Technical Program Manager, RMA & Field Failure Analysis

Description

The company is an engineering firm with 3,000+ specialists across North America, working with clients in aerospace, medical devices, robotics, automotive, commercial vehicles, EVs, rail and other sectors on projects from space exploration and life-saving medical devices to autonomous electric vehicles.

The company is part of the ALTEN Group, which has 57,000+ engineers in 30 countries and covers the product development cycle from consulting through full project outsourcing.

You would work on hard engineering problems alongside experienced engineers.

Responsibilities

• Triage each incoming RMA and decide where it goes: on-site analysis, offshore analysis, the plant, a supplier or an external lab.
• Lead root cause investigations on ECU hardware and firmware, working side by side with the engineers.
• Check FTA, RCA and CAPA reports for technical quality before they reach the client.
• Get hands-on at the bench when needed: reproduce failures, take measurements and pull logs.
• Spot systemic issues and failure trends across vehicle programs.
• Own the RMA backlog and its priorities together with the client's engineering team.
• Organise daily work between the on-site and offshore teams, using the PST overlap.
• Track KPIs such as throughput, turnaround time and backlog, and produce the weekly scorecard and monthly reports.
• Handle risks, escalations and stakeholders, from engineering and quality teams to suppliers.
• Improve the RMA process through templates, a known-issues database and automation.

Requirements

• 8+ years in automotive electronics, including 3+ years leading technical teams or programs.
• Deep hands-on experience in ECU hardware debug and failure analysis: schematics, PCBA and component-level troubleshooting.
• Working knowledge of embedded firmware and diagnostics: logs, DTCs and UDS.
• Familiarity with vehicle networks: CAN/CAN-FD, LIN and Automotive Ethernet.
• Proven use of 8D, FTA, 5-Why, RCA and CAPA.
• Comfortable using lab equipment such as oscilloscopes, power supplies, multimeters and CAN tools.
• Experience coordinating offshore teams.
• Jira or equivalent ticket tracking, with strong reporting in Excel or Power BI.
• Excellent English for communicating with both engineers and management.
• RMA or warranty analysis at an OEM or Tier 1, ideally in EV.
• Knowledge of battery management systems, infotainment or telematics ECUs.
• IPC-A-610, X-ray and CSAM interpretation, and experience working with external FA labs.
• Python scripting for log analysis.
• PMP or equivalent certification.

Conditions

Hybrid role split between on-site work in California and an offshore team in India, leading RMA triage and field failure analysis on automotive ECUs, including Zonal, Infotainment, Telematics and Battery units.

You are the client's main technical and programme contact, responsible for each returned unit moving from triage to root cause and corrective action on schedule.

Pay depends on factors including location and the candidate's mix of job-related knowledge, qualifications, skills, education, training and experience.

As a federal contractor, the company is drug-free, so every selected candidate must pass a pre-employment drug screen as a condition of hire.

Benefits

• Mentorship and career growth opportunities.
• Comprehensive benefits.