Hardware Failure Analysis Engineer Jobs in California

Description
Job Title: Hardware Failure Analysis Technician
Job Category: Engineering
Location: Oakland, CA (Onsite)
Duration: 06 Months (Estimated Start Date: 08/25/2026; Estimated End Date: 02/19/2027)
Hours Per Week: 40.00; Hours Per Day: 8.00
Travel: No
Equipment: MacBook
PR Range: $40/hr - $45/hr on W2
Call Notes:
Interview & hiring process: - Two interview rounds:
1. First interview with hiring manager
2. Second interview with another team member
- Goal: keep interviews concise (two rounds only)
- Target start: as soon as possible
Key responsibilities & day-to-day:
- Perform triage failure analysis and root cause investigation at a technician level
- Work from a Jira-assigned queue - tasks will be assigned and tracked; technicians should process assigned items
- Perform component isolation to determine which subsystem/component is faulty (not deep PCB trace measurements)
- No repairs and essentially no troubleshooting intended for this role - focus is on failure analysis (isolate faulty component/area), then hand off to more specialized resources for deeper diagnosis or repair
- Jira will be used to assign and manage tasks; technician should process items from their Jira queue
- Administrative support handles intake and failure-analysis inventory; technician will receive a steady stream of assigned work
- Expected ramp: comfortable use of lab/testing tools by 90 days (not necessarily expert level)
Required/preferred skills and experience:
- A few years' hands-on experience in triage/failure analysis or hardware repair (examples given: retail repair technicians like Best Buy/Apple Store Genius are acceptable analogs)
- High-level understanding of electrical fundamentals (not expecting an electrical engineer)
- Familiarity with lab equipment (microscope, multimeter, data loggers) is preferred but not strictly necessary - expectation that candidate will become comfortable with required tools within ~90 days
- Experience in consumer electronics hardware is preferred; aerospace/automotive backgrounds are less ideal for this role
- Qualities: self-starter, proactive, able to investigate issues before escalating; able to work independently and manage assigned queue
- Breadth vs depth of technical tasks: Candidate will do comprehensive failure analysis up to component isolation; deeper forensic tasks (e.g., trace-level PCB measurements) are not required
- Lab/tool expertise: Familiarity preferred; training on specific lab tools can be provided.
Job Description:
Looking for a detail-oriented, quality-focused Failure Analysis Technician with 3-5 years of experience triaging and root-causing consumer electronics failures.
The ideal candidate has hands-on experience diagnosing why products fail and is eager to apply those skills to failure analysis investigations, hardware disassembly, and cross-functional collaboration.
You will set up and execute failure analysis plans, monitor field returns for emerging issues, and support quality investigations requiring technical problem-solving.
Reporting to the FA Lead, you will work closely with mechanical and electrical design engineers, quality engineering, product management, data analysis, operations, logistics, and engineering program managers to understand field performance and prioritize issues.
You will:
Perform hands-on triage and root cause analysis on field returns, reproduce reported issues, and coordinate further FA with relevant engineering teams.
Reproduce reported failure modes and document the steps, conditions, and results in detail.
Execute failure analysis plans established by the FA Lead, and flag gaps or improvements you identify along the way.
Participate in issue reviews and provide feedback to help determine next steps and ensure that product performance, manufacturing, and design issues are identified and risks are mitigated.
Flag potential patterns or recurring failure modes observed across units for the FA Lead's evaluation.
Maintain organized tracking of all units in your queue, including deprioritized work; nothing falls through the cracks.
Skills:
Must have:1-3 years of hands-on experience performing triage, failure analysis, and root cause investigations on consumer electronics (smartphones, tablets, POS terminals, or similar hardware).
Working knowledge of electrical engineering fundamentals (e.g., resistance, voltage, current) and experience using lab equipment (optical microscope, multimeter, data loggers, thermocouples, etc.).
Experience performing teardowns and disassembly of consumer electronics devices.
Strong organizational skills and comfort working through complex, ambiguous issues without an established process.
Meticulous attention to documentation and the ability to recognize recurring failure patterns across multiple units.
Self-directed within your queue, you work the units in front of you without waiting for step-by-step instructions.
[Bonus] Experience with Snowflake, Jira, Looker
[Bonus] Can read electrical schematics
Education:
BS Degree and/or 3-5 years of relevant experience.