| Location | Palo Alto, CA |
| Salary | $120,000–$252,000 Per Year |
We are seeking a validation engineer for the site-level energy controller on our utility-scale battery sites. That controller runs on embedded Linux. It manages settings, telemetry, and failover, and it talks to utility and SCADA equipment. You will run software-centric SIL and HIL for it, build that regression with System Integration, and keep the work on the bench.
You do not need to have already defined a validation program. You do need the instinct to look at a controller change and suspect which failure would escape, then go prove it. Our stack includes Go, Rust, and Python. We are language agnostic, and none of these is mandatory.
Run software-centric SIL and HIL for the site-level energy controller on embedded Linux - settings, telemetry, redundancy/failover, and utility/SCADA communications - so System Integration is testing the site, not the application
Propose the cases worth automating. For a controller change, look for the failures that would escape - restarts, partial writes, timed-out peers, split state - and do not stop at a suite that only proves the happy path. System Integration and the software team decide which of those become permanent tests
Build that regression with System Integration: automated SIL and HIL that runs against controller builds and catches those cases before they become a system-test problem. The team writes these tests in pytest
Validate Modbus, DNP3, and SCADA behavior on the bench, including timeouts, bad frames, and peer dropouts, on real equipment where the lab has it and in simulation where it does not
Debug the bench you share. You will not own rack bring-up, but you will trace a failure from the application through TCP/IP to the port, and you will touch the hardware when that is the fastest way to separate a software bug from a wiring one
When the defect is below the application, follow it far enough to hand off a reproducible case. Kernel and OS depth is learned here. The work stays on the bench: no field deployments, no full-site signoff
Degree in Engineering (Software, Electrical, Computer, or a related field), or equivalent experience
Internship, co-op, or up to a few years in test, embedded software, or controls. A new graduate with a strong lab or project record qualifies. Five years is not required
Evidence you think about how something fails, not only how to show it works. A project or internship where you found a case the obvious test missed
Some time on a bench, in SIL, or in HIL. You have written or changed a test, not only run one someone else wrote
Networking fundamentals enough to follow a conversation from the application toward the wire, and a willingness to debug on real hardware
One industrial protocol, or proof you can pick an unfamiliar one up quickly. Modbus, DNP3, or SCADA. All three is not required
Able to read code and change a test harness. Our stack includes Go, Rust, and Python. We are language agnostic, and none of these is mandatory
Able to write automated tests. We use pytest. Experience in another framework is fine
Kernel or OS debugging is not required
Benefits
Along with competitive pay, as a full-time Tesla employee, you are eligible for the following benefits at day 1 of hire:
Expected Compensation
$120,000 - $252,000/annual salary + cash and stock awards + benefits
Pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements dependent on the position offered. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.