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# Hardware Design Engineer, Factory Firmware, Vehicle Software

- **Company:** Tesla Motors
- **Location:** Fremont, CA, United States
- **Salary:** $140,000.0 - $210,000.0
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Altium Designer, ARM Architecture, Automation of Tests, C++ (Programming Language), Computer Aided Three-Dimensional Interactive Application (CATIA), Communications Protocols, SolidWorks (CAD), Software Debugging, Device Drivers, Embedded Software, Firmware, Hardware Design, Python (Programming Language), Schematic Capture, Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter, Scripting, Serial Peripheral Interface, PIC Microcontroller, Reliability of Systems
- **Published:** September 7, 2026
- **Apply:** https://diversityjobs.com/main/sendform/8/8/28176/1/18232383?backUrl=%2Fcareer%2F18232383%2FHardware-Design-Engineer-Factory-Firmware-Vehicle-Software-California-Fremont

## About the Role

* Strong electrical engineering fundamentals and circuit design experience
 * Experience designing and debugging custom PCBs for embedded systems
 * Strong understanding of microcontroller architectures (ARM Cortex-M) and common embedded communication protocols (SPI, I2C, UART, CAN)
 * Familiarity with writing device drivers or embedded firmware in C/C++
 * Proficiencywith Altium or similar schematic software
 * Ability to use oscilloscopes, multimeters, and other electrical test instruments to support troubleshooting
 * Hands-on technical experience debugging complex systems involving networked microprocessors and software-controlled electrical or electromechanical devices
 * Experience with Python or other scripting languages
 * Ability to collaborate and communicate complex technical concepts
 * Experience with Catia,Solidworks, preferred

## Description

This role owns the electrical and mechanical design of custom hardware used to simulate manufacturing-line conditions on fully assembled vehicles and robots. This Hardware Design Engineer will design and bring up custom boards, fixtures, and breakout harnesses and connectors that support new programs and resolve hardware reliability issues on existing platforms. The work includes designing breakout harnesses and inline connectors that enable positive and negative testing of firmware self-tests, developing mechanical designs and in-house 3D-printed connector interfaces, and owning the full hardware pipeline from concept and schematic through layout, quotation, procurement, bring-up, and validation.

The position supports global factory validation and hardware escalations across manufacturing sites, with a focus on delivering validation setups ahead of pilot so issues can be caught before production.
What You'll Do

 * Specify, design, develop, integrate and maintain robust/complex automated test systems
 * Review electrical schematics and design circuitry to emulate in-vehicle signals or physical behaviors
 * Design custom PCBAs for test and automation platforms, including component selection, schematic capture, layout, and validation
 * Develop low-level firmware or device drivers to interface with custom hardware via protocols such as I2C, SPI, UART, and CAN
 * Hands-on bring-up, build and debugging of new circuit boards


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