Mechanical Reliability Engineer

Mechanical Engineer Mid-level (L4 equivalent) 2-5 years

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The job description

Tech stack. HALT, accelerated life testing, Weibull analysis, fatigue analysis, FMEA, failure analysis (fractography, metallography), reliability growth planning, environmental testing, vibration testing

About the role

You will own mechanical reliability at a company manufacturing outdoor power equipment (generators, pressure washers, pumps) that must survive vibration, dust, rain, temperature extremes, and a decade of hard use by owners who never read the manual. Your test programs find the weak link before customers do, and your analyses set the design margins the whole engineering team builds to. You will design reliability into products through testing, analysis, supplier quality influence, and relentless root-cause work on every significant failure. You will drive product reliability through HALT, accelerated life testing, and field failure analysis that finds weaknesses before customers do. Your reliability predictions will be grounded in test data, not just handbook numbers.

What you will achieve

Build reliability test programs (HALT, vibration profiles, thermal cycling, dust and water ingress, drop) that discover design weaknesses before production release with enough margin to fix them properly.
Drive warranty rates down year over year through disciplined root-cause analysis and corrective actions verified by repeated testing, targeting the top failure modes by cost first.
Deliver quantitative reliability predictions, MTBF estimates, and warranty reserve inputs that finance can trust for business planning.
Lead failure analysis on field returns, identifying true root causes with fractography, metallography, and materials analysis within two weeks and distinguishing design issues from manufacturing or misuse.
Establish enforceable design standards for fatigue life, fastener retention (prevailing torque, thread locking), and environmental sealing that all new products follow.

What you will bring

Must-haves

2 to 5 years in reliability engineering, durability testing, or failure analysis of mechanical products with real field data.
Strong understanding of fatigue, fracture, wear, fretting, and corrosion failure mechanisms and their acceleration factors.
Experience designing and executing HALT, vibration, and environmental test programs with proper fixture design.
Statistical skills: Weibull analysis, confidence bounds, test sample sizing, and reliability demonstration testing.
Ability to perform or direct failure analysis including fractography and basic metallography.
BS in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent.

Nice-to-haves

Experience with outdoor power equipment, off-highway, or similarly abused products.
Familiarity with IP ratings, sealing design validation, and accelerated weathering.
ASQ Certified Reliability Engineer credential or equivalent formal training.
Knowledge of warranty data analysis and field failure rate modeling.