Software Engineer, Manufacturing Test Equipment, Optimus

Tesla

📍Palo Alto, CA
Posted May 25, 2026

Job Overview

Position

Software Engineer, Manufacturing Test Equipment, Optimus

Company

Tesla

Location

Palo Alto, CA

Work Type

On-site

Job ID

li-4418696718

Job Description

What To Expect
Come join the Manufacturing Test and Engineering software team and help us accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy! As a member of our team, you will develop software for in-house designed test equipment that is responsible for ensuring the functionality of products Tesla manufactures and sells to customers, collaborating closely with other engineering disciplines, design teams, and manufacturing teams. You will play a critical role in launching and ramping up the products that Tesla makes, ensuring that the product meets all specifications to delight customers around the world.

What You'll Do

  • Work in a fast-paced environment where you will have the opportunity to exercise your creative thinking skills to solve complex problems


  • Play a key role in all aspects of product design and validation, going beyond software development to make a meaningful impact on the company’s success


  • Write software in LabVIEW, Python, and/or Go to thoroughly validate Tesla products on a manufacturing line, communicating with various hardware devices such as data acquisition systems, mechanical actuators, PLCs, and Tesla products over CAN, UDS, etc.


  • Collaborate with other engineering disciplines to design test equipment that validate product functionality, optimize accuracy, cost, cycle time, and other performance indicators


  • Develop software that enables our test equipment to be easily maintainable by production teams


  • Bring ideas and work on projects that advance our software tech stack to world-class capabilities


  • Travel to different facilities across the US and the world to deploy automated manufacturing solutions


What You'll Bring
  • Fluency in at least one object-oriented programming language


  • Familiarity with hardware connection protocols (e.g., CAN, UDS, gRPC, Modbus/TCP, TCP/IP, OPCUA, etc.)


  • Experience working in a manufacturing environment and/or with physical hardware devices


  • Experience developing software solutions for test and measurement systems


  • Experience with Windows and Linux OS


  • Familiarity with devops and CI/CD tools (e.g., Ansible, Puppet, Chef, Jenkins, and GitHub actions)


  • Familiarity with cloud development tools (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes, and Vault)


  • Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, similar degree, or equivalent experience


Benefits
Compensation and Benefits
Along with competitive pay, as a full-time Tesla employee, you are eligible for the following benefits at day 1 of hire:

  • Medical plans > plan options with $0 payroll deduction


  • Family-building, fertility, adoption and surrogacy benefits


  • Dental (including orthodontic coverage) and vision plans, both have options with a $0 paycheck contribution


  • Company Paid (Health Savings Accounts) HSA Contribution when enrolled in the High-Deductible medical plan with HSA


  • Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)


  • 401(k) with employer match, Employee Stock Purchase Plans, and other financial benefits


  • Company paid Basic Life, AD&D


  • Short-term and long-term disability insurance (90 day waiting period)


  • Employee Assistance Program


  • Sick and Vacation time (Flex time for salary positions, Accrued hours for Hourly positions), and Paid Holidays


  • Back-up childcare and parenting support resources


  • Voluntary benefits to include: critical illness, hospital indemnity, accident insurance, theft & legal services, and pet insurance


  • Weight Loss and Tobacco Cessation Programs


  • Tesla Babies program


  • Commuter benefits


  • Employee discounts and perks program


Expected Compensation

$120,000 - $360,000/annual salary + cash and stock awards + benefits

Pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements dependent on the position offered. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.

, Tesla

Interview Prep

AI-powered insights to help you prepare

Key Skills

Required:
Preferred:

Practice Questions

💡Technical Questions (3)
  • 1.How would you design a software architecture in Python or Go to communicate with a Tesla product over CAN/UDS while simultaneously controlling a mechanical actuator via Modbus/TCP, ensuring the test completes within a strict cycle time?
  • 2.Describe your experience developing software for test and measurement systems. How do you ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data acquisition process?
  • 3.The job requires writing software that is easily maintainable by production teams. What specific design patterns or practices do you use to make complex test software accessible to technicians on the manufacturing floor?
🎯Behavioral Questions (3)
  • 1.Tell me about a time you had to collaborate with mechanical, electrical, or design teams to design test equipment. How did you handle conflicting requirements from the different disciplines?
  • 2.Describe a situation where you had to deploy an automated manufacturing solution under a tight deadline in a fast-paced environment. What was your approach?
  • 3.Give an example of a time you brought an idea forward that advanced your team's software tech stack or improved a critical performance indicator like cycle time or cost.
🧩Situational Questions (2)
  • 1.You are deploying a test station at a factory overseas, and the production line is down because the test software is throwing intermittent UDS communication timeouts with the Tesla product. The hardware team says the wiring is fine. How do you troubleshoot this under pressure?
  • 2.You are tasked with writing the software for a new test equipment design, but the hardware specifications from the design team are still incomplete and changing frequently. The production launch date is fixed. How do you proceed?

Resume Keywords

Make sure these keywords appear on your resume

LabVIEWPythonGoCANUDSManufacturing TestData AcquisitionCI/CDDockerTest Equipment DesignCycle Time OptimizationPLC

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