Reliability Engineering Lead

Heron Power; Scotts Valley (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Heron Power, a California-based startup, seeks a Reliability Engineering Lead to drive reliability-by-design across power electronics from concept to field deployment. You will implement PoF and DFR principles, set corporate reliability targets, and collaborate with Electrical, Mechanical, Firmware/Software, Quality, Product, and Commercial teams to embed reliability in every phase.

You will derive mission profiles from real-world data, build reliability models, and own the lifecycle cost

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Reliability, or related Engineering.
• Deep knowledge of Physics of Failure and Design for Reliability methodologies.
• Hands-on experience deriving mission profiles from field data and translating to ALT calculations.
• Experience defining reliability requirements considering cost, schedule and risk.
• Strong grounding in reliability statistics (Weibull, censored data, confidence intervals).
• Proven ability to work cross-functionally with Electrical, Mechanical, Firmware/Software and Quality teams.
• Experience designing for maintainability, serviceability, and system availability.
• Experience partnering with Product/Commercial teams to tie warranty commitments to design targets.

Responsibilities

• Define reliability requirements balancing target reliability with cost, schedule, and manufacturability.
• Set corporate reliability strategy and align engineering, product, and manufacturing around targets.
• Apply PoF and DFR throughout the product lifecycle and identify failure mechanisms early.
• Derive mission profiles from real-world use and translate to ALT calculations.
• Build and maintain reliability models (Weibull, FMEA, fault trees) to predict failures.
• Own field reliability strategy and close loop with data from returns to design.
• Define warranty terms with Product and Commercial teams.
• Own lifecycle cost as a design attribute to maximize uptime and reduce TCO.

Skills

PoF & DFR methods

Weibull analysis

Cross-functional leadership

Reliability design assurance

Field data analysis

Education

Bachelor's or advanced degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Reliability, or related Engineering

Job description

What to Expect

Heron Power is a startup company building cutting-edge power electronics for the 21st-century grid. We aim to debottleneck the growth of electricity generation and consumption with scalable, innovative, and less costly hardware solutions, accelerating the electrification of everything.

Our first goal is to build better converters (inverters & rectifiers) to connect large-scale renewables, storage, and loads to the grid. Heron Power’s leadership team is made up of seasoned veterans who have designed and shipped gigawatts of power conversion products over the past decade.

We understand that no one individual knows everything. We will all learn a lot together and from each other. We strive to build a collaborative, enriching environment conducive to personal, technical, and career growth. You can expect to work in a dynamic and collaborative environment, driven by first principles engineering, solving difficult problems.

Job Overview

Reliability is at the core of our company and everything we design. We stand behind our products with a full lifetime warranty across all applications—a commitment that only holds up if reliability is engineered in from first principles, not bolted on at the end.

As our Reliability Engineering Lead, you will drive reliability-by-design across Heron Power’s power electronics products—from concept through field deployment—grounded in Physics of Failure (PoF) and Design for Reliability (DFR) principles rather than generic stress screening. You’ll set reliability strategy at the corporate level and partner across Electrical, Mechanical, Firmware/Software, Quality, Product, and Commercial teams to ensure it’s designed in at every level, from warranty terms through lifecycle cost of ownership.

How You Will Contribute

• Define product reliability requirements, balancing target reliability and failure-rate metrics against cost, schedule, and manufacturability constraints

• Set reliability strategy and goals at the corporate level, aligning engineering, product, and manufacturing teams around shared reliability targets and roadmaps

• Apply Physics of Failure and Design for Reliability principles throughout the product development lifecycle, identifying dominant failure mechanisms early and driving design decisions that mitigate them before hardware exists

• Derive mission profiles from real-world use conditions and translate them into accelerated life test (ALT) calculations—acceleration factors, sample size, and test duration

• Build and maintain reliability models (Weibull/lifetime distributions, FMEA, fault tree analysis) to predict failure modes and quantify confidence levels for design decisions

• Own field reliability strategy, closing the loop between field return/failure data and our design, test, and mission-profile assumptions

• Partner with Product and Commercial teams to define warranty terms, translating our full lifetime warranty commitment into concrete design targets

• Own the lifecycle cost as a design attribute—driving decisions on service, repair, and system architecture that keep products highly available and cost-effective to operate over decades, beating the competition on lifetime cost of ownership

• Partner directly with Electrical, Mechanical, and Firmware/Software engineering teams, as well as the Quality organization, to ensure reliability is designed in at the component and system level

• Mentor and potentially lead a team of reliability engineers, setting technical direction and reviewing mission-profile derivations, ALT plans, and findings

What Makes This Role Different

• This is a strategy-setting role, not just an execution role—you define reliability requirements and set corporate-level goals rather than apply an existing process.

• You’ll have the challenge to build and scale a reliability engineering function as Heron grows, rather than executing within one that's already established.

• You own the full arc from physics to business outcome—mission profiles ALT plans field data warranty terms—closing the loop between design assumptions and real-world performance.

• You’ll have the license to build and scale a reliability engineering function as Heron grows, rather than executing within one that’s already established.

What You Will Bring

We have a short list of must-have requirements. We prioritize a strong grip on first principles, hands-on skills, and a sense of initiative. Domain-specific knowledge and experience will help determine the career level for each hire.

Must-Have Requirements

• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Reliability, or related Engineering discipline

• Demonstrated depth in Physics of Failure (PoF) and Design for Reliability (DFR) methodologies, grounded in underlying failure mechanisms (e.g., fatigue, thermal, electromigration, corrosion)

• Hands-on experience deriving mission profiles from field/use-condition data and translating them into accelerated life test calculations (acceleration factors, sample size, duration)

• Experience defining reliability requirements that explicitly account for cost, schedule, and business risk tradeoffs

• Strong grounding in reliability statistics—Weibull analysis, censored data handling, confidence intervals, FMEA/FTA

• Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally with Electrical, Mechanical, and Firmware/Software teams and Quality organizations

• Experience designing for maintainability, serviceability, and system availability—translating those attributes into concrete design decisions

• Demonstrated experience partnering with Product and Commercial teams to connect warranty/business commitments with engineering design targets

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience owning field reliability strategy end-to-end

• Prior experience setting reliability strategy or goals at an organizational (not just program) level

• Published research or industry papers in reliability or physics of failure (e.g., IEEE RAMS or equivalent venues)

• Experience building or scaling a reliability engineering function or team

• Experience in power electronics or related high-reliability hardware domains

If you are passionate about technology and enjoy working in a fast-paced environment, we would love to hear from you. Join us in accelerating the electrification of everything at Heron Power.

Heron Power provides competitive compensation (salary and equity) and benefits.