Reliability Engineer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Job Title: Staff Reliability Engineer

Location: Burlingame, CA

Department: ESS Engineering

Reports To: Staff Reliability Engineer

Position Type: Full-time

About Peak Energy

Peak Energy is the first American venture to advance globally proven Sodium-Ion battery systems as the storage standard for the new era of renewable energy on a resilient grid.

Sodium-Ion is cheap, readily available and safe, making it the leading contender in a rapidly evolving market.

Our leadership team is powered by decades of expertise in scaling gigawatt-level innovation at world-class companies such as Tesla, Northvolt, Apple, Powin, Enovix, Zipline, Solid Power, and Fluence. We are backed by strategic investment and product partners such as TDK Ventures and Eclipse Ventures.

We are a team of engineers, operators, entrepreneurs, and partners driven by a shared ambition to set the new performance standard for renewable energy and grid resilience.

About the Role - Staff Reliability Engineer

Peak Energy is looking for a Staff Reliability Engineer to help scale ESS hardware reliability with a focus on HV electronics, devices, and power conversion. You will work cross-functionally to realize industry-leading reliability across all aspects of the product life cycle, from concept development through field deployment.

This role sits at the intersection of design, testing, manufacturing, and field operations - with direct influence on architecture decisions and reliability outcomes that matter most. You will creatively apply reliability expertise in a fast-paced, hands-on environment where your work has immediate and measurable impact.

The ideal candidate brings deep technical expertise, a proactive ownership mindset, and the ability to think critically and act decisively in a dynamic startup environment.

What You'll Do

• Take independent DfR ownership for existing subsystem reliability and a lead DfR role for future products, with a focus on HV electronics, devices, and power conversion
• Fully develop reliability test programs (DV, PV, ORT) by leading DFMEA, defining mission profiles, analyzing test acceleration, and specifying test requirements
• Build and contribute to custom Python reliability analysis and modeling tools to automate workflows for life prediction, test design, test/field data, and reporting
• Define reliability requirements and acceptance criteria at key program milestones and clearly communicate risk and reliability confidence to engineering leadership
• Develop physics-of-failure lifetime models and close the loop by performing failure root cause analysis and statistical analyses of test and field reliability data
• Partner with the SIE team and suppliers to verify component quality by overseeing outsourced testing and defining qualification and inspection requirements
• Collaborate across all teams to embed DfR principles into engineering decisions throughout the product cycle, including early architecture decisions, manufacturing process development, and cost-down projects

What You'll Bring

• Bachelor's or master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Reliability Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field
• 5+ years of experience in hardware reliability engineering in power electronics, high-voltage systems, or consumer electronics
• Strong understanding of reliability engineering principles including statistics, data analysis, physics-of-failure, lifetime prediction models, accelerated life testing, and DFMEA
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead product reliability through multiple stages of development
• Proficiency using statistical analysis tools in Python or equivalent for modeling and data analysis
• Strong documentation and technical communication skills - able to clearly present findings and reliability principles to cross-functional and leadership teams
• Ability to think critically and act decisively to efficiently grow reliability confidence in a fast-paced startup environment

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct reliability experience with high voltage batteries, DC-DC converters, inverters, battery management systems, or PV solar products
• Hands-on experience designing, executing, and reporting complex electromechanical reliability tests (HTHE, PTCE, HTOE, HALT, vibration, corrosion)
• Experience with PCBA failure analysis tools such as SEM and X-ray
• Experience using DOEs, accelerated life testing, and field failure data to develop physics-based models for design margin analysis and lifetime failure prediction

Peak Energy is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. We strongly encourage women, people of color, and individuals from underrepresented groups to apply. We value skills, potential, and perspective over specific credentials. If you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't look perfect on paper, we still want to hear from you.

Our Core Values

• Speed Through Focus - Move fast but understand why. Focus on the goal, don't sacrifice quality.
• Mission Over Self - It's about the greater good; confident humility. Take ownership and accountability.
• Face the Brutal Truth - Transparency, honesty, big picture curiosity. Fearless decision making.
• Be a Good Person - Kindness, collaboration and teamwork.

Compensation & Benefits

The salary range for this role is $180,000-$230,000, with actual pay varying based on work location, experience, and skills. Our competitive benefits package includes:

• Flexible time off
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Strong 401(k) plan
• Equity opportunities
• Many great work perks

Join us to thrive in a supportive environment while making a meaningful impact in the energy sector!

At Peak Energy Technologies Inc., we believe that a diverse and inclusive workplace makes us a more capable, innovative, and competitive company. We welcome people who represent diversity in their backgrounds, ethnicities, cultures, and experiences. Peak Energy Technologies Inc. is an equal opportunity employer, aiming to reach our company's full potential by cultivating an inclusive workforce. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ancestry, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, citizenship, marital or family status, disability, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other legally protected status.