Hardware Failure Analysis Technician

Job Title: Hardware Failure Analysis Technician

Location: Oakland, CA

Duration: 6 months

Type: Contract

Job Description:

The Hardware team is looking for a detail-oriented, quality-focused Failure Analysis Technician with 3-5 years of experience triaging and root-causing consumer electronics failures. The ideal candidate has hands-on experience diagnosing why products fail and is eager to apply those skills to failure analysis investigations, hardware disassembly, and cross-functional collaboration. You will set up and execute failure analysis plans, monitor field returns for emerging issues, and support quality investigations requiring technical problem solving. Reporting to the FA Lead, you will work closely with mechanical and electrical design engineers, quality engineering, product management, data analysis, operations, logistics, and engineering program managers to understand field performance and prioritize issues.

You will:

• Perform hands-on triage and root cause analysis on field returns, reproduce reported issues, and coordinate further FA with relevant engineering teams.
• Reproduce reported failure modes and document the steps, conditions, and results in detail.
• Execute failure analysis plans established by the FA Lead, and flag gaps or improvements you identify along the way.
• Participate in issue reviews and contribute feedback to help determine next steps and ensure product performance, manufacturing, and design issues are identified and risks mitigated.
• Flag potential patterns or recurring failure modes observed across units for the FA Lead to evaluate.
• Maintain organized tracking of all units in your queue, including deprioritized work — nothing falls through the cracks.

Must have:

• 1-3 years of hands-on experience performing triage, failure analysis, and root cause investigations on consumer electronics (smartphones, tablets, POS terminals, or similar hardware).
• Working knowledge of electrical engineering fundamentals (e.g., resistance, voltage, current) and experience using lab equipment (optical microscope, multimeter, data loggers, thermocouples, etc.).
• Experience performing teardowns and disassembly of consumer electronics devices.
• Strong organizational skills and comfort working through complex, ambiguous issues without an established process.
• Meticulous attention to documentation and ability to recognize recurring failure patterns across multiple units.
• Self-directed within your queue — you work the units in front of you without waiting for step-by-step instruction.
• [Bonus] Experience with Snowflake, Jira, Looker
• [Bonus] Can read electrical schematics

Education: BS Degree and/or 3-5 years of relevant exp.