Senior Product Reliability Engineer

Canadian Solar; Kitchener; On-site; CAD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

Retirement plans

Paid time off

Job summary

Canadian Solar in Kitchener seeks a Senior Product Reliability Engineer skilled in ensuring product reliability and customer success in clean energy systems. Responsibilities include collaborating on Factory Acceptance Testing, troubleshooting customer site issues, and leading Root Cause Analysis. Ideal candidates will have a degree in engineering and strong problem-solving skills.

The position offers competitive compensation, performance bonuses, and a comprehensive benefits package.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in software-intensive product development.
• Proven track record in commissioning activities for complex systems.
• Hands-on experience with reliability engineering practices.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the Delivery team on Factory Acceptance Testing.
• Support system setup and integration troubleshooting.
• Lead structured Root Cause Analysis for ongoing site issues.

Skills

Root Cause Analysis

Field Reliability Engineering

Customer Engineering

Python scripting

Technical Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering

Tools

Python

Git

Linux

Job description

Position Title and Compensation

Position Title: Senior Product Reliability Engineer

Compensation: $90,000 - $130,000 + annual bonus (paid in local currency; range varies by location)

Reports To: Software Development Director

Location: Kitchener, ON (Onsite)

About the Role

We are seeking a skilled and passionate Senior Product Reliability Engineer to join our dynamic team and contribute to the development and on-site success of utility-grade systems for clean energy. This is a deliberately hybrid role: approximately 70% of the work is customer‑facing — partnering with our Delivery and Deployment teams through project bring‑up and acting as the first point of contact from the development team for site‑reported issues after handover — with the remaining 30% contributing to R&D quality assurance, reliability engineering, and release readiness. As Senior Product Reliability Engineer for EQ‑S, you will play a pivotal role in bridging R&D and the field for our hardware‑driven software products. You will work closely with the Quality Assurance function to bring real customer‑site context, failure patterns, and field‑derived test cases back into the product, ensuring that what works in the lab also works on energized sites. The ideal candidate will possess strong skills in field reliability engineering, root‑cause investigation, and customer engineering for hardware software products, and be passionate about advancing clean energy initiatives in a dynamic startup‑like environment.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the Delivery team on Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) and project bring‑up, providing development‑side validation of test protocols, configurations, and shipped releases prior to site dispatch.
• Support the Deployment team on site‑specific configuration, system setup, and integration troubleshooting from commissioning through Commercial Operation Date (COD).
• Tune and validate product performance to meet specifications across diverse customer site configurations - including varying project size, networking topology, and hardware composition - and confirm the product behaves to spec under each customer’s deployed architecture.
• Act as the first point of contact from the development team for on‑going site issues after handover; lead structured Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and own issues end‑to‑end through reproduction, corrective action, and verification on the next release.
• Operate a closed‑loop corrective‑action process that feeds field insights back into design reviews, failure‑mode analyses, and the regression test suite.
• Author and execute commissioning protocols, performance test plans, and customer‑facing acceptance documentation; maintain reliability and availability metrics per site and across the fleet.
• Deliver customer training and produce runbooks, SOPs, and field‑facing technical documentation that translate R&D system behavior into actionable on‑site procedures.
• Advocate for customers inside R&D - bringing field constraints, deployability concerns, and observed defect patterns into sprint planning, design reviews, and release readiness - and collaborate with development, product, and project teams to drive defect resolution into product releases.
• Partner with the Quality Assurance function to extend test coverage with field‑derived scenarios; contribute to hardware‑in‑the‑loop (HIL) testing, regression and soak coverage, and CI integration for software and firmware releases.
• Contribute to Failure Mode and Effects Analyses (FMEA / FMECA) for new product features and hardware revisions, and define the telemetry, logs, and metrics needed to diagnose field issues from the office.
• Participate in a shared on‑call rotation for post‑COD critical site incidents; lead blameless postmortems and ensure lessons learned become permanent regression coverage.
• Adhere to Company’s quality standards, security policies, and compliance requirements; cultivate a culture of accountability, transparency, and continuous learning; and mentor QA and engineering team members on reliability practices, RCA discipline, and field‑context test design.
• Take ownership of their work and contribute to the overall success of the organization.
• Conduct other duties as required.

Required Qualifications and Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Computer, Software, Systems, or Mechanical Engineering, or related field. Advanced degree or equivalent experience preferred.
• 5+ years of experience in software‑intensive product development, field engineering, commissioning, or product reliability, with demonstrable hands‑on customer deployment experience.
• Proven track record of leading or supporting commissioning activities for complex hardware software systems, including FAT, SAT, hot commissioning, and performance / capacity testing.
• Hands‑on experience with structured Root Cause Analysis and reliability engineering practices (5 Whys, Ishikawa, Fault Tree Analysis, 8D, FMEA / FMECA, FRACAS), including defect triage across cross‑functional engineering teams.
• Working knowledge of utility‑scale Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) architecture, power electronics, and battery management systems. Familiarity with industrial and grid protocols (Modbus, DNP3, SunSpec, IEC 61850, IEEE 2030.5, MQTT, NATS) and experience validating distributed, event‑driven systems.
• Proficient in scripting and automation with Python and/or TypeScript / JavaScript; comfortable with Linux, basic networking (TCP/IP, TLS, VPN), Git, and CI/CD workflows.
• Familiarity with energy industry standards relevant to BESS (UL 9540 / 9540A, NFPA 855, IEEE 1547, NERC CIP, IEC 62443), and prior domain experience with software for utility‑scale photovoltaic or battery storage systems, is a strong plus.
• ASQ Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE) and / or NFPA 70E electrical safety / HV switching authorization preferred, or willingness to obtain post‑hire.
• Able to work independently and escape to surface roadblocks and risk mitigation.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts for non‑technical stakeholders, including customer operators, dispatchers, and asset managers.
• Strong problem‑solving skills, attention to detail, and passion for clean technology innovation.

Additional Requirements

• Experience producing customer‑facing technical artifacts — commissioning reports, RCA / 8D reports, runbooks, SOPs, and dashboards.
• Experience with agile development methodologies and modern software engineering practices.
• Willingness to travel up to approximately 50% during peak commissioning seasons (settling at roughly 25–40% steady‑state) to support customer engagements, FAT, deployments, and on‑site escalations across North America, with occasional international travel as needed. Valid passport required.
• Willingness to participate in a shared on‑call rotation for post‑COD critical site incidents.

Equal Opportunity Employer

e-STORAGE is Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE). Qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to age, race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status.

Benefits

We offer a competitive salary, performance bonuses, and a comprehensive benefits package—including health coverage, retirement plans, paid time off, and more.