Principal Equipment Life Cycle Engineer

Everything we do at Sunrun is driven by a determination to transform the way we power our lives. We know that starts at the individual employee level. We strive to foster an environment you can thrive in through our commitment to diversity, inclusion and belonging.

Overview

The Equipment Life Cycle Engineer (Reliability Engineer) is responsible for optimizing the life cycle management of equipment to minimize operational costs and maximize uptime. This role focuses on analyzing failure causes, performing in-depth cost analysis, and monitoring equipment degradation to ensure sustained operational efficiency.

The Equipment Life Cycle Engineer plays a pivotal role in enhancing overall operational efficiency and achieving a significant return on investment (ROI) through improved asset management and reduced total cost of ownership. This role will start by conducting an extremely extensive analysis of vast and diverse data sets to estimate degradation of equipment, and deviation from previously set regimes through contracts or agreements.

Then, the role will develop, by supporting corrective action plans with suppliers and the internal Supplier Quality Assurance team, as well as diving deeper into root cause analyses for both degradation and sudden failures. The latter will also tie back into our design and engineering tools to optimize equipment performance from the start.

Last, this role will develop into the constant heartbeat check for Sunrun’s fleet and our millions of deployed assets by supporting our strategic sourcing team to make better decisions, by supporting our Service Teams to develop optimized preventative maintenance schedules, and implementing strategies to ensure sustained operational efficiency from an individual system’s performance standpoint. The role will also serve as the key subject matter expert to both internal executives and all of Sunrun’s external partners, across legal, policy, and regulatory on all matters of equipment reliability.

If you are passionate about optimizing equipment performance and leveraging analytics to drive efficiency, we encourage you to apply.

Key Responsibilities:

• Track and analyze equipment degradation over time to predict performance drops and plan preemptive interventions. Use statistical analysis and modeling to forecast and mitigate potential failures.

• Investigate and address the root causes of equipment failures to enhance reliability and longevity. 

• Develop and implement strategies to reduce downtime and maintenance costs, aiming for incremental reductions in failure rates year by year. Leverage experience from previous roles in developing low-cost fault detection systems and reliability improvements.

• Perform thorough root cause analyses of equipment failures to identify and address underlying issues internal and with external independent engineers. Use Physics of Failure (PoF) methods to enhance the reliability of equipment and components.

• Utilize failure analysis insights to implement targeted improvements in equipment design, operation, and maintenance strategies, reducing replacement costs. Apply experience from managing reliability testing and analysis of electrochromic devices and solar power plants.

• Assess comprehensive costs of equipment, including maintenance, lost production, and other expenses, to inform procurement and maintenance decisions. Conduct extensive data analysis and modeling using tools like JMP, JSL scripts, and SQL.

• Develop optimized maintenance schedules and lifecycle management strategies using cost analysis. Implement and oversee maintenance programs for various equipment types, including batteries and photovoltaic (PV) modules.

• Implement strategies based on degradation analysis to ensure sustained operational efficiency and extend the useful life of equipment. Develop accelerated testing methods and physical acceleration models such as Arrhenius, Weibull, Coffin-Manson, and BET.

• Collaborate cross-functionally with teams including engineering, operations, and maintenance to align lifecycle management efforts with business objectives. Leverage experience in interacting with product development, engineering, and operations teams to create robust products and systems.

• Document lifecycle management processes and prepare regular reports and presentations to communicate results, progress, and recommendations to stakeholders and leadership. Provide detailed insights into equipment lifecycle status for internal and external stakeholders.

Qualifications:

• Extensive Expertise: A minimum of 10+ years in the field of Reliability Engineering, specifically within the renewable energy sector, with significant experience managing the entire lifecycle of equipment. A substantial portion of this experience should be in Solar energy systems. This should be expressed through some combination of one or more of the following:

  • Min ten years in solar industry, with at least 4 years in role that demonstrates subject matter expertise in the field of reliability engineering

  • Documented sole ownership or team participation in the publishing of at least one patent, with 5 or more preferred. Patent experience in the solar industry strongly preferred

• Advanced Analytical Skills: Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills, with an acute attention to detail. Proven track record of identifying, diagnosing, and resolving complex issues in equipment performance and reliability.

• Financial Acumen: Mastery in cost analysis and financial modeling specific to equipment maintenance and lifecycle management. Demonstrated ability to optimize costs while ensuring high equipment reliability and performance.

• Technical Proficiency: Comprehensive knowledge of key equipment components, including inverters, PV modules, batteries, and EV chargers. Deep understanding of the technical specifications, failure modes, and maintenance requirements of these components.

• Data Analysis Expertise: Extensive experience with advanced data analysis techniques, including querying databases and manipulating large datasets. Proficiency in using statistical tools and software to derive actionable insights from complex data sets.

• Programming and Automation: Strong proficiency in scripting languages (e.g., Python) and automation tools. Proven experience in developing and implementing automation scripts to streamline equipment monitoring and maintenance processes.

• Communication and Collaboration: Outstanding communication and interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to lead and collaborate effectively across multidisciplinary teams. Experience in presenting complex technical information to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, as well as executive leadership.

• IT and Monitoring Tools: Solid understanding of monitoring tools and IT operations, with hands-on experience preferred. Ability to integrate and utilize these tools to enhance equipment performance and reliability.

• Travel and Team Interaction: Willingness to travel up to 25%. Commitment to fostering a close-knit team environment that values and prioritizes personal interaction and collaboration.

Education:

• College degree or equivalent professional experience is required

• A postgraduate degree in at STEM program or equivalent experience is strongly preferred

Recruiter:

Please note that the compensation information that follows is a good faith estimate for this position only and is provided pursuant to acts, such as The Equal Pay Transparency Act. It assumes that the successful candidate will be located in markets within the United States that warrant the compensation listed. Candidates in locations outside this local area may have a different  starting salary range for this opportunity which may be higher or lower.  Please speak with your recruiter to learn more.

Starting salary/wage for this opportunity:

Sunrun provides a variety of benefits to employees, including health insurance coverage, a wellbeing program, life and disability insurance, a retirement savings plan, paid holidays, and paid time off (PTO). Other rewards may include annual bonus eligibility, based on both company and individual performance, as well as short- and long-term incentives and program-specific awards. Compensation decisions will not be based on a candidate's salary history. Please note: Employee benefits do not apply to our Fusion and Street Sales roles, which are 100% commission-based, (1099-NEC) positions.

This description sets forth the general nature and level of the qualifications and duties required of employees in this job classification, as well as some of the essential functions of this role.  It is not designed to be a comprehensive inventory of all essential duties and qualifications.  If you have a disability or special need that may require reasonable accommodation in order to participate in the hiring process or to perform this role if you are offered employment, please let us know by contacting us at candidateaccomodations@sunrun.com.

Sunrun is proud to be an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind. Our commitment to Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging drives our ability to build diverse teams and develop inclusive work environments. At Sunrun, we believe that empowering people and valuing their differences are essential for our mission of connecting people to the cleanest energy on earth. We are committed to equal employment opportunities without consideration of race, color, religion, ethnicity, citizenship, political activity or affiliation, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, sex or gender, pregnancy or any other basis protected by law. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal convictions, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law.