Quality NVH Engineer- Electric Motors

Overall Responsibilities:

The Senior Quality Engineer for Motors is responsible for analyzing field return and warranty return automotive motors and motor-related components for EV and Hybrid applications. This role focuses on customer complaint review, DTC code analysis, returned part inspection, failure diagnosis, teardown analysis, root cause investigation, technical reporting, containment support, and customer communication. This position requires motor-specific failure analysis capability, including a strong understanding of motor electrical, mechanical, insulation, thermal, rotating system, and NVH-related failure modes. The engineer will evaluate returned motors, determine the appropriate analysis direction, coordinate additional testing when required, interpret test and teardown results, and communicate findings to customers and internal stakeholders. When abnormal noise or vibration is suspected, the engineer will coordinate NVH testing with internal teams, suppliers, or external NVH test laboratories, interpret the results, and identify potential root causes based on motor structure, operating principles, and failure evidence.

Major Tasks Listed Below:

• Analyze field return and warranty return motors using customer complaints, DTC codes, vehicle information, usage conditions, service history, EOL data, production history, and available field data to establish the initial failure hypothesis and analysis direction.
• Perform initial diagnosis of returned motors, including visual inspection, functional checks, electrical measurements, insulation checks, connector and terminal inspection, and review of customer-provided failure information.
• Determine the required analysis scope based on inspection results and technical data, including teardown analysis, additional electrical testing, mechanical inspection, insulation testing, thermal review, or NVH evaluation.
• Conduct teardown analysis of returned Drive Units to inspect internal components such as the rotor, stator, winding, magnet, bearing, shaft, resolver, encoder, housing, connector, terminal, sealing area, and cooling path.
• Identify and document failure evidence, including damage, wear, deformation, contamination, electrical failure, mechanical failure, insulation failure, thermal damage, abnormal assembly conditions, and component degradation.
• Conduct root cause analysis at component level for motor-related quality issues, including winding shorts, open circuits, insulation breakdown, bearing noise or wear, rotor imbalance, demagnetization, sensor signal abnormalities, connector or terminal damage, abnormal noise or vibration, overheating, torque drop, and performance degradation.
• Coordinate NVH testing with external test laboratories, suppliers, and internal test teams when abnormal motor noise or vibration is suspected, ensuring that the test scope supports the failure analysis objective.
• Prepare technical reports and customer-facing presentations summarizing complaint information, inspection results, measurement data, photos, teardown findings, test results, NVH analysis results, root cause analysis, corrective actions, and verification results.
• Communicate investigation progress, technical findings, root cause conclusions, containment status, corrective action plans, and verification results to customers and internal stakeholders, including production plants, test teams, manufacturing engineering, design engineering, suppliers, and external laboratories.
• Direct or coordinate with technician to move, pack, load, unload, or transport motors and related components using appropriate equipment, such as a trolley, when needed.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related technical field.
• Minimum of 5 years of hands-on experience in quality engineering, field failure analysis, warranty analysis, motor engineering, test engineering, reliability engineering, or automotive electric powertrain fields.
• Knowledges of automotive motor structure, operating principles, and failure modes, including stators, rotors, windings, magnets, bearings, shafts, resolvers, encoders, housings, cooling systems, connectors, and terminals.
• Ability to diagnose motor quality issues using customer complaint information, visual inspection, electrical measurements, EOL data, production history, service information, and returned part conditions.
• Ability to determine appropriate analysis methods, including teardown analysis, electrical testing, mechanical inspection, insulation testing, thermal review, and NVH evaluation.
• Skill to coordinate NVH testing with internal teams, suppliers, external laboratories, or specialized NVH test companies, including interpretation of third-party NVH test reports.
• Ability to interpret motor electrical characteristics such as phase resistance, inductance, back EMF, insulation resistance, hipot results, current waveforms, sensor signals, resolver signals, open or short circuits, and phase imbalance.
• Ability to analyze motor mechanical characteristics, including bearing condition, shaft condition, rotor balance, runout, air gap, vibration, resonance, mechanical interference, assembly condition, and tolerance-related issues.
• Skill using quality problem-solving methodologies such as Root Cause Analysis, 5 Why, Fishbone Diagram, Fault Tree Analysis, 8D, and DOE.
• Ability in Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel, PowerPoint, and Word, for data analysis, reporting, and presentation preparation.
• Ability to explain technical findings to customers, suppliers, external laboratories, and internal stakeholders.
• Ability to travel up to 25% to customers, warehouses, manufacturing plant, and/or suppliers as required.
• Ability to occasionally lift and manipulate (bending, twisting,) with physical dexterity parts up to 50 lbs. and to stand and/or stoop for extended periods of time.

• Master's Degree or Higher in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related technical field.
• Direct experience with EV, HEV, PHEV, or other electric powertrain motor applications.
• Hands-on experience using motor test and measurement equipment such as dynamometers, EOL testers, insulation testers, hipot testers, resistance meters, oscilloscopes, vibration analyzers, sound level meters, data loggers, power analyzers, thermal cameras, and data acquisition systems.
• Strong understanding of automotive quality systems and core tools such as APQP, PPAP, FMEA, Control Plan, SPC, MSA, and customer-specific requirements.
• Experience with OEM quality processes, customer issue management, warranty analysis, field failure analysis, and customer-facing technical communication.
• Strong analytical thinking, execution capability, attention to detail, and technical accuracy in inspection, analysis, reporting, and customer communication.

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. 
The employer will not sponsor applicants for work visa.