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Robot type
Service and Consumer
Location
San FranciscoCaliforniaUSA
Job type
Hardware
Posted
May 19, 2026
Salary
$160,000–$210,000 a year
Full-time

Hardware Reliability Engineer

Job description

Movement is a powerful way to build physical, mental and social health. Yet it is elusive for 2 billion people due to age, injury, or disability. We are building products that will restore mobility for millions and enable a new frontier of joyful movement experiences. We want to build a future where a grandparent can easily outrun their grandkids and no one is left behind at the trailhead.

Skip is a 22-person early-stage start-up that spun out of Google X in 2023. With deep cross-disciplinary expertise and key partnerships (e.g. with Arc’teryx) we are uniquely positioned to launch the first commercially successful wearable robotic device, the MO/GO, develop a platform to launch future…

Job responsibilities

  • Own the reliability testing program for Skip's wearable devices -- design test plans, define pass/fail criteria, execute testing across EVT/DVT/PVT builds, and track results through to closure
  • Develop and maintain FMEA (DFMEA/PFMEA) for mechanical, electrical, and electromechanical subsystems, translating failure mode analysis into actionable test coverage
  • Design and run accelerated life testing (ALT), HALT, HASS, and environmental stress screening to uncover failure modes before they reach users
  • Build and maintain test fixtures, rigs, and custom tooling for cyclic, fatigue, wear, and environmental testing of device subsystems
  • Lead root cause analysis (RCA) for reliability failures and field returns -- dig into the physics of failure and drive corrective actions through to verification
  • Define and track reliability metrics and KPIs across the product lifecycle; own the reliability sections of design review documentation
  • Partner with the NPI and manufacturing teams to ensure production processes don't introduce new failure modes, and that incoming components meet reliability requirements
  • Wear prototypes several hours a week to participate in on-body testing and provide firsthand feedback from the user perspective

Job requirements

  • 5+ years of experience in hardware reliability, durability testing, or product validation in a professional setting
  • Hands-on experience designing and executing reliability test programs for electromechanical products -- consumer electronics, medical devices, robotics, or powered consumer products
  • Strong command of reliability engineering fundamentals: FMEA, HALT/HASS, accelerated life testing, Weibull analysis, failure mode physics
  • Experience building or operating test fixtures and environmental test equipment (thermal chambers, vibration tables, cyclic rigs)
  • Solid root cause analysis skills -- comfortable using 8D, 5-Why, fishbone, and failure analysis tools to get to physics-of-failure explanations
  • Able to deliver results independently in a fast-paced, early-stage environment where the reliability playbook is still being written
  • Ability to relocate to or already based in the Bay Area
  • Sense of humour; tolerant of Aussie & Canadian spelling
Apply on Skip websiteSave

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