Manufacturing Engineer, Cathode

Tesla’s Cathode Advanced Manufacturing Engineering group is looking for a highly motivated Manufacturing Engineer to work on a critical challenge facing the world’s energy transition – battery cathode materials. This includes the scale-up of novel, high-energy, low-cost cathode materials and the steady state operation of first-of-a-kind cathode manufacturing processes that shorten the path from mine to battery cell. This is one of the most critical chemical engineering challenges of our time, and success will unlock a diversified green energy ecosystem.

As a Manufacturing Engineer, you will own the performance and continuous improvement of assigned manufacturing systems, integrating process, equipment, reliability, maintenance, controls, quality, and operations considerations. You will work directly with Operations and cross-functional teams to troubleshoot complex problems, eliminate recurring losses, develop and improve equipment and processes, and maximize safe, sustainable performance across equipment availability, throughput, yield, quality, and cost. You will also support the scale-up, installation, integration, commissioning, and ramp of new manufacturing equipment and processes from concept through steady state production.

- Own the technical performance and continuous improvement of assigned manufacturing systems across safety, quality, throughput, equipment availability, reliability, maintainability, and cost
- Develop and maintain operating strategies, procedures, safety protocols, maintenance strategies, and equipment lifecycle plans for commercial scale manufacturing systems
- Optimize manufacturing system operation to maximize consistent process flow, equipment availability and product quality
- Develop and optimize equipment reliability strategies, including preventive and predictive maintenance, failure elimination, critical spares, and equipment performance monitoring
- Lead root-cause investigations of process upsets, equipment failures, quality excursions, and safety incidents; develop and drive corrective actions to closure to eliminate recurrence
- Identify and eliminate chronic manufacturing losses through engineered solutions that improve equipment reliability, maintainability, process capability, and operational effectiveness
- Develop and utilize sustainable monitoring, data acquisition, and visualization systems to identify losses, prioritize improvement opportunities, and drive manufacturing performance
- Initiate, develop, and lead the implementation of process and equipment improvement projects in partnership with Operations, Maintenance, controls, Process Design, Equipment Suppliers, and other cross-functional teams
- Train, coach, and develop operator staff to ensure fidelity to established standards and encourage individual ownership towards reaching overall team goals
- Collaborate with R&D and Process Development teams to develop, execute, and scale manufacturing trials that improve product quality and process capability

- Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience in Mechanical Engineering
- Evidence of exceptional ability, including a strong understanding of engineering fundamentals and demonstrated ability to leverage this understanding to solve challenging technical problems
- Experience working in industrial manufacturing or production environments with demonstrated ownership of process, equipment, or manufacturing system performance
- Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot complex process and/or equipment problems, identify failure mechanisms and root causes, and develop sustainable corrective actions
- Experience using manufacturing data and performance metrics to identify losses, prioritize opportunities, and drive measurable improvements in safety, quality, throughput, availability, or reliability
- Demonstrated ability to lead technical improvements and work effectively across Operations, Maintenance, Controls, Quality, and other engineering functions
- Experience working in high-volume, high-purity, or complex manufacturing environments, such as chemicals, oil & gas/hydrocarbons, specialty chemicals, semiconductor, pharmaceuticals, battery materials, or similar industries
- Experience with industrial equipment reliability and maintenance practices, including preventive/predictive maintenance, condition monitoring, failure analysis, critical spares strategy, and reliability performance metrics
- Experience troubleshooting and improving mechanical equipment and automated manufacturing systems, including rotating equipment, material handling equipment, conveying systems, valves, actuators, pneumatics, robotics, or other production equipment
- Experience with bulk solids handling and powder processing systems, including powder blending, powder/spray coating, crushing/milling, mechanical sorting/sieving/separation, feeding, mixing, and dilute or dense-phase pneumatic conveying

Benefits

Along with competitive pay, as a full-time Tesla employee, you are eligible for the following benefits at day 1 of hire:

- Medical plans > plan options with $0 payroll deduction
- Family-building, fertility, adoption and surrogacy benefits
- Dental (including orthodontic coverage) and vision plans, both have options with a $0 paycheck contribution
- Company Paid (Health Savings Accounts) HSA Contribution when enrolled in the High-Deductible medical plan with HSA
- Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
- 401(k) with employer match, Employee Stock Purchase Plans, and other financial benefits
- Company paid Basic Life, AD&D
- Short-term and long-term disability insurance (90 day waiting period)
- Employee Assistance Program
- Sick and Vacation time (Flex time for salary positions, Accrued hours for Hourly positions), and Paid Holidays
- Back-up childcare and parenting support resources
- Voluntary benefits to include: critical illness, hospital indemnity, accident insurance, theft & legal services, and pet insurance
- Weight Loss and Tobacco Cessation Programs
- Tesla Babies program
- Commuter benefits
- Employee discounts and perks program