Automotive Technician (A Level)

Master Automotive Technician (A-Level)
Stress-Free Auto Care - San Francisco, CA Full-time | $59.00-$68.00/hr + uncapped production bonus paid on top of your hourly Bridge tolls and mileage reimbursed
If you're an A-tech, you already know the real question
It isn't the hourly rate on the ad. It's whether the hours are actually there when you clock in.
Most shops sell you a big number and then hand you a dispatch board full of oil changes, a parts counter that guesses, and an advisor who can't explain a brake fluid flush without apologizing for it. You end up carrying the shop's revenue on your back and going home at 40 clocked and 28 produced.
We built this shop around the other model. Our advisors are trained - not "we told them to upsell," but trained on inspection presentation, declined-work follow-up, and how to walk a customer through a diagnostic finding without discounting it into the floor. When the front counter does its job, your utilization goes up without you working faster. That's the deal.
What we're looking for
An A-level technician who can be the one the shop escalates to.

• 7-10+ years of professional experience in a full-service or dealership environment

• Verifiable experience. We check. Be ready to provide shop references, employment history we can confirm, and specifics on the vehicles, systems, and volume you've worked on. If you claim it, you can show it - in the interview, on the floor, or both.

• L1 Advanced Engine Performance strongly preferred; L3 hybrid/EV a plus

• Genuine diagnostic ability: drivability, electrical, intermittent no-codes, CAN/network faults, and the discipline to test rather than swap

• Comfortable with factory and aftermarket scan platforms, scope work, and OEM service information

• ADAS calibration experience welcome; we'll train and equip if you don't have it

• Own professional tool set (box, hand tools, common specialty); we supply the heavy equipment, scan tools, and information subscriptions

• Valid CA driver's license, clean-enough record to move customer vehicles, and able to drive a manual

• Able to write a clear, defensible story on a repair order - cause, correction, and what you actually tested

What you'll actually do

• Own the hard tickets: diagnostics, drivability, electrical, and the repairs that come back to you because nobody else could find it

• Get paid for diagnostic time. We sell diag as a service, not as a free giveaway to win the job

• Work with an advisor who brings you the customer's real complaint, verified, and sells your recommendation the way you wrote it

• Mentor the B and C techs on the floor - and get recognized for it, not just handed more work

• Set the standard on quality control, documentation, and shop process improvement

Accountability and professionalism - required
We're hiring the best of the best, and that standard is not negotiable here.

• You own your work. Your name goes on the repair order. You stand behind the diagnosis, the repair, and the documentation that supports both.

• You show up. Reliable attendance, on time, ready to produce. The board doesn't work if one bay is a question mark.

• You communicate like a professional. Clear, respectful, and direct with advisors, teammates, and customers - including when the news is bad.

• You work clean. Vehicle protection, a controlled bay, tools accounted for, and a workspace the next person can walk into.

• You follow process. Safety, PPE, quality control checks, and documented procedures, every time, on every ticket.

• You raise the room. No shortcuts, no blame-shifting, no drama on the floor. If something's broken in the process, you say so and help fix it.

Technicians who hold this standard are the ones we promote.
Pay and production
Base hourly$59.00-$68.00/hr, based on verified experience and demonstrated diagnostic abilityProduction bonusUncapped, paid on top of your hourly - see belowCertification supportNot required to be hired. If you want to pursue or maintain certifications, we pay for the testingAdvancementPriority consideration for lead tech, foreman, and company technical training roles
The bonus is a true bonus
Read this part carefully, because it's not how most shops do it.
You are paid your full hourly rate for every hour you are clocked in. That doesn't change, it isn't at risk, and it isn't something you have to earn back. Flat rate shops pay you for hours you bill. We pay you for hours you work - and then we pay you again for the hours you bill.
The bonus is based on utilization: billed hours against clocked hours.

• Clock 10, bill 10 - that's 100% utilization. You earn $8.00 for every billable hour , on top of the 10 hours of wages you already had coming. That's an extra $80 on a ten-hour day.

• Hit 110% utilization and the rate moves to $10.00 for every billable hour.

• There is no cap. Not on the percentage, not on the hours, not on the dollars. Produce more, earn more. Every billable hour counts.

That is the entire mechanism. No sliding scale that quietly resets, no monthly threshold you have to clear before dollar one, no ceiling that punishes your best month.
And this is why the front counter matters so much here. Utilization isn't only about how fast you turn a wrench - it's about whether the work makes it to your bay in the first place. Our advisors are trained to present inspections properly and follow up on declined work, because when they do their job, your utilization goes up without you working any harder. Your bonus is downstream of their performance, and we know it.
Commute support - because this is the Bay Area
We're not going to pretend the commute is free.

• Bridge tolls reimbursed for your daily commute to and from the shop, via FasTrak statement or toll invoice

• Mileage reimbursement at the current IRS standard rate for qualifying miles, including any shop-to-shop travel, parts runs, road tests, and customer vehicle transport

• Submitted with your regular timesheet and paid on your normal pay cycle

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision

• PTO and paid holidays

• 401(k) with company match

• Paid training and career development, including manufacturer and ADAS training

• Employee discounts on parts and service

• Referral bonuses - if you bring another A-tech, you get paid for it

Where this goes
We're at 34 locations with 45+ projected, and we're staffing for growth rather than backfilling churn. Every technical leadership seat we open gets filled from the inside first.
That includes the path most shops can't offer you: technical training roles across the company. As we scale, we need the people who can diagnose to also be the people who can teach it - building technician development, running skills assessment, and bringing the next group of B-techs up to A-level. If you've ever wanted your knowledge to outlast your own toolbox, that seat exists here, and it goes to a technician who earned it on the floor.
Nearer-term track: lead technician, shop foreman, multi-store technical support, and regional trainer.
Physical requirements

• Frequently stand, walk, bend, stoop, kneel, crouch, crawl, and reach throughout the workday

• Occasionally lift, carry, push, or pull more than 50 pounds

• Safely work on vehicles using automotive lifts and in confined spaces

• Manual dexterity to safely operate hand tools, power tools, diagnostic equipment, and computers

• Operate vehicles, including those with manual transmissions

• Maintain a productive work pace in a fast-paced environment

• Work in varying environmental conditions typical of an automotive repair facility

• Wear required personal protective equipment (PPE)

Ready to talk? Bring your certifications and one story about a diagnosis nobody else could land. That's the interview.