Failure Analysis Technician

Job Title: Hardware Failure Analysis Technician

Location: Oakland, CA 94612 (100% Onsite)

Duration: 06-month contract (with possible extension)

Start Date: Targeting May 2026

Pay Rate: $45.13/hr. on W2

Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision.

Job Description:

• The Block 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.

Responsibilities

• Perform hands-on triage and root cause analysis on field returns, reproduce reported issues, and coordinate further failure analysis 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 identify gaps or improvement opportunities.
• Participate in issue reviews and contribute feedback to determine next steps and mitigate risks across product performance, manufacturing, and design.
• Identify and flag recurring failure patterns across units for further evaluation.
• Maintain organized tracking of all assigned units and tasks, ensuring nothing is missed.

Required Skills

• 1–3 years of hands-on experience performing triage, failure analysis, and root cause investigations on consumer electronics (e.g., smartphones, tablets, POS systems, or similar hardware).
• Working knowledge of electrical engineering fundamentals such as voltage, current, and resistance.
• Experience using lab equipment including multimeters, optical microscopes, data loggers, and thermocouples.
• Experience performing teardown and disassembly of consumer electronic devices.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to work through complex and ambiguous problems.
• High attention to detail with strong documentation skills.
• Ability to identify recurring patterns across multiple failure cases.
• Self-driven and capable of managing workload independently.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Snowflake, Jira, or Looker.
• Ability to read and interpret electrical schematics.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field or 3–5 years of equivalent practical experience.

"We’re hiring a hands-on Failure Analysis Technician to dig into real-world hardware failures and help us improve product reliability at scale."