Sr. Equipment Safety Engineer

Job Description

Tesla’s Environmental Health, Safety and Security (EHS&S) team support all Tesla Engineering, Manufacturing and Sales/Service/Delivery functions in our shared mission to accelerate to a sustainable tomorrow by being safe, fair and fun today. The EHS&S team use human and organizational performance principles to foster an engaged, agile workforce who are focused on critical safeguard verification and innovative solutions to complex technical and organizational challenges. EHS&S supports Tesla’s people and environment-focused decision making using actionable metrics, world-class resources, and exceptional talent.

Tesla is seeking a Senior Equipment Safety Engineer to lead safety design, build and sustaining services for our Megapack Commercial Battery Energy Storage System factory, located in Lathrop, CA. The candidate applies advanced risk assessment methods, machine safety design principles, and compliance assurance processes to facilitate excellent engineering, operations and EHS outcomes. The Sr. Equipment Safety Engineer leads management of change for new product, process, and equipment introduction for the Megafactory as well as applicable vehicle and R&D activities in the Lathrop region. They work collaboratively across all manufacturing and launch engineering teams. Their goal is to eliminate or control machinery hazards using a risk-based approach, facilitating design for safe outcomes when failure occurs, and conducting field verifications/buy-offs. The ideal candidate takes pride in their hands-on approach, analytical ability, organizational skills, and teamwork. 

Job Responsibilities

• Lead Equipment Safety Program management for Megafactory and assigned Lathrop sites, with the goal of safeguarding people and the environment from serious impacts from equipment failures while always advancing Tesla’s mission
• Perform technical analyses to evaluate and validate designs against regulatory and internal standards, and provide feasible and creative recommendations supported by objective findings
• Utilize ANSI, ISO, RIA, NFPA, IBC and OSHA equipment, electrical and facility design standards, in addition to Tesla’s Design Targets, to drive consistent and high-quality safety and engineering outcomes – in response to events/incidents as well as gap analyses or audits
• Oversee change management on safety systems for new and existing equipment, and ensure effective verification (buy-off) and documentation retention
• Partner with internal Process Safety, Ergonomics, Environmental and other engineering subject matter experts to review internal design/build targets. Facilitate continuous improvements according to current trends/needs, and deploy changes with local teams.
• Support and lead event learning/incident investigations to identify contributing factors and collaborate on prevention and corrective measures as appropriate
• Attend, coordinate, and conduct equipment safety and related training—strengthen the Engineering, Maintenance, Production and the EHS team competency with automation safety design principles, standards and practices

Job Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial or Safety Engineering, Ergonomics, Occupational Health, and Safety, or equivalent experience
• 5 years automation safety experience, including mechanical/electrical/control design
• Demonstrated knowledge of production processes and systems (i.e. operational workflows, industrial safety processes, using software applications for documents and communication, etc)
• Advanced understanding of PLC programming/troubleshooting (Allen Bradley/Siemens/Beckhoff)
• Ability to work effectively and efficiently under pressure while managing competing demands and tight deadlines; Excellent interpersonal skills and willingness to learn from and teach others
• Well organized with meticulous attention to detail; Excellent written and verbal communicator with technical and non-technical audiences; Mastery of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Occasional travel to support supplier factory acceptance testing and stakeholder collaboration