Reliability Engineer (Aerospace/Defense)

Role : Reliability Engineer

Location : Irvine, CA

Duration: : 12 months and flexible to extend further

Detailed Job Description:

Must Have:
Reliability & Failure Analysis (FMEA/FMECA, Weibull, MTBF, root cause, fault tree).

Data Analysis & Statistical Modelling (field data, maintenance logs, trend detection, reliability prediction).

Communication & Reporting (clear technical reports, dashboards, presentations for stakeholders).
Aerospace/Defense

Roles & Responsibilities

The Reliability Engineer will be responsible for measuring the performance related to reliability, availability, and safety of mechanical, electrical, and electromechanical aerospace components. Key responsibilities include but are not limited to:

1. Data Gathering & Historical Analysis
• Collect and review relevant documentation: customer paperwork, service and maintenance/repair logs, shop findings, field returns data, test reports.
• Analyze historical failure data, removal/failure causes, unscheduled removal incidents, and determine trends.
• Establish baseline reliability metrics for components and systems, benchmark performance against contractual or regulatory requirements.

1. Reliability & FailureMode Analysis
• Lead and perform reliability assessments including MTBF, MTBUR, Weibull analysis, failure rate modeling, etc.
• Conduct Failure Mode & Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Failure Mode, Effects, & Criticality Analysis (FMECA) for new designs, modifications, and existing product lines.
• Perform root cause investigations of component & subsystem failures; identify failure modes, causes, severity, occurrence, detection, and drive corrective/preventive actions.

1. Monitoring & Reporting
• Monitor component and part performance on a monthly basis for business jet and commercial aircraft platforms.
• Prepare regular (monthly, quarterly) reports and dashboards for internal and external stakeholders, summarizing performance, trends, failure rates, unscheduled removals, etc.
• Prepare both standardized and customized reports for both internal and external stakeholders based on requests
• Deliver ad hoc reports / investigations as required by engineering, business, or contractual needs.

1. Standards, Procedures & Compliance
• Ensure 100% quality in analyzing the events, align with aerospace industry standards (e.g., SAE, MIL-STD, AS9100 etc.), contractual deliverables, regulatory requirements.
• Maintain documentation, and ensure compliance in reporting formats.
• Participate in risk assessments including functional hazard analysis (FHA), fault tree analysis (FTA) or similar where required.

Job Description / Qualifications

Education & Certification:

• Bachelor s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent. Master s degree a plus.
• Certifications Reliability, Maintainability modules.

Experience:

• Typically 5-8+ years of relevant experience in reliability engineering / maintainability / failure analysis, especially in aerospace or defense domain.
• Experience with mechanical, electrical, and electromechanical components (actuators, flight control, engine components, fuel systems etc.).
• Prior exposure to both commercial and military aerospace product lifecycle (design, qualification, in-service operation, field failures).

Technical Skills:

• Strong knowledge and hands-on experience with reliability tools and techniques: MTBF, MTBUR, Weibull analysis, reliability prediction models, reliability growth, unscheduled removals.
• Proficient in FMEA / FMECA, root cause analysis, fault tree analysis, etc.
• Ability to work with field data, shop findings, maintenance logs, failure records; statistical / probabilistic analysis; data visualization.
• Familiarity with aerospace standards, tolerances, qualification tests, safety & reliability contractual requirements.

Soft Skills:

• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills; ability to dig deep into data, hardware / failure modes, environment etc.
• Strong communication: able to write technical reports, present findings to engineering / business / customer stakeholders.
• Good organizational skills; ability to manage multiple analyses, reports, investigations under schedule constraints.
• Collaborative mindset; ability to work cross-functionally (engineering, quality, maintenance, supply chain).

Additional Requirements:

• Proficiency in relevant software/tools (reliability modelling software, statistical tools, MS Excel, possibly specialized software like Reliasoft, Weibull++, or other).
• Ability to travel if needed (e.g. to shops, field sites).
• Awareness of aerospace safety, environmental, and operational conditions that affect component reliability (temperature, vibration, humidity, loads etc.).