Senior Safety Test Engineer

Position Overview

This position as part of the Test Engineering organization will provide comprehensive test engineering support to Proterra’s Battery Engineering team and Proterra Technology Lab. You will be responsible for all aspects of safety and thermal abuse tests on high voltage battery packs, sub‑systems, and components, as well as advancing the Technology Lab testing capabilities.

• Own the specifications, methodology, setup, execution, and reporting of electrical safety and thermal abuse tests on high voltage battery packs, sub‑systems, and components.
• Adapt and develop test equipment for increased fidelity, repeatability, and new product requirements.
• Provide clear and concise documentation related to tests, including reports on parts under test and their status.
• Capture identified failures in detail and work with engineering to facilitate resolution.
• Take ownership of failure analysis process by providing detailed information surrounding failures in test articles.
• Design, implement, and document new test fixtures, data acquisition, and automation scripts.
• Build LabVIEW programs to log data, communicate with test articles, and process complex sets of data.
• Troubleshoot and debug issues with test equipment and drive corrective actions.
• Prioritize and complete tasks to meet deadlines.
• Provide design input to improve product safety, reliability, and performance when necessary.
• Interact with a wide variety of individuals and teams to communicate results.
• Create work instructions and best practices for other engineers and technicians to follow.
• Create and maintain test procedures and reports in cloud‑based systems such as Jira, Confluence, and Jama.
• Initiate and drive equipment and process improvements in the Proterra Technology Lab.

• Bachelor’s degree in material science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, mechatronics engineering, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of testing experience in the automotive or transportation industries, with at least 2 years testing high voltage energy storage systems.
• Experience in executing destructive safety and abuse tests.
• Experience with LabVIEW, data acquisition systems, digital and analog interfaces for PCs, test systems, etc.
• Experience with scripting languages such as Python, MATLAB, C, VBA, etc.
• Experience with automotive CAN and J1939 communication networks.
• Experience in an R&D testing environment.
• Experience with test instrumentation and measurements (e.g., temperature, current, voltage, impedance, isolation, etc.).

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
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