Sr. Cell Abuse Test Engineer
Job Category
Engineering & Information Technology
Location
Palo Alto, California
What to Expect
We are looking for an Engineer to perform battery cell abuse testing across all programs, including vehicle and energy storage. In this role, you would be responsible for a variety of tests spanning electrical, thermal, and mechanical abuse. You would own the testing end-to-end: planning, execution, and results interpretation.
What You’ll Do
- Collaborate with internal Tesla teams and cell suppliers to develop cell designs (particularly mechanical) and plan builds
- Determine test plans for each new phase of a program, as a function of expected risks and schedule
- Work with Technician staff to schedule tests and set priorities
- Participate in as much testing as time allows, in order to understand the test rigs and the cell behaviors, and become grounded in lab operations
- Look for opportunities to improve throughput and data quality. Collaborate with Test Systems Engineer to realize improvements to fixtures or test software
- Serve as first point of contact for test rig troubleshooting
- Process raw results into meaningful conclusions. Share reports with internal technical teams, external suppliers, and occasionally to executives
- Maintain standard operating procedures for test equipment
- Study variation in results (examples being short circuit, crush, and provoked thermal runaway). Propose and execute plans to reduce / understand variation
- Travel up to 25%
What You’ll Bring
- Degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical Engineering or equivalent experience; preferred experience with heat transfer and electrical fundamentals
- 2+ years’ experience in physically-applied engineering (lab, machine shop, hobby project)
- Must be hands-on (assembly, fabrication/modification, instrumentation, wiring, electrical troubleshooting)
- Enjoys working in cross-functional groups and leading/working alongside Technicians
- Statistical background a plus
- CAD experience a plus
- Programming experience in Matlab strongly preferred. Labview a plus
- Experience with instrumentation / data acquisition, National Instruments preferred
- Able to plan/schedule many concurrent activities in a fast paced, rapidly changing environment
