Director, Reliability Engineering

NextGenEnergyJobs; Canada; Remote; CAD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

NextGenEnergyJobs in Canada is seeking a Senior Reliability Engineering Leader to own the reliability roadmap and oversee testing across mechanical and electrical systems.

You will build and scale a team, set hiring plans, define processes (FMEA, HALT, CAPA) and partner with Product, R&D and Manufacturing to balance rigor with fast product cadence.

This role requires deep technical credibility and the ability to translate risk into business terms for executive stakeholders.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in reliability, test, or quality engineering for mechanical, electrical, or electromechanical systems.
• 3+ years in formal people-management role.
• Experience scaling a reliability/quality/test team in hardware manufacturing.
• Deep experience with FMEA, HALT, RCA and CAPA processes (8D).
• Proven ability to influence design and cross-functional leadership.
• Strong communication with senior/executive stakeholders.
• Familiarity with UL, IEC, NFPA compliance testing.
• Experience in hardware/energy/industrial equipment manufacturing at scale.
• Knowledge of electrical system concepts and HV/LV reliability.
• Experience with data analysis and reliability statistics tools (Python, MATLAB, JMP).

Responsibilities

• Lead the reliability testing team across mechanical, shock, vibration and environmental tests.
• Build and scale the reliability engineering team with hiring plans and career paths.
• Own the reliability roadmap and testing strategy across the product lifecycle.
• Partner with test engineering to define reliability testing on linear generators.
• Define and track reliability metrics and report health to leadership.
• Establish reliability processes and standards (FMEA, HALT, CAPA) as repeatable systems.
• Influence design decisions and trade-offs at architecture and program level.
• Lead cross-functional FMEA efforts for design, process and maintenance.
• Represent reliability in design reviews and executive updates.
• Guide teams on UL, NFPA, IEC compliance considerations.
• Review test plans, failure analyses and RCA investigations.
• Ensure verification test plans align with specs and standards.
• Invest in test infrastructure, automation, and data analysis.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Data analysis

Problem solving

Cross-functional collaboration

Project management

Education

BSc in Electrical Engineering

BSc in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

FMEA

HALT

CAPA

Python

MATLAB

Weibull++

JMP

Job description

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.

Requirements

• 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.
• 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.