Process Engineer, Cell Formation

About the Role

We are seeking an engineer to sit between Cell Formation process and production, using data to make faster, better factory decisions. This role focuses on identifying and applying a Formation strategy that delivers maximum cell quality and performance at minimum factory cost, cycle time, and equipment capacity. You will own the metrics and analyses that explain yield and quality on the floor, evaluate tradeoffs between formation duration, throughput, and cell COGS (yield and warranty), and help deploy the right process decisions against moving capacity and volume-ramp constraints — reducing formation cost and time while protecting world-class quality.

Key Responsibilities

• Analyze Formation yield daily to separate measurement or calculation errors from true quality shifts in upstream material, process, or equipment — and drive the right action.
• Analyze key Formation metrics for process, material, and equipment changes to confirm there is no quality risk, and lead data-driven change approvals.
• Analyze equipment capacity and throughput to identify bottlenecks and support process decisions that maximize output without sacrificing quality.
• Develop a strong understanding of Cell-Formation factory process flows to identify and address anomalies, and of Formation fundamentals so you can explain metric shifts and their impact on cell quality.
• Build an understanding of key battery pack analytics to challenge limits and optimize for cell yield and quality; support adoption of testing protocols and process limits into production.
• Partner with Cell Quality, Reliability, Materials, and Battery teams to balance yield, quality, and throughput under changing volume constraints.
• Use Python, SQL, and data pipelines to keep Formation metrics trustworthy; create visualizations, dashboards, and reports (Tableau, Grafana, or similar) to monitor KPIs and support decision-making.
• Apply statistics, automation, and AI-assisted workflows to speed quality investigations and generate preliminary root-cause analysis for engineering review.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Degree in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical/Electrical Engineering, Physics, Statistics, Computer Science, Data Engineering, or equivalent experience.
• Working knowledge of Python and SQL for data analysis; familiarity with dashboards and data pipelines a plus.
• Strong data analysis skills, including time-series and manufacturing performance data, statistics, and data-driven root-cause problem solving.
• Ability to interpret high-volume manufacturing process data, design or support experiments, and turn findings into clear recommendations with measurable impact.
• Strong communication skills: translate process needs into data problems, and data findings into actions the factory can run.

Benefits

• Medical plans > plan options with $0 payroll deduction.
• Family-building, fertility, adoption and surrogacy benefits.
• Dental (including orthodontic coverage) and vision plans, both have options with a $0 paycheck contribution.
• Company Paid (Health Savings Accounts) HSA Contribution when enrolled in the High-Deductible medical plan with HSA.
• Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA).
• 401(k) with employer match, Employee Stock Purchase Plans, and other financial benefits.
• Company paid Basic Life, AD&D.
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance (90 day waiting period).
• Employee Assistance Program.
• Sick and Vacation time (Flex time for salary positions, Accrued hours for Hourly positions), and Paid Holidays.
• Back-up childcare and parenting support resources.
• Voluntary benefits to include: critical illness, hospital indemnity, accident insurance, theft & legal services, and pet insurance.
• Weight Loss and Tobacco Cessation Programs.
• Tesla Babies program.
• Commuter benefits.
• Employee discounts and perks program.
• Earned Wage Access: Real-time pay access paid daily, subject to eligibility and schedule (applicable for below Sr. Managers levels).