Sr. Reliability/Verification Engineer

Ouster; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

Ouster in San Francisco is seeking a senior reliability and verification engineer to design test frameworks and validation strategies for autonomy hardware and physical AI systems.

You will lead environmental stress testing, FMEA and RCA, validate rugged compute boxes and sensor interfaces, and collaborate with safety experts to ensure safe, reliable deployments. This role demands deep experience with harsh environments and cross-functional teamwork.

Qualifications

• 8+ years defining verification strategies and shipping hardware systems.
• Experience qualifying rugged electromechanical and compute systems.
• Knowledge of reliability physics and environmental stress testing.
• Ownership of reliability lifecycle from test plan to field stability.

Responsibilities

• Define, develop, and execute reliability test plans for autonomy hardware projects.
• Validate AI compute boxes focusing on thermal management and power integrity.
• Lead electrical validation of wire harnesses, power distribution, and sensors.
• Design environmental stress testing including HALT, thermal cycling, and vibration.
• Lead FMEA and RCA for complex hardware failures.
• Partner with safety experts to validate compliance for safety-rated hardware.

Skills

Reliability engineering

Verification strategies

Test infrastructure

Root Cause Analysis

FMEA

Job description

At Ouster, we are pioneering the future of Physical AI. Our advanced vision algorithms and cutting-edge sensor hardware power the next generation of autonomous systems - from robots to smart infrastructure - building a safer and more efficient world.

The Industrial Autonomy Team is seeking a senior reliability and verification engineer to design the test frameworks and validation strategies proving our products for autonomy and physical AI customers are safe and rugged. Within our small hardware team, you will be the gatekeeper for reliability, ensuring our compute, electromechanical, and safety-critical platforms survive harsh environments for customer deployment at scale.

Responsibilities

• Define, develop, and execute comprehensive reliability test plans for all autonomy hardware projects
• Validate AI compute boxes, focusing on thermal management, power integrity, and hardware-software integration
• Lead the electrical validation of vehicle wire harness, power distribution, and sensor interfaces, ensuring resistance to EMI/EMC, vibration, and other environmental factors
• Design and oversee environmental stress testing including HALT, thermal cycling, ingress protection, and mechanical vibration
• Lead Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Root Cause Analysis for complex hardware failures
• Partner with the functional safety experts to design and execute test cases validating compliance for safety rated hardware

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience defining verification strategies, building test infrastructure, and shipping complex hardware systems
• Experience qualifying rugged electromechanical and compute systems to industrial-grade standards for harsh deployment environments
• Extensive knowledge of reliability physics, accelerated life testing, signal/power integrity, and environmental stress profiles
• Experience owning the reliability lifecycle from initial test plan creation to field stability tracking
• Proven track record leading cross-functional Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and failure investigations to drive critical design and manufacturing improvements.

Preferred experience

• Experience validating autonomous vehicle systems, edge AI compute platforms, or safety-critical industrial robotics.
• Experience with Functional Safety standards (ISO 26262 or similar) and implementing rigorous validation frameworks for safety-rated hardware

The base pay will be dependent on your skills, work experience, location, and qualifications. This role may also be eligible for equity & benefits. ($140,000 - $200,000)

We acknowledge the confidence gap at Ouster. You do not need to meet all of these requirements to be the ideal candidate for this role.

Ouster is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer that pursues and hires a diverse workforce. Ouster does not make employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender-identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, military status, or any other basis protected by local, state, or federal laws. Ouster also strives for a healthy and safe workplace, and prohibits harassment of any kind. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, Ouster considers qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.