Vehicle Diagnostic Engineer

What we're building
The marine industry supports recreation, global commerce, and national defense. And yet it runs on technology that hasn't meaningfully changed in fifty years. Until now.
Arc is on a mission to electrify the marine industry. We're rethinking powertrains, software, and vessel designs from first principles. And we're already executing. We started with consumers to develop and harden our core technology. We're now scaling production of our flagship model with new models and sectors on the horizon. Now we're extending our platform to commercial applications, starting with tugs, ferries, and defense, with years worth of signed contracts and a pipeline that spans every vessel type on the water.
The technology is proven, the momentum is building, and the opportunity is enormous. The marine industry is going electric and Arc is building the platform that powers it.
Who we're looking for
As a Vehicle Diagnostic Engineer, you will serve as a primary technical front line for diagnosing and resolving complex issues across Arc’s production fleet. Working at the intersection of service and engineering, you’ll lead technical triage, narrow root cause, and drive fast, high-quality decisions to route issues efficiently and keep vehicles moving. You’ll contribute across debugging, investigation, validation feedback, and broader service enablement while helping build a more scalable support model as Arc grows. You’ll report to the Director, Field Service and partner closely with cross-functional teams in a lean, high-trust environment where everyone’s work has visible impact.
We're looking for someone fired up by the mission and ready to build. You'll thrive here if you move fast, take ownership, and care about the details.
This is a full-time, on-site role at our Los Angeles headquarters. You'll report to the Director of Field Service.
What you'll do
Investigating vehicle-level issues from initial symptom through root cause identification and resolution
Determining whether issues originate from software logic, communication protocols, configuration mismatches, or physical hardware defects
Performing deep-dive diagnostics including timing analysis, plausibility checks, and state transition reviews across ECUs, sensors, and actuators
Reproducing complex issues on real vehicles and capturing ECU, network, and system-level logs to document findings
Driving structured root cause investigations using data, instrumentation, and experimentation
Driving fast, high-quality technical decision making in ambiguous and time-sensitive situations
Triaging complex issues and coordinating resolution across service and engineering teams
Contributing to validation strategies including bench testing, HIL, and production-level verification
Collaborating with engineering and production teams to implement improvements to boat designs, production methods, and service processes
Improving system reliability, diagnosability, and serviceability across product iterations
Contributing to technical problem solving, design reviews, and cross-functional debugging efforts with engineering teams
Minimum Qualifications
2+ years of experience in vehicle diagnostics, service engineering, vehicle electrical integration, embedded systems, controls, or technical escalation engineering
AS degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Automotive Engineering, or equivalent practical experience
Ability to participate in an on-call schedule, including off-hours and weekends
Strong hands-on experience debugging and integrating real-time, hardware-integrated systems
Deep familiarity with CAN-based architectures, vehicle communication networks, and diagnostic tools
Demonstrated experience troubleshooting and supporting complex hardware-integrated products in production environments
Strong systems thinking and sound technical judgment under real-world constraints and ambiguous conditions
Ability to operate independently and drive execution with minimal oversight
Comfortable working hands-on with vehicles in shop, prototype, production, or test environments
Ability to travel up to 15% for field investigations and engineering sprints
Bonus Qualifications
Experience with EV, marine, or other electrified vehicle architectures
Experience with telemetry, observability, or diagnostic platforms such as Grafana, ION, or similar tools
Comfortable using oscilloscopes, data loggers, CAN tools, and ECU flashing tools
Experience supporting production systems and driving issue resolution across cross-functional teams
Experience building automated validation, test, HIL, or diagnostic infrastructure
Experience with model-based design, controls systems, or control algorithm development
Proficiency in Python, C/C++, or similar languages for diagnostics, embedded systems, automation, or tooling development
Familiarity with vehicle communication protocols, data analysis, or signal visualization tools
Familiarity with DFMEA, functional safety, or reliability engineering practices
Comfortable operating at a fast but sustainable pace
Enthusiasm for boating and clean energy
At Arc, we encourage diversity and consider all qualified applicants equally for employment, regardless of background, identity, or status. You're always welcome to reach out even if you don't meet many of these qualifications. Passion and aptitude make up for a lot.
Our values
We move with urgency and build with care. We value these five things above all else:
Ownership over both your work and the company's success
Empathy for colleagues and for customers
Humility in problem solving and collaboration
Pragmatism for navigating ambiguity quickly and sensibly
Inclusion of different backgrounds, opinions, cultures, and perspectives.
We want people who share and embody these values. It is vital that our values align — we'd be happy to elaborate on any or all of these during the interview process.
What we offer
Salary P2: $125,000/year; P3: $150,000
Highly competitive equity grants are included with full-time offers, as well as semi-annual bonuses tied to your impact, not just your tenure.
Additionally, Arc offers top-tier benefits for full-time employees, including:
Healthcare benefits — 99% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision
Parental leave — 14 weeks fully paid for birthing and non-birthing parents
Generous time off — Highly competitive PTO with an opportunity to earn more time with tenure
Income protection — Life and disability insurance for all employees
Retirement savings — Traditional and Roth 401(k) access
Water fund — $500 for you to spend each year to get out on the water, however you choose
Professional development — $500 annual reimbursement for professional development and a monthly AI stipend
Safety support — Annual reimbursement for PPE, ergonomic equipment, and anything that ensures we keep our crew safe
Captain training — Training and access to take Arcboats out with friends and family
Office perks — Daily lunches, snacks, and good coffee while onsite
Relocation assistance — Available depending on role eligibility.