Senior Hardware Reliability & Compliance Engineer

Quick Facts

• Senior role owning hardware reliability testing and end-to-end compliance/certification for outdoor/field-deployed products.

Description

You will ensure products survive real-world conditions and ship with the required certifications. Own the reliability testing program (test plans, acceptance criteria, root-cause analysis, and risk tracking) and the full certification lifecycle from requirements mapping through lab/carrier/regulatory coordination to certificate receipt. Work with ODM/JDM partners, external test labs, carriers, and engineering leadership using clear program dashboards and lead-time risk visibility.

Responsibilities

• Build reliability test plans for environmental, mechanical, electrical, and operational stress (thermal cycling, humidity, vibration, drop, IP/ingress protection, HALT/HASS, long-duration endurance).
• Define reliability requirements and pass/fail acceptance criteria across Prototype, EVT, DVT, PVT, and mass production.
• Direct ODM/JDM test execution and ensure protocol compliance.
• Lead root-cause investigations for test failures and field escapes; coordinate engineering fixes and verify with re-testing.
• Maintain a reliability risk register with open failure modes, corrective action status, and residual risk.
• Build reliability models and failure-rate estimates; monitor field reliability data for systemic trends.
• Maintain a certification requirement matrix covering carrier certifications, regulatory/government approvals, and channel partner requirements.
• Create certification execution plans (owners/reviewers, submission package content, lead time, cost, and completion targets).
• Manage relationships with carrier contacts, regulators, test labs, and channel partner program managers.
• Run pre-certification testing (pre-scan EMC/SAR and protocol conformance) to reduce lab submission risk.
• Prepare and coordinate submission packages and technical files, test reports, labeling artwork, and regulatory declarations.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant engineering field or equivalent practical experience.
• 7+ years of reliability and/or compliance engineering experience in consumer electronics, IoT, or outdoor/field-deployed hardware.
• Hands-on reliability testing experience (HALT/HASS, accelerated life testing, drop/shock, IP testing, thermal/humidity cycling).
• Direct experience obtaining FCC certifications (Part 15/22/24/27) and familiarity with the TCB process.
• Hands-on experience with PTCRB and/or cellular certification, including module vs device-level dependencies.
• Familiarity with carrier approval programs for at least one major US carrier (AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon).
• Working knowledge of international regulatory requirements for connected devices (CE/RED, RoHS, REACH, WEEE, IC Canada, etc.).
• Experience managing external test labs and certification bodies (scope, scheduling, results review).
• Experience managing channel partner compliance requirements (retailer qualification and private label obligations).
• Strong understanding of standards such as IEC 60068, IEC 62368, IEC 60529, MIL-STD-810, and JEDEC.
• Ability to read schematics/mechanical drawings/test reports and translate standards into product specs and test criteria.
• Experience building project tracking dashboards with milestone visibility and lead-time risk management.

Benefits

• Own a function that directly protects customer trust by ensuring field survivability and certification readiness before launch.