Field Reliability & Quality Engineer
About Base
Base is America’s next-generation power company. We’re rebuilding the foundation of modern civilization–electricity–by deploying a vast network of distributed batteries that is transforming today’s fragile, centralized grid into a resilient and abundant system. We are engineers, operators, and creatives solving some of the most complex, interdisciplinary challenges of our time.
About the Role
Base is hiring a Field Reliability Engineer to own the reliability picture for our deployed fleet. You'll watch fleet health in the data, decide when to swap or pull hardware, triage returns, find root cause, and keep an honest record of what's failing and how often. Those Paretos drive our design and supplier decisions. This role covers both in-house and supplier-made hardware, and strong fundamentals and problem-solving instincts matter more than years of experience.
What You'll Do
- Root-cause field failures and manufacturing non-conformances. This is the core of the job, with local travel for deep dives.
- Build and read fleet health dashboards in Grafana, SQL/BigQuery, and Python, and spot trends early.
- Track what breaks and how often, and turn it into Paretos the team can act on.
- Decide when to dispatch a field swap or pull hardware for investigation, and see it through.
- Triage returned units: characterize the failure and decide when to escalate for full teardown.
- Recreate field failures in the lab.
- Drive corrective actions into design, and into suppliers for supplier-made parts.
- Keep clean records of every failure analysis.
What You'll Bring
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field.
- Strong electrical fundamentals and working knowledge of PCBs, PCBAs, and components.
- Hands-on testing and debugging of battery systems, power electronics, or complex electromechanical hardware.
- Comfort with Grafana, SQL/BigQuery, and Python.
- Reliability basics: failure-rate tracking, MTBF/AFR, and Weibull plots (expertise not required).
- Hands-on, with sharp problem-solving instincts and attention to detail.
Preferred Skills
- Field-deployed hardware and RMA processes.
- Failure analysis and materials characterization techniques.
- Supplier corrective actions (8D/CAPA) and supplier performance tracking.
- Clear reporting of findings to design, manufacturing, and supplier teams.
About the Team
Our hardware reliability and test team breaks Base products before our members can. We run mechanical, electrical, environmental, and abuse testing from component to full system, track how the fleet holds up in the field, root-cause the failures that matter, and feed fixes straight back to design. Homeowners across the country rely on Base for whole-home backup and lower electricity bills. Our network of home batteries also helps keep the grid stable as demand climbs from AI, electrification, and extreme weather. We build in-house and expand at a speed and cost incumbents can't match, and this team makes that possible.
Please note: Base is a startup, which means priorities shift and evolve quickly. Your role may expand or change based on the needs of the business at any given time, so the responsibilities listed may not be exhaustive.
Our Values
- First Principles Thinking: Question assumptions. Principles > rules.
- Operate at Base Pace: Focus on what matters, act quickly, and learn by doing.
- Give & Get Feedback: Be direct, be humble, and maintain a growth mindset.
- Everyone’s an Owner: Follow through on commitments and own results.
- Strong Opinions, Loosely Held: Drive clarity and make calls with imperfect information.
- Committed to the Mission: Rebuilding the grid is a big challenge. We work hard because we care deeply about the impact we’re creating. We work in-person. It’s not a 9-to-5. We are all-in.
- Fun & Optimism Coexist with Grit: Collaboration and celebration coincide with the intensity of building real things.