Powertrain Reverse Engineer

Foster City, California Posted 3 days ago

Role Overview

Altentechnologyusa is hiring a Powertrain Reverse Engineer. This is a contract hybrid role, based in Foster City, California . posted 3 days ago. Full responsibilities, required qualifications, and the apply link are listed in the description below.

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Job description

We’re ALTEN Technology USA, an engineering company helping clients bring groundbreaking ideas to life—from advancing space exploration and life-saving medical devices to building autonomous electric vehicles. With 3,000+ experts across North America, we partner with leading companies in aerospace, medical devices, robotics, automotive, commercial vehicles, EVs, rail, and more.

As part of the global ALTEN Group—57,000+ engineers in 30 countries—we deliver across the entire product development cycle, from consulting to full project outsourcing.

When you join ALTEN Technology USA, you’ll collaborate on some of the world’s toughest engineering challenges, supported by mentorship, career growth opportunities, and comprehensive benefits. We take pride in fostering a culture where employees feel valued, supported, and inspired to grow.

Powertrain Reverse Engineer

Project Summary

We operate an autonomous-driving fleet built on the Toyota Highlander hybrid platform. The added compute load draws significantly more power than the stock hybrid system was designed to supply, causing the high-voltage battery to deplete and trigger faults that take vehicles out of service. The vehicle CAN bus has already been decoded for driving functions, but the hybrid control system — charging logic, battery state of charge, and thermal management — remains undecoded. We are looking for someone to reverse-engineer these hybrid/powertrain signals and deliver an updated DBC file so we can monitor and ultimately resolve the battery-depletion issue.

Key Responsibilities & Deliverables

Capture and analyze CAN traffic on-vehicle (with driver/technician support)
Reverse-engineer undecoded hybrid battery, charging, thermal, and powertrain diagnostic signals
Produce a validated, updated DBC file and submit it as a pull request to our repo
Re-run captured data against the new DBC to validate signal accuracy
Document decoded signals and methodology

Must-Have Skills

Hands-on automotive CAN bus reverse engineering experience
DBC file authoring/editing
Proficiency with Vector CANalyzer/CANoe (or equivalent) for trace capture and analysis
Working knowledge of hybrid/EV powertrain and battery management systems (BMS)
Comfortable reading raw CAN traces and isolating/decoding unknown signals
Version control / Git pull-request workflow

Preferred / Nice-to-Have

Direct experience with Toyota hybrid systems (THS) and Toyota diagnostics (Techstream/TIS)
Python (or similar) for CAN data analysis
Familiarity with AI-assisted coding tools (e.g., Cursor/Claude) — we use these to accelerate decoding
Prior work decoding OEM "black box" control modules

Tools & Resources Provided

TIS laptop, CANalyzer, Cursor, Claude, GitHub access, scheduled vehicle time, plus VO driver, technician (TIS access), and supporting/firmware engineers.

Salary Range: $120,000-$135,000/K

The actual salary offered is dependent on various factors including, but not limited to, location, the candidate’s combination of job-related knowledge, qualifications, skills, education, training, and experience

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, genetic information, or pregnancy.

Please beware of job seeker scams and see this important notice on our careers page for more information about our recruiting process.

Compliance Notice: Alten USA is a federal contractor subject to the requirements of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) and Executive Order 11246. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.

Drug Screening Requirement: As a federal contractor, Alten USA maintains a drug-free workplace. All candidates selected for employment will be required to successfully complete a pre-employment drug screening as a condition of hire.

About Altentechnologyusa

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do I apply for the Powertrain Reverse Engineer position at Altentechnologyusa?

Use the Apply button above to submit your application directly to Altentechnologyusa. Most applications take less than 5 minutes if your resume and contact details are ready, and you'll be routed to the employer's official application system to finish.

Is the Powertrain Reverse Engineer role at Altentechnologyusa remote or in-office?

This is a hybrid role based in Foster City, California . Expect a mix of in-office and remote days, with the specific cadence set by the hiring manager.

What does a Powertrain Reverse Engineer at Altentechnologyusa earn?

Altentechnologyusa has not disclosed a salary range in this posting. Many employers share specifics later in the interview process; you can also ask during a recruiter screen if compensation transparency is important to you.

When was the Powertrain Reverse Engineer role at Altentechnologyusa posted?

This role was posted on July 6, 2026 (3 days ago). It's still listed as actively hiring; we re-confirm openings against the source system multiple times per day and remove closed roles.