ZipRecruiter

Log In

1

Reliability Director Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Apple

Evaluation Reliability SRE

Cupertino, CA · On-site

$70.25 - $93.50/hr

Your work will have direct, meaningful impact for users across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and ... The Evaluation Reliability Engineering (ERE) team exists to make that infrastructure bulletproof.

Socket.dev

Reliability Engineer

Hawthorne, CA · On-site

$120 - $180/hr

Direct spacecraft, satellite, or flight hardware development experience. * Familiarity with NASA reliability, workmanship, and mission assurance standards. * Experience with PLM/PDM tools such as ...

next page

Showing results 1-20

All JobsReliability JobsReliability Director JobsReliability Director Jobs in California

Reliability Director information

What does a reliability director do?

A Reliability Director is responsible for overseeing and improving the reliability and performance of systems, equipment, or processes within an organization. They lead teams to develop and implement maintenance strategies, analyze failure data, and ensure that assets run efficiently with minimal downtime. This role often involves collaborating with other departments to promote best practices and drive a culture of continuous improvement. The Reliability Director also monitors key performance indicators and leads initiatives to reduce operational risks and costs.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a reliability director?

To thrive as a Reliability Director, you need deep expertise in reliability engineering principles, asset management, and a relevant engineering degree, often complemented by certifications like Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE). Familiarity with reliability software (such as ReliaSoft or RAM analysis tools), root cause analysis methodologies, and CMMS systems is typically required. Strong leadership, strategic thinking, and excellent communication skills help drive cross-functional teams and foster a culture of continuous improvement. These skills ensure optimal equipment uptime, cost efficiency, and long-term operational success.

How does a reliability director typically collaborate with cross-functional teams to improve organizational performance?

A Reliability Director frequently partners with engineering, operations, maintenance, and safety teams to identify and address potential points of failure across systems and processes. This collaborative approach ensures that reliability strategies are aligned with production goals and safety standards. Regular meetings, data sharing, and joint problem-solving sessions are key aspects of this teamwork, allowing the director to lead initiatives for root cause analysis, preventive maintenance, and process optimization. These relationships are vital to implementing effective reliability programs and driving continuous improvement throughout the organization.

What is the difference between Reliability Director vs Reliability Engineer?

AspectReliability DirectorReliability Engineer
CredentialsBachelor's or Master's in Engineering, certifications like CRC, CMRPBachelor's in Engineering or related field, certifications like CRC, CMRP often preferred
Work EnvironmentLeadership role overseeing reliability strategies across departmentsTechnical role focused on analyzing data and improving equipment reliability
Employer & IndustryManufacturing, energy, oil & gas, utilitiesManufacturing, energy, oil & gas, utilities
Search & Comparison IntentUnderstanding leadership responsibilities and qualificationsTechnical reliability analysis and improvement tasks

The Reliability Director focuses on strategic leadership, overseeing reliability programs and managing teams, while the Reliability Engineer handles technical analysis, equipment maintenance, and reliability improvements. Both roles are vital in ensuring operational efficiency but differ in scope and responsibilities.

What are the most commonly searched types of Reliability jobs in California?

The most popular types of Reliability jobs in California are:

What are popular job titles related to Reliability Director jobs in California?

For Reliability Director jobs in California, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What job categories do people searching Reliability Director jobs in California look for?

The top searched job categories for Reliability Director jobs in California are:

What cities in California are hiring for Reliability Director jobs?

Cities in California with the most Reliability Director job openings:

Reliability Director jobs near you
Infographic showing various Reliability Director job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 61% Full Time, and 39% Part Time. Highlights an 84% In-person, and 16% Remote job distribution.

Director, Reliability Engineering

Menlo Park, CA • On-site

Mainspring Energy
Clean Energy Power Generation • 201 - 500 employees
Learn more about Mainspring Energyexternal

$120K - $152K/yr

Other

Posted 13 days ago

Job description

About Mainspring
Mainspring Energy manufactures and delivers fuel-flexible, low-emissions local power solutions that rapidly add new capacity and deliver reliable, affordable, and sustainable electric power. The company began commercial shipments of its Mainspring Linear Generators in 2020 and today has hundreds of megawatts in advanced development and field operations for leading Fortune 500 companies, data centers, and utilities. Mainspring also partners with global energy leaders including AEP, NextEra Energy Resources, Schneider Electric, and more.
The core values that ground our work, guide our decisions, and connect us together:
  • Pragmatic Optimism
  • Excellence without Ego
  • Proactive Collaboration

