Sr. Staff New Programs Engineer, New Programs

What to Expect

New Programs Engineering is at the front end of every new vehicle developed at Tesla. We take executive directions and turn them into a product: vehicle attributes, full-vehicle and sub system architectural design & engineering, and a production concept ready for Giga scale. This is a small team designed to rapidly pursue new product concepts & technologies, then architect vehicles that are delightful for our customers globally.

We’re looking for a senior engineer to lead a team of New Programs Engineers. Reporting to the Director of New Programs Engineering, you will own product architectures, system trades, engineering design, and the mentorship and technical excellence of your team.

What You’ll Do

• Engineer new vehicle concepts from a blank sheet. Work with Design, Leadership, Ergonomics, and engineering specialists to take a concept from ideas to viable products

• Lead and mentor a team of New Programs Engineers spanning full-vehicle architecture and multiple vehicle domains. Set technical direction, develop people, and still contribute as a hands-on engineer

• Own the product plan of record. Identify and burn down key risks & decisions. Close them with rigorous engineering & data so the concept is high-performing, robust, and desirable

• Own vehicle-level attributes in the first stage of product definition. Frame tradeoffs for leadership — customer use cases, market data, cost, mass, performance, and other constraints that should drive the decision. Be the voice of the customer that advocates for experiences that surprise & delight them

• Design, build, and test mules, bench tests, & full vehicle prototypes to challenge assumptions & validate ideas

• Partner with designers, digital modelers, and clay modelers so engineering, manufacturing, and regulatory compliance shows up in surfaces that can be tooled and mass manufactured. Drive those solutions to feasibility

• Set and own the early-program schedule and show leadership how development decisions track to vehicle-level milestones

What You’ll Bring

• Degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field, or equivalent experience

• 10+ years in product development, ideally on complex & highly constrained hardware (vehicle design, aerospace, consumer products, etc.)

• Experience leading & mentoring a team of engineers

• Hands-on experience in narrowing product scope and facilitating cross functional decisions on complex products

• A rigorous approach to first-principles engineering & comfort operating across multiple disciplines to drive system level trades

• Familiarity with world automotive regulations, consumer ratings, and major load cases that guide road vehicle product constraints

• Proficiency with 3D CAD software (eg, Catia, 3DX) & Finite Element Analysis (FEA)