Full Job Description
Location: On-site at client, Irvine or Palo Alto, CA
As Technical Program Manager - RMA & Field Failure Analysis you will lead a hybrid team (on-site in California and offshore in India) performing RMA triage and field failure analysis on automotive ECUs, including Zonal, Infotainment, Telematics and Battery ECUs. You are the client's main technical and program contact, and you make sure every returned unit moves from triage to root cause and corrective action, on time.
Responsibilities
Technical leadership
- Triage incoming RMAs and route each one: on-site analysis, offshore analysis, plant, supplier or external lab
- Drive root cause investigations on ECU hardware and firmware, alongside the engineers
- Review FTA, RCA and CAPA reports for technical quality before delivery to the client
- Support hands-on debug on the bench when needed: failure reproduction, measurements, log extraction
- Identify systemic issues and failure trends across vehicle programs
Program management
- Manage the RMA backlog and priorities with client engineering
- Coordinate daily work between the on-site and offshore teams (PST overlap)
- Track KPIs (throughput, turnaround time, backlog) and run the weekly scorecard and monthly reporting
- Manage risks, escalations and stakeholders, from engineering and quality teams to suppliers
- Structure and improve the RMA process: templates, known-issues database, automation
Requirements
- 8+ years in automotive electronics, including 3+ years leading technical teams or programs
- Strong hands-on background in ECU hardware debug and failure analysis: schematics, PCBA, component-level troubleshooting
- Solid understanding of embedded firmware and diagnostics: logs, DTCs, UDS
- Knowledge of vehicle networks: CAN/CAN-FD, LIN, Automotive Ethernet
- Proven experience with 8D, FTA, 5-Why, RCA and CAPA
- Comfortable with lab equipment: oscilloscopes, power supplies, multimeters, CAN tools
- Experience coordinating offshore teams
- Jira or equivalent ticket tracking; strong reporting skills (Excel / Power BI)
- Excellent English communication, both with engineers and with management
Nice to have
- RMA or warranty analysis experience at an OEM or Tier 1, ideally in EV
- Knowledge of battery management systems, infotainment or telematics ECUs
- IPC-A-610, X-ray / CSAM interpretation, experience working with external FA labs
- Python scripting for log analysis
- PMP or equivalent certification
Salary Range: Salary $130k - $160k
The actual salary offered is dependent on various factors including, but not limited to, location, the candidate's combination of job-related knowledge, qualifications, skills, education, training, and experience
