Validation Engineer

You will work closely with cross-functional teams to understand root causes of failures, identify mitigation strategies, and incorporate learnings into new designs. The Component and System Hardware Validation team is responsible for ensuring our components and subsystems on the robotaxi meet all functional and reliability targets needed to facilitate our autonomous mobility service.

JOB TITLE: Validation Engineer
LOCATION: Foster City, CA
PAY RANGE: $49 - 59/hr.
DURATION: 6 Months

POSITION SUMMARY:
The Component and System Hardware Validation team is responsible for ensuring our components and subsystems on the robotaxi meet all functional and reliability targets needed to facilitate our autonomous mobility service. Our team has an action-biased culture marked by integrity, humility, competence, and passion for the mission and the systems we design. We are building real products here and are looking for doers to join us.

As a validation engineer supporting interior trim and seating, you will be responsible for establishing and executing a robust and rigorous validation process from requirements development through report approval. This will include managing internal and external testing resources as well as supplier-led validation activities that ensure durability, reliability, and safety targets are satisfied. You will work closely with cross-functional teams to understand root causes of failures, identify mitigation strategies, and incorporate learnings into new designs.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develop and manage test plans to validate mechanical, electrical, and environmental failure modes around our interior trim and seating systems
• Collaborate with design engineers to ensure that requirements are clearly defined and captured within the validation plan
• Identify appropriate test assets, data acquisition systems, and sensors to ensure high-quality test data
• Analyze test data to provide clear and concise reporting of test results
• Support DFMEA activities to ensure that all potential failure modes are adequately covered within the validation plan
• Support root cause failure analysis activities during development, validation, and deployment
• Design test fixtures necessary to complete testing
• Manage validation schedule to ensure appropriate test assets are available and critical path items are identified

QUALIFICATIONS/TECHNICAL SKILLS:

• 2+ years of test or validation experience related to interior automotive trims and seats
• Experience with failure and root cause analysis
• Experience generating and managing DFMEAs
• Experience with requirements management tools (Polarion or equiv.)
• Experience with automotive test standards

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Familiarity with 3D design tools. CATIA 3DX or CATIA V5 or SolidWorks preferred
• Experience with passive safety systems

EDUCATION:

• BS or MS in mechanical engineering, or a related relevant field

Technical & Soft Skills

• Top 3 Must Haves:
  • Trim Validation experience/knowledge
  • Paint/coating Process, Appearance & Material for trim and interiors
  • Project management (Jira, Doors, Polarion) & Communication
• Top 3 Nice to Haves
  • Supplier/Test coordination
  • RCA analysis (FTA, fish bone, 5why's)
  • AI tools integration

BENEFITS SUMMARY: Individual compensation is determined by skills, qualifications, experience, and location. Compensation details listed in this posting reflect the base hourly rate or annual salary only, unless otherwise stated. In addition to base compensation, full-time roles are eligible for Medical, Dental, Vision, Commuter and 401K benefits with company matching.

IND123BENEFITS SUMMARY:
Individual compensation is determined by skills, qualifications, experience, and location. Compensation details listed in this posting reflect the base hourly rate or annual salary only, unless otherwise stated. In addition to base compensation, full-time roles are eligible for Medical, Dental, Vision, Commuter and 401K benefits with company matching.