Hardware Engineering - Sustaining

Tive; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid options

Competitive equity

Inclusive culture

Job summary

Tive is seeking a Hardware Engineer – Sustaining to keep in-market products reliable and improving. You will investigate field failures, identify root causes across a distributed team, and drive effective solutions throughout the product lifecycle.

You will manage ECOs, engage with contract manufacturers on DFM and production issues, and support manufacturing/yield analysis. Mandarin/CN CM coordination is a plus, but not required, while strong root-cause discipline is essential.

Qualifications

• BS/MS in Electrical Engineering or equivalent with 4+ years in hardware sustaining or manufacturing engineering for high-volume electronics.
• Ability to read schematics/PCB designs and assess risk of proposed changes.
• Experience with contract manufacturers: DFM, yield, FATP/SMT, and production issue resolution.

Responsibilities

• Own field-issue root-cause investigation and closure with confirmed findings.
• Manage ECO/revision changes, PCB respins, and component substitutions with traceability.
• Handle supplier quality escalations and 8D/SCAR actions for defects.
• Support manufacturing: yield analysis, DFM feedback, and CM line support.
• Own RMA/refurbishment engineering paths and feed failures back to design.

Skills

Root-cause analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

Hardware debugging

Sustaining engineering

Electrical engineering knowledge

Education

BS/MS in Electrical Engineering

Tools

ESP32-class MCUs

PCB design review

DFM

FATP/SMT

8D/5-Why

Job description

At Tive , we imagine a fully-transparent world in which everything and everyone is connected. We innovate beyond what the world thought possible—so what people hold near and dear arrives on time and in full.

We believe (and live!) four core values:

• Transparency First: We make everything visible so that everyone can operate better
• Always strive to make things simpler
• We are One Team, we have each other's backs
• Relentless iteration to optimize and improve

Whether shipped by road, rail, ocean, or air, Tive reduces shipment delays, minimizes rejected loads, and decreases theft, damage, and spoilage. Our customers count on Tive to ensure that their shipments are delivered on time and in full—because every shipment matters.

As a Hardware Engineering – Sustaining engineer, you will help keep our in-market products reliable, healthy, and continuously improving throughout their lifecycle. You’ll investigate hardware issues, identify root causes, and work cross-functionally to drive effective solution

Our ideal candidate must have:

• BS/MS in Electrical Engineering or equivalent, with 4+ years in hardware sustaining, NPI, or manufacturing engineering for high-volume electronics.
• Solid grasp of schematic and PCB design review — able to read a design, reason about a power tree, and assess a proposed change's risk.
• Direct experience with contract manufacturers: DFM, yield, FATP/SMT, and production issue resolution.
• Structured root-cause discipline (8D/5-Why/fishbone) and the follow-through to close corrective actions with suppliers.
• Comfortable owning ambiguous, cross-cutting problems in a distributed team

Strongly preferred

• Low-power / battery-powered IoT hardware background; familiarity with cellular + GNSS + BLE devices.
• Hands‑on with the platform silicon class: ESP32-class MCUs, cellular modems, fuel gauges and chargers, IMUs, and buck-boost regulators.
• Mandarin and/or China-based experience for CM coordination (a plus, not required).
• Experience feeding sustaining insight back into verification and design so recurring issues get designed out.

What You'll Do

• Field-issue root cause — own investigation of returns and field failures (e.g. crash‑reset/brownout loops, registration failures, latent battery shorts); drive root‑cause analysis to closure with clear confirmed‑vs‑inferred findings.
• ECO / revision management — manage engineering change orders, PCB respins, and component substitutions (e.g. converter/regulator swaps, fuel‑gauge/charger changes); maintain revision traceability across the fleet.
• Component & supplier issues — handle EOL, second‑sourcing, and vendor quality escalations; author and drive supplier 8D/SCAR corrective actions (batch defects, separator/assembly issues).
• Manufacturing support — support production issues, yield analysis, DFM feedback, and FATP/SMT line support; assist the CM shift for US‑market products.
• RMA / refurb — own the RMA and refurbishment engineering path; feed field‑failure patterns back into design and verification.
• Cross‑pod triage — act as first responder for sustaining issues across all product lines, escalating to the owning pod only when new design work is required.

Compensation:

The specific pay offered may be influenced by a variety of factors, including the candidate’s experience, education, and skill set.

What does Tive offer?

• A chance to join what may very well turn out to be the most important company in your career.
• The autonomy and resources to build what you know how to build.
• Work with a committed global team that have each others back.
• Office‑based or hybrid options. Your choice.
• Competitive equity to ensure all of our employees have a sense of ownership in the long‑term success of Tive’s growth.
  

We celebrate diversity, and consider it key to our success as both a team and a company. We are proud to be an equal‑opportunity employer, and we are committed to creating an inclusive environment of mutual respect for all employees.