Tesla

Makes electric cars, robotaxis and grid batteries

Field Reliability Engineer - Low Voltage Distribution

Electrical EngineeringConfirmed live in the last 24 hours

Full-timePalo Alto, CA, USANo salary listedIn-person

About the Job

Requirements

The role requires 0–5+ years of hands-on experience with wire harnesses, connectors, or electro-mechanical systems in failure analysis, reliability, design, or manufacturing, with demonstrated problem-solving ability.
For candidates out of school, co-op experience or participation in student competitions such as Formula SAE, Baja SAE, or Solar vehicle (especially harness or low-voltage system ownership) is accepted; a strong problem-solving project is also accepted.
A mechanical or mechatronic background with solid electrical understanding is required, including the ability to read wiring schematics and harness drawings and reason about current, voltage drop, contact resistance, and heating.
Hands-on experience debugging and testing electrical systems in automotive or a comparable industry using a multimeter, micro-ohm meter, oscilloscope, and microscope is required.
Understanding of connector and terminal failure mechanisms is required, including fretting corrosion, crimp quality, terminal retention and backout, seal and water ingress, vibration, thermal cycling, and material creep.
Strong interpersonal and communication skills are required.
Strong attention to detail and analytical thinking are required.
A bachelor's or master's degree in mechatronic, mechanical, electrical, or similar fields, or equivalent experience, is required.

Responsibilities

Monitor field performance of low-voltage harnesses, connectors, and power distribution across all vehicle programs, identify the top issues, and prioritize improvements.
Execute field investigations on harness and connector failures, including intermittent opens, high resistance, shorts, water ingress, corrosion, chafe, and thermal damage.
Analyze service, warranty, and vehicle telemetry data to find trends by build date, factory, supplier, and harness routing, and prioritize investigations.
Perform vehicle- and component-level debugging and failure analysis, including continuity and voltage-drop measurements, connector teardown, crimp cross-sections, terminal retention and pull tests, X-ray/CT, and environmental reproduction.
Identify problem root causes using first principles and the 5 Whys methodology, distinguishing design, supplier-process, vehicle-assembly, and service-induced causes.
Coordinate and dispatch field failure investigations with harness suppliers, connector suppliers, vehicle manufacturing, and the failure-analysis lab.
Drive containment and corrective-action implementation, including assembly-process changes (connector seating, CPA engagement, routing, and clipping), supplier-process fixes, design changes, and service procedures.
Feed field learnings back into harness and connector design (routing, packaging, sealing, terminal and connector selection) for current and future programs, including DFMEA input.
Communicate field performance of the low-voltage distribution system and gain engineering peers' and leadership's support for improvement priorities and urgency.
Drive continuous-improvement activities to enhance vehicle reliability and optimize products and processes.

Desired Qualifications

Familiarity with harness and connector standards (e.g., USCAR-2, USCAR-21, IPC/WHMA-A-620, and LV 214) and with DFMEA/PFMEA is a plus.
Previous experience in a manufacturing environment, harness supplier, or vehicle assembly line is a plus.

Category	Engineering & Information Technology
Location	PALO ALTO, California
Requisition ID	288426
Type	Full-time

Job Description

<p>The Field Reliability Engineering team's mission is to improve customer experience of Tesla products by reducing field issues, in collaboration with a large cross-section of other engineering teams. </p><p>This role owns the field reliability of the Low Voltage Distribution system across all Tesla vehicle programs: wire harnesses, connectors, terminals. Many of these failures have a mechanical failure mechanism but show up electrically as intermittent faults, lost communication or a vehicle that will not drive. We are looking for a hands-on mechatronic engineer who is comfortable with a cross-section, dimensional checks under the microscope and a wiring schematic, and who can take an issue from the first field signal through root cause to a fix on the line or in the design. </p>

Job Responsibilities

Monitor field performance of LV harnesses, connectors and power distribution across all vehicle programs, and identify the top issues to improve

Execute field investigations on harness and connector failures: intermittent opens, high resistance, shorts, water ingress, corrosion, chafe and thermal damage

Data analysis on service, warranty and vehicle telemetry data to find trends by build date, factory, supplier and harness routing, and to prioritize investigations

Perform vehicle and component level debug and failure analysis: continuity and voltage drop measurements, connector teardown, crimp cross-sections, terminal retention and pull tests, X-ray/CT and environmental reproduction

Identify root-cause of problems using 1st principles and 5why methodology, separating design, supplier process, vehicle assembly and service-induced causes

Coordinate and dispatch field failure investigations with harness suppliers, connector suppliers, vehicle manufacturing and the FA lab

Drive containment and corrective action implementation: assembly process changes (connector seating, CPA engagement, routing and clipping), supplier process fixes, design changes and service procedures

Feed field learnings back into harness and connector design (routing, packaging, sealing, terminal and connector selection) for current and future programs, including DFMEA input

Communicate field performance of the LV distribution system, gather buy-in from engineering peers and leadership on improvement priorities and urgency

Contribute to ongoing efforts for continuous improvement at Tesla, actively driving activities towards enhancing vehicle reliability, contributing to the continual optimization of Tesla's products and processes

Job Requirements

0-5+ years of hands-on experience with wire harnesses, connectors or electro-mechanical systems in failure analysis, reliability, design or manufacturing, with a demonstrated problem-solving ability

For out of school candidates, Co-ops or participation in student competitions such as Formula SAE, Baja SAE, Solar vehicle (especially harness or LV system ownership). A strong project that demonstrates problem solving skills is also accepted

A mechanical or mechatronic background with solid electrical understanding: able to read wiring schematics and harness drawings, and to reason about current, voltage drop, contact resistance and heating

Hands-on experience debugging and testing electrical systems in automotive or a comparable industry, using multimeter, micro-ohm meter, oscilloscope and microscope

Understanding of connector and terminal failure mechanisms: fretting corrosion, crimp quality, terminal retention and backout, seal and water ingress, vibration, thermal cycling and material creep

Familiarity with harness and connector standards (e.g. USCAR-2, USCAR-21, IPC/WHMA-A-620, LV 214) and with DFMEA/PFMEA is a plus

Strong interpersonal and communication skills are an absolute requirement

Strong attention to detail and analytical thinking

Bachelor's or master's degree in mechatronic, mechanical, electrical or similar fields/equivalent experience required

Previous experience in a manufacturing environment, harness supplier or vehicle assembly line, a plus

About the Company

Tesla

Makes electric cars, robotaxis and grid batteries

Tesla makes electric cars and batteries that store power for homes and utilities, and it develops self-driving software and humanoid robots. In 2023, its Model Y became the first electric vehicle to rank as the world's best-selling car. Buyers order the Model 3 sedan, Model Y SUV, or Cybertruck pickup directly from Tesla instead of through dealers, and they charge on its Supercharger fast-charging network. It also sells Megapack and Powerwall batteries, runs a robotaxi service, and charges drivers a monthly fee for self-driving software that still needs their supervision. Tesla was founded in 2003, with Elon Musk as its lead early investor and a recognized co-founder, and it is based in Austin, Texas.

Company size: 10,001+
Company stage: IPO
Headquarters: Austin, TX
Founded: 2003

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