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Senior Hardware Reliability & Test Engineer

San Francisco, CA

Who we are 

Atoms is building the machines that power the next era of progress.

Over the last decade, software has transformed the digital world. But the physical world, where food is made, minerals are mined, goods are moved, and industries are run, remains far less intelligent, far less efficient, and far more constrained. We’re changing that.

Atoms builds Physical AI— real-world robots for the industries that move civilization forward, starting with food, mining, and transport. Our systems are designed to understand, predict, and control the real world with precision, turning complex physical operations into something more reliable, more scalable, and more productive.

This work requires more than robotics. It requires deep integration across hardware, software, AI, operations, manufacturing, and real estate. We don’t just build machines in a lab. We deploy them into real environments, operate them, learn from them, and improve them until they work at scale.

We are roboticists, engineers, operators, and builders. We believe the next great technology companies will not only transform information, but the physical systems that shape everyday life.

 

If you want to work on hard problems with real-world impact, join us.

 

About the role 

Atoms is seeking a Senior Hardware Reliability & Environmental Test Engineer to set the hardware qualification standard and own reliability and environmental testing across our platforms. The role covers the qualification standard itself, reliability requirements and budgets, the design verification plan, environmental and accelerated life testing, and analysis that turns test and field data into design and test changes.

What you’ll do

  • Define hardware qualification standards, including environmental requirements, test methods, and acceptance criteria. 
  • Define reliability and availability requirements for hardware systems and subsystems.
  • Own the design verification plan and report, covering thermal cycling, shock, humidity, vibration, dust and water ingress, corrosion, altitude and fluid resistance.
  • Collect and analyze field load data, and derive mission profiles and accelerated test profiles from measured operating conditions.
  • Own the environmental test equipment plan and its justification. Specify, commission and maintain equipment, fixturing, instrumentation and calibration records, and determine which testing runs internally and which is run with external labs.
  • Own external test lab relationships.
  • Plan and execute HALT for design margin and accelerated life testing for life estimation.
  • Lead DFMEA, fault tree analysis and reliability block diagram activities and track the resulting actions into the verification plan.
  • Analyze field failures and returned hardware, drive root cause and corrective action, and revise test requirements based on the results.
  • Set the reliability acceptance criteria suppliers are held to, review and challenge supplier qualification data, and specify additional testing where application conditions are not covered.

 

What we’re looking for

  • Bachelor's degree in mechanical, electrical, materials or a related engineering field. Equivalent hands-on experience will be considered in place of the degree.
  • Deployed fleet experience in autonomous vehicles, EV, or robotics.
  • 10+ years in hardware reliability, environmental test or design validation on electromechanical and electronic hardware.
  • Ownership of environmental and accelerated life test programs end to end across multiple products or programs, including test plan development, level and duration selection, execution and reporting.
  • Experience defining a reliability or qualification standard applied by more than one team, and driving adoption across teams outside your reporting line.
  • Working knowledge of test methods, with the ability to tailor test requirements to an application. 
  • Experience deriving test profiles from measured field data, including instrumentation, data acquisition and post-processing.
  • Proficiency in DFMEA, fault tree analysis, reliability block diagrams, reliability growth and Weibull analysis.
  • Ability to work onsite five days a week in San Francisco, with travel to production and field sites. 

 

Why join us

At Atoms, you’ll work on one of the defining challenges of our time—bringing automation into the physical world to drive real, lasting impact. We exist to uncover valuable unknown truths and turn them into progress, which means constantly pushing beyond what’s known and building what doesn’t yet exist. The work is ambitious and often challenging, but it’s grounded in a shared sense of purpose and a team committed to seeing it through together. Our work only matters if it serves others, and we know that meaningful progress depends on the trust of the people we serve and the strength of our team—so we invest in both, creating an environment where you can do your best work and grow.

 

What else you need to know

This role is based in our San Francisco office. Atoms is a company driven by invention and continuous change - we are constantly reimagining our industries, building new products, and refining how we operate. We do our best work together. That’s why all of our office-based teams work onsite, five days a week.

The base salary range for this role is $182,000 - $238,000 per year.

Actual compensation will be determined on an individual basis and may vary depending on experience, skills, and qualifications.

Base salary is just one part of your total rewards package. You may also be eligible for equity awards.

Benefits Summary (USA Full-Time Exempt Employees):

  • Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, and Life Insurance
  • Flexible Spending Account / Health Savings Account Options
  • 401(k)
  • Equity
  • Sick Time, Unlimited Flexible Time Off, and Paid Holidays
  • Paid Parental Leave 
  • Pre-Tax Commuter Benefit Plan
  • Team lunch in our SoMa office every Tuesday and Thursday

Benefits are subject to change at the company's discretion.
Atoms accepts applications on an ongoing basis.

 

Ready to join us as we serve those who serve others? 

 

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