Lead, Vehicle Structure & Durability

Zoox; Foster City (CA); On-site; USD 224,000 - 269,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

RSUs

Stock Appreciation Rights

Sign-on bonus

Paid time off

Health insurance

Disability insurance

Life insurance

Job summary

Zoox in Foster City, CA seeks an Operational Strength Attribute Lead to drive vehicle durability across the life cycle. You will define robot‑level targets, perform CAE strength and fatigue analyses, and partner with design teams to optimize BIW, chassis, and battery enclosures for a robotaxi in urban environments.

You will translate usage profiles into test specifications, lead validation programs, and deliver lifetime performance insights.

Qualifications

• Master's degree with 10+ years of hands-on experience in automotive Strength and Durability Engineering.
• Demonstrate system and vehicle level testing experience in laboratory and automotive proving ground environments.
• Demonstrate proficiency with durability simulation and analysis software tools (e.g., ANSYS, ABAQUS, ADAMS, nCode).
• Demonstrate familiarity with automotive requirements and validation sign-off standards.
• Demonstrate excellent written, presentation, and verbal communication skills with the ability to create visualizations of KPIs and program risks.

Responsibilities

• Target setting: Define and own robot-level targets for strength and durability together with internal stakeholders and cascade those targets to the system teams.
• Structural & Fatigue Analysis: Work with CAE to assess static strength, stiffness, dynamic loading, and fatigue behavior of complex mechanical systems.
• Design Optimization: Collaborate with design engineers to develop practical, cost-effective structural solutions meeting vehicle attribute requirements.
• Test-to-Simulation Correlation: Analyze road load data and correlate with simulations to improve model accuracy.
• Validation & Testing Support: Translate usage profiles into lab test specs, design accelerated fatigue life testing, and lead validation programs.
• Complete vehicle lifetime durability: Lead cross-functional teams to deliver lifetime durability requirements for the complete vehicle.
• Failure & Root-Cause Investigation: Conduct teardowns and root-cause analysis on failed components and verify countermeasures.
• Manufacturing Feasibility: Assess designs for manufacturing/assembly capability including joints and stamping.
• Documentation and Reporting: Provide regular Strength and Durability status updates and technical reports.
• Technical Leadership: Share knowledge and communicate best practices to cross-functional teams and junior engineers.

Skills

Durability engineering

Vehicle testing

Cross-functional collaboration

Technical leadership

Data analysis

Education

Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field

Tools

ANSYS

ABAQUS

ADAMS

nCode

Job description

Zoox in Foster City, CA seeks an Operational Strength Attribute Lead to drive vehicle durability across the life cycle. You will define robot‑level targets, perform CAE strength and fatigue analyses, and partner with design teams to optimize BIW, chassis, and battery enclosures for a robotaxi in urban environments.

You will translate usage profiles into test specifications, lead validation programs, and deliver lifetime performance insights.