Staff Engineer – Reliability & Test Methods, Drive Unit

Lucid Motors • Newark, CA

19h

About The Position

Leading the future in luxury electric and mobility
At Lucid, we set out to introduce the most captivating, luxury electric vehicles that elevate the human experience and transcend the perceived limitations of space, performance, and intelligence. Vehicles that are intuitive, liberating, and designed for the future of mobility.
We plan to lead in this new era of luxury electric by returning to the fundamentals of great design – where every decision we make is in service of the individual and environment. Because when you are no longer bound by convention, you are free to define your own experience.
Come work alongside some of the most accomplished minds in the industry. Beyond providing competitive salaries, we’re providing a community for innovators who want to make an immediate and significant impact. If you are driven to create a better, more sustainable future, then this is the right place for you.
Lucid Motors is seeking a Staff Engineer – Reliability & Test Methods to provide technical leadership and system‑level ownership for reliability engineering of motor gearboxes, inverters and drive units. This role is critical to ensuring durability, functional safety, and field reliability across current production and future vehicle programs.
At the Staff level, this position goes beyond execution and is responsible for defining reliability strategy, governing test methodologies, influencing design decisions, and driving alignment across engineering, quality, manufacturing, suppliers, and program leadership.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• 8+ years of experience in reliability engineering, test methods, or durability validation for electromechanical systems.
• Deep understanding of Drive Unit sub systems, Motors, Inverter, Power Electronics and Gearboxes
• Proven experience defining and executing reliability test strategies at the system level.
• Strong analytical skills with experience in FMEA, Weibull analysis, ALT, and field data correlation.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross‑functional technical initiatives and influence without authority.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to present complex technical topics to varied audiences.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in electric vehicle powertrains, drive units, or high‑performance automotive systems.
• Familiarity with automotive reliability standards, validation practices, and functional safety interfaces

Responsibilities

• Own and define the reliability strategy for drive unit systems across development, validation, production, and field.
• Establish and govern test methods, mission profiles, damage models, and reliability metrics aligned with real‑world duty cycles.
• Serve as a technical authority for Drive Unit reliability, failure mechanisms, and durability performance.
• Develop, standardize, and continuously improve test methodologies for mechanical, thermal, environmental, and endurance validation.
• Ensure test coverage is sufficient to demonstrate reliability targets for DV/PV, SOP, and sustained production.
• Guide accelerated life testing, power cycling, and system‑level durability assessments.
• Lead analysis of test, field, and warranty data to identify trends, failure modes, and systemic risks.
• Drive root cause investigations for critical field issues and QUALs, including support for Product Working Safety Group and functional safety reviews.
• Apply advanced reliability techniques such as FMEA, Weibull/statistical analysis, and physics‑of-failure methods.
• Partner closely with Design Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Program Management, and Suppliers to influence robust design and validation decisions.
• Provide reliability guidance during DFMEA, DRs, and change control processes.
• Engage suppliers and external test labs to align on assumptions, inputs, and validation approaches.
• Represent reliability in Reliability Council, drive unit governance forums, and technical reviews.
• Mentor senior and junior engineers; elevate reliability capability across the organization.
• Drive continuous improvement of reliability processes, test efficiency, and knowledge reuse.

Benefits

• Lucid offers a wide range of competitive benefits, including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability insurance, vacation, and 401k.
• The successful candidate may also be eligible to participate in Lucid’s equity program and/or a discretionary annual incentive program, subject to the rules governing such programs.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees