evidence-backed design recommendations. The role reports test fleet results on a fixed cadence. The base salary range is $182,000–$231,000 per year. Actual compensation may vary based on experience, skills, and qualifications. The employee may also be eligible for equity awards. Benefits listed apply to USA full-time exempt employees and are subject to change.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Mechatronics, or Automotive Engineering, or a related field; equivalent hands-on experience may substitute for the degree.
7+ years in vehicle test, validation, durability, field quality, or reliability engineering on prototype, pre-production, or production vehicles in automotive, EV, autonomous vehicle, or commercial vehicle programs.
Experience running a test or durability fleet, including duty cycle definition, mileage accumulation planning, driver coordination, and configuration and test record control.
Demonstrated ownership of field or test failures from initial report through reproduction, root cause, containment, corrective action, and verification across multiple engineering teams.
Hands-on failure analysis of returned vehicle hardware, including teardown, functional confirmation on a vehicle or buck, and coordination of ingress, thermal, and vibration testing with labs.
Working knowledge of structured problem-solving methods, including 8D, 5 Whys, fishbone, and FMEA.
Vehicle diagnostics experience, including CAN and system log capture, DTC interpretation, and reading wiring diagrams, harness drawings, and BOMs.
Experience working with technicians, test drivers, and operations teams, and with suppliers on failure confirmation and corrective action.
Ability to work onsite five days a week in San Francisco, spend regular time in the garage and on the road, and travel to test sites and external labs.
Valid driver’s license with a clean driving record.

Responsibilities

Run a dedicated test fleet by defining duty cycles, routes, and mileage and hour targets; scheduling vehicles and drivers with the operations team; and tracking exposure by vehicle and hardware revision.
Plan and execute durability and environmental testing on the road and at external test labs to reproduce field conditions.
Own high-priority vehicle hardware issues by reproducing failures, collecting logs and returned parts, confirming failure modes, and establishing root causes.
Define containment actions; drive corrective actions with mechanical, electrical, firmware, and software engineering; and verify effectiveness on test vehicles and in the fleet before closure.
Manage failed hardware returns from vehicle to bench, including tagging, teardown, functional confirmation, and documentation.
Prioritize test and field findings into evidence-backed design change recommendations and represent them in design reviews.
Report test fleet results on a fixed cadence, including exposure by vehicle and hardware revision, failures by subsystem normalized to exposure, and status of open issues.