Reliability Engineer, Energy Storage
Redwood Materials · San Francisco, United States · 6mo ago
About Redwood Materials
Redwood Materials was founded in 2017 by JB Straubel, co-founder and former CTO of Tesla, on a simple but radical idea: the critical minerals powering the energy transition already exist. They just need to come back. Today Redwood is the largest lithium-ion battery recycler in North America — recovering, refining, and redeploying critical minerals from end-of-life batteries back into the supply chain. On the energy side, Redwood has deployed the largest second-life battery project in the world, delivering power to AI data centers in months rather than years using proprietary energy architecture engineered entirely in-house. The company is profitable, the market it operates in is projected to grow 20 to 50 times over the next decade, and Redwood is the only company with the supply chain, the technology, and the operational scale to lead it.
Reliability Engineer, Energy Storage
As an early member of a new engineering team, you will be responsible for defining system reliability requirements, generating damage models, and characterizing the reliability of our new product. You will work cross-functionally to define requirements, analyze designs, and design tests to meet high reliability standards in real-world conditions, including both electrical and mechanical failure modes.
You’re a doer, excited about getting your hands dirty and working in a dynamic, fast-paced setting, and want to shape a new department at Redwood.
Responsibilities will include:
- Define and own the reliability strategy for hardware products with complex printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs) and electromechanical systems
- Plan and execute reliability tests such as HALT, thermal cycling, vibration, drop, humidity, ingress protection (IP) testing, and power cycling
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define design-for-reliability (DfR) requirements and drive root cause analysis for test failures
- Track reliability KPIs and deliver reliability insights to guide design improvements and product decisions
- Develop accelerated life test models and support FMEA and DFMEA processes
- Analyze reliability data using Weibull, log-normal, and other statistical models to predict field performance
- Work closely with engineering teams to establish reliability gates through program stages (A/B/C/D)
- Support failure analysis (FA) efforts using tools like X-ray, cross-sectioning, and SEM/EDX to identify failure mechanisms in PCBAs
- Contribute to continuous improvement efforts across reliability processes, lab capabilities, and test methodologies
- Author reports / document findings
Desired Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field
- 5 + years of experience in hardware reliability engineering, preferably in industries like energy, EV, consumer electronics, or aerospace
- Deep knowledge of electronic and mechanical failure mechanisms (e.g., solder fatigue, corrosion, delamination, sealing failures, thermal expansion mismatch, material fatigue, etc.)
- Proficiency in statistical analysis tools (e.g., Minitab, JMP, or Python)
- Experience with reliability lab equipment and test setup design
- Knowledge of reliability warranty analysis and reliability prediction methods
- Working knowledge of failure analysis techniques such as optical microscopy, SEM, CSAM, X-ray, cross-sectioning, and EDX
- A passion for sustainability and making the world a better place!
In accordance with California pay transparency laws, the salary range for this position is listed below. Actual compensation may vary based on a variety of factors, including experience, education, and skills.
The position is full-time. Compensation will be commensurate with experience.
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