Job Overview
Mainspring Energy is growing rapidly and has begun to manufacture its Linear Generators in volume, and reliability is a crucial element to the success of the product. We're looking for a reliability engineering leader to build and run the function that evaluates design risk and quantifies and reduces it to acceptable levels for our target markets.In this role, you'll own the reliability strategy and roadmap, build and develop a team of reliability engineers, and act as the senior voice for reliability across Product Engineering, R&D, and Manufacturing.
Responsibilities
  • Directly lead the team who is responsible for everything related to reliability testing including mechanical stress tests, shock, vibration and environmental testing.
  • Continue to build, lead, and grow a team of reliability engineers, setting hiring plans, org structure and career development paths as the team scales with production volume.
  • Own the reliability roadmap and testing strategy across the product lifecycle, from design risk assessment through field performance, balancing rigor against Mainspring's fast product cadence.
  • Closely partner with the rest of the test engineering team to define and track reliability testing performed on linear generators.
  • Define and track reliability metrics and goals (e.g., MTBF, values at risk, warranty/field return trends) and report program health and risk posture to senior engineering and business leadership.
  • Establish and continuously improve reliability processes and standards - FMEA, HALT, root-cause methodology, CAPA - as scalable, repeatable systems rather than one-off engineering exercises.
  • Serve as the senior reliability partner to Product Engineering, R&D, and Manufacturing leadership, influencing design decisions and trade-offs at the architecture and program level.
  • Lead cross-functional FMEA efforts for design, process, and maintenance, ensuring the right stakeholders are engaged and risk decisions are made and documented.
  • Represent reliability in design reviews, program gate reviews, and executive updates, translating technical risk into business-relevant terms.
  • Guide cross-functional teams on compliance-relevant design decisions (UL, NFPA, IEC) for electrical and fuel system components, ensuring reliability considerations are built in early rather than tested later.
  • Maintain enough technical depth to review and challenge test plans, failure analyses, and root-cause investigations led by the team - this is a technically credible leader, not a pure people-manager.
  • Ensure the team's verification test plans are grounded in system/sub-system specs and industry-standard protocols.
  • Champion investment in test infrastructure, automation, and data analysis capability to keep pace with rapid cycles of learning.

Qualifications
  • Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field.
  • 10+ years of experience in reliability, test, or quality engineering for mechanical, electrical, or electromechanical systems, including 3+ years in a formal people-management role (not just projects).
  • Demonstrated experience building or significantly scaling a reliability, quality, or test engineering team in a hardware/manufacturing environment.
  • Deep, hands-on background in FMEA, HALT, root-cause analysis, and CAPA processes (RCA, 8D), with the credibility to coach others and set standards.
  • Track record of influencing design and engineering decisions at the cross-functional/leadership level.
  • Strong communication skills, with experience presenting reliability risk and program status to senior/executive stakeholders.
  • Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, evolving environment where systems, processes, and team structure are still being built.

Preferred
  • Experience in hardware or energy/industrial equipment manufacturing, ideally at a company scaling from low-volume to high-volume production.
  • Understanding of electrical system concepts, HV/LV electronics reliability, and failure characterization techniques (X-ray, CT, cross-sectioning, optical microscopy).
  • Experience with compliance testing and standards (UL, IEC, NFPA).
  • Familiarity with data analysis and reliability statistics tooling (Python, MATLAB, Weibull++, JMP) sufficient to guide and review team output.

$200,000 - $265,000 a year
This position is a hybrid position (onsite + remote) at our Menlo Park HQ. The salary will be adjusted to reflect local market conditions based on employee location as well as the experience of the employee. Along with the base salary, Mainspring offers pre-IPO stock options + benefits.
Does your experience not meet all of our posted requirements? Studies have shown that some people are less likely to apply to positions unless they meet every listed requirement. At Mainspring, we are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, flexible, and collaborative environment, so if you want to help us transition the world to clean and affordable electricity, and don't meet all posted requirements for a particular role, we'd still love to hear from you. Mainspring can sometimes be flexible enough to shift responsibilities for the right person, or otherwise identify open or upcoming roles that may better fit your professional background.
In more traditional words, Mainspring Energy, Inc is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.
This compensation and benefits information is based on Mainspring Energy's estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future. We generally do not negotiate on salary once we have made an offer. The level of pay within the range will depend on a variety of job-related factors that may include location, relevant prior experience and/or education, or particular skills and expertise. New hires joining the company tend to be paid within the starting base pay range noted above, with opportunities to increase pay over time based on development of additional skills, competencies, and company-specific knowledge.
We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

Apply