About Tau
Power conversion is the bottleneck between the compute, energy, and mobility industries and the future they're trying to build. Most of the industry is still solving it with decades-old approaches. Tau is fixing that. We're a venture-backed hardtech company in Redwood City, building power conversion technology for data centers, EVs, and energy systems. Several products are already moving into production.
We hire people who own problems end-to-end: power electronics, embedded software, controls, test and validation, mechanical design. We solve from first principles, not legacy playbooks. We're past "promising technology." Customers are buying, volume is coming, and the people who join now set the standard everyone builds on after.
Who you are
You think in systems, and you build for reality. You'd rather ship the simplest reliable answer to an engineering question than the most sophisticated one. You know the difference between complexity that earns its keep and complexity for its own sake.
You default to structure without needing to be told to. You see a recurring issue and build the fix that prevents it from recurring, not just the fix for today. You document because someone else needs to be able to run this without you in the room, not because you were asked to.
You have real judgment about risk. You know when "good enough" is actually good enough, and when it isn't, and you're comfortable being the person who says so even when it's inconvenient. High-voltage safety, interlocks, fault handling: you don't treat these as boxes to check, you treat them as the reason the job matters.
You want ownership over a domain that's core to how the whole engineering org performs, and you want to be measured on the capability you build, not just the hours you put in.
Our Engineering Approach
Solve customer problems, not engineering puzzles. Great technical work becomes exceptional when it creates reliable products, enables meaningful new capability, and solves real customer problems.
Think in systems. Understand how your work affects the complete product and the people who build it. Make tradeoffs that improve the whole, not just your direct area of ownership.
Exercise judgment. Apply the engineering rigor the risk requires. Make timely decisions with the available evidence, communicate uncertainty, and balance technical excellence with program needs.
Raise the standard. Deliver quality work on time, improve how the team works, and leave the products, systems, tools, and people around you better than you found them.
About the role
The lab is where every engineering claim gets checked against reality. If the data's untrustworthy, every downstream decision, design, program timeline, and customer commitment inherits that risk without anyone noticing until it's expensive.
This role owns that. You're responsible for the test infrastructure, the standards it runs on, and the judgment call on what's good enough to trust. You'll work across Mechanical, Power Electronics, Controls, Embedded Software, Manufacturing, and Program Management, and you'll have real authority to say a system isn't ready, a result isn't credible, or a process needs to change, and make that stick.
We want someone who biases toward structure: documented, repeatable, built to outlast any one person's memory of how it works. Not because process is the point, but because at 40-50 people and growing, tribal knowledge is a liability. At the same time, this isn't a role where you build the org chart and step back. You're in the lab. You're commissioning systems, debugging with the team at 6pm, mentoring technicians on measurement methods. Player-coach, not dictator. You set the standard by being good enough at the work that people want to follow suit, not standards by decree.
Because our success depends on collaboration, we expect new employees to work onsite five days a week to build strong working relationships with the team.
Areas of ownership
Test infrastructure and standards
Own the dynamometers, inverter test systems, environmental support systems, and lab infrastructure end to end
Set the standards for what counts as commissioned, calibrated, and trustworthy, and hold the org to them
Plan and execute capability upgrades with minimal disruption to active programs
Test system development
Translate engineering objectives into safe, repeatable test capability
Integrate mechanical, electrical, controls, instrumentation, cooling, automation, and safety systems
Own the safety philosophy: interlocks, e-stop logic, fault handling, operator protection
Commission and validate systems before engineering release. Nothing goes live on your say alone until it's earned it
Measurement and data integrity
Specify sensors, instrumentation, DAQ architecture
Build measurement strategies that answer the actual engineering question, not just collect numbers
Validate accuracy through calibration, uncertainty analysis, correlation, repeatability
Be the person who can say, credibly, "trust this data" or "don't"
Lab operations and standards enforcement
Run preventive maintenance, calibration, troubleshooting, repair
Own lab organization, documentation, safety, and operating procedure as an operating system, not a set of one-off fixes
Eliminate recurring issues through durable corrective action, not repeated patching
Support procurement and lab upkeep where it affects test capability
Cross-functional authority
Partner with Mechanical, Power Electronics, Embedded Software, Controls, Manufacturing, Program Management, suppliers, and customers
Push back on requirements, timelines, or designs when the lab side can't safely or credibly support them
Translate cross-functional input into test capability that actually answers the question being asked
Technical leadership
Mentor engineers and technicians in measurement method, safe operation, and lab standards
Build capability that scales. The goal is a lab that runs at this standard whether or not you're in the room that day
Operationalize Tau's engineering principles into how the lab actually runs day to day, not just how it's described
Technical foundation
You'll likely have depth in some of these and working knowledge across most:
Electrical, mechatronic, mechanical, or controls system design
Instrumentation, sensors, signal conditioning, DAQ architecture
Controls integration and lab automation
High-voltage safety, interlocks, e-stops, fault handling
Calibration, uncertainty analysis, correlation, repeatability
Commissioning and troubleshooting complex systems
Root-cause analysis and structured problem solving
Python, LabVIEW, PLCs, or comparable automation tools
Experience
Three years developing, commissioning, or improving complex test systems. A bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Mechatronics, Controls Engineering, or a closely related field, or equivalent demonstrated experience.
Relevant backgrounds: electric powertrains, dynamometers, aerospace test, automotive test, industrial automation, robotics, energy systems. Anywhere measurement quality and equipment reliability were treated as non-negotiable.
What success looks like in year one
The lab runs on standards you set, and people follow them because they trust your judgment, not because they were told to
Engineers make faster, better decisions because the data underneath them is credible
You've caught and fixed at least one recurring failure mode at the root, not just patched the symptom
Leadership relies on you to own the lab side of operations without needing to check in
You're still hands-on: in the room for commissioning, debugging, and the hard calls, not managing from a distance
Compensation and Benefits
US Salary Information
$91,000.00 - $239,000.00 Tau is committed to paying competitive compensation that is fair and equitable. Your experience, qualifications, training, critical skills, and/or business considerations determine your compensation. We also offer a comprehensive benefits package that may include an annual performance bonus, equity, and other incentive compensation plans considered part of Tau’s total compensation package. To learn more about our top-tier benefits, please visit www.taumotors.com . The level will depend on the candidate’s experience. Our ideal candidate exhibits a can-do attitude and approaches his or her work with vigor and determination. Candidates will be expected to demonstrate excellence in their respective fields and possess the ability to learn quickly within a fast-paced environment.
Perks
Become part of an emerging company during a rapid growth phase—within an industry undergoing dramatic transformation for a global imperative.
Work with some of the smartest and most talented experts from different fields to: (1) attack some of the most pressing issues of today while (2) contributing to technically demanding and deeply innovative solutions.
Growth potential—we advance team members who have an outsized impact.
Competitive compensation based upon experience level, including stock options—we believe in capturing value in the future we create together.
Flexible time off and paid holidays.
Centrally located in the Bay Area on the Peninsula in vibrant downtown Redwood City
Blocks from the Caltrain
Walking distance to food and entertainment
Easy access to both the 101 and 280
Excellent medical, dental, vision & life insurance
Comprehensive benefits including 401(k), HSA and FSA benefits, commuter benefits and more
Equal Opportunity Employer
Tau is an equal opportunity employer that guarantees a work environment that respects and values diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.
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