Cell Mixing Equipment Engineer, Cell Manufacturing… at Tesla · Sparks

Tesla’s world-class Cell Manufacturing Engineering team is looking for a highly-motivated Manufacturing Engineer with experience in powder handling applications for an exciting new project. This engineer is expected to be or become a manufacturing expert in the field of powder handling applications and will be involved in the design, development, commissioning and ramping of high-speed automated equipment, while working in a cross-functional team to test, validate, and roll-out process and product design changes.

The battery cell is a critical component in Tesla vehicles and storage systems. This role will have the opportunity to make meaningful contributions to our products. The work environment is demanding, fast-paced and incredibly exciting. The ideal candidate should be ready to push their limits, as they join in highly motivated and capable team to make unbelieve things into reality.

Responsibilities

• Drive design, development, commissioning, and ramp of manufacturing equipment including but not limited to complex powder handling and processing systems used in cell electrode manufacturing and qualify them using statistically valid data sets and workflow
• Work collaboratively as the equipment expert to ensure production lines run in a safe, efficient manner producing high quality parts
• Become owner / subject matter expert to drive equipment-related process improvement including detailed troubleshooting and root cause analysis
• Drive manufacturing ramp by characterizing baseline and improving performance of equipment with powder handling and processing systems; ensure manufacturing lines meet OEE goals
• Troubleshoot and recover processes using PLC, HMI, or tool management software, and implement changes/improvements
• Build training material, maintenance routines, and related documentation for equipment life cycle management
• Lead safety and ergonomic improvements to production equipment which meets or exceeds regulations or best practices
• Identify equipment critical spare parts and ensure sufficient coverage to prevent extended downtime situations
• Develop equipment specifications, process flow and P&ID diagrams. Provide direction and mentorship to third party machine/automation suppliers and/or Tesla internal machine building team; participate in supplier/internal equipment FAT and SAT
• Develop and manage FMEA / risk assessments to prioritize process and equipment improvement projects and ensure adequate metrology and controls are in place

Requirements

• Degree or Equivalent Experience in Mechanical, Manufacturing Engineering or another engineering discipline, with more than 8 years of relevant experience in a high volume manufacturing environment
• Experience in equipment using powder handling and processing systems – feeders, gain/loss in weight hoppers, mixers, material conveyance. Strong hands-on experience with pilot and high-volume manufacturing including practical knowledge of rheology, selection of related hardware and software
• Demonstrated experience solving complex electromechanical and software system issues with limited documentation to debug, build process know-how, and kick off improvement projects
• Strong understanding of engineering fundamentals and ability to apply them towards manufacturing process development
• Structured thinking and problem solving abilities. Proven through a number of root cause analysis following a data driven approach, statistical software (JMP) a plus
• 3D CAD design experience in production equipment, creating/validating layouts, tooling drawings, pneumatic and electrical schematics. Experience with PLC programming a plus
• Availability for travel domestic/international as required; knowledge and understanding of Battery Cell technology a plus

Compensation and benefits