Lead Electrical Engineer

Parallel Systems•Los Angeles, CA

About The Position

Parallel Systems is seeking a Lead Electrical Engineer to lead the design, development, integration, and validation of electrical systems for production autonomous battery-electric rail vehicles. The role provides technical direction for vehicle electrical architecture and subsystems, including power distribution, traction and braking interfaces, safety-critical control systems, wiring harnesses, and compute and sensor networks. The engineer will establish system architectures, drive design decisions, and oversee development from concept through production deployment while ensuring vehicle-wide integration and alignment with performance, safety, reliability, and regulatory requirements. The Lead Electrical Engineer works closely with mechanical, software, autonomy, manufacturing, and external partner teams. The role combines system-level technical ownership and leadership with hands-on design, testing, and integration in a fast-paced hardware development environment. The successful candidate will establish engineering standards, resolve complex technical challenges, and guide cross-functional development toward production readiness.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
8+ years of relevant experience designing, developing, integrating, or validating electrical systems for vehicles or other complex electromechanical products.
Demonstrated experience leading the architecture and development of complex electrical systems through multiple product lifecycle stages, from concept through production.
Proven ability to establish technical direction, make system-level design decisions, and lead resolution of complex electrical engineering challenges.
Strong understanding of vehicle electrical architectures, power distribution, control systems, and embedded communication protocols such as CAN and Ethernet.
Experience defining system requirements, managing subsystem interfaces, and developing verification and validation strategies.
Experience with electrical design and documentation tools such as SolidWorks Electrical, Altium, RapidHarness, or equivalent.
Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional engineering efforts and communicate technical decisions, risks, and tradeoffs to engineering, manufacturing, and leadership stakeholders.
Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and root-cause analysis skills, with the ability to apply first principles to complex technical problems.

Nice To Haves

Experience leading electrical engineering development for automotive, rail, aerospace, commercial vehicles, or heavy industrial equipment.
Experience with traction systems, braking systems, high-voltage power distribution, vehicle control systems, or other safety-critical vehicle subsystems.
Working knowledge of functional safety standards and frameworks, such as ISO 26262, Automotive Safety Integrity Levels (ASIL), IEC 61508, or equivalent.
Experience with system-level hazard analysis, DFMEA, fault analysis, reliability engineering, and formal verification and validation processes.
Hands-on experience designing, prototyping, integrating, and validating complex wiring harnesses and electrical assemblies.
Experience with hardware-in-the-loop testing, automated test systems, data acquisition, or electrical test stand development.
Programming or scripting experience in Python, C/C++, Rust, or similar languages for test automation, diagnostics, or hardware integration.
Experience supporting contract manufacturers, supplier qualification, design-for-manufacturing, and production ramp-up.
Experience mentoring engineers, leading design reviews, establishing engineering standards, and coordinating technical execution across multiple disciplines.
Evidence of exceptional technical ability through shipped products, complex system deployments, patents, technical projects, or a portfolio of engineering work.

Responsibilities

Own the technical direction, architecture, design, development, integration, and validation of vehicle electrical systems, including power distribution, wiring harnesses, commercial-off-the-shelf hardware, and electrical test infrastructure.
Define electrical system requirements, architecture standards, interface specifications, and design practices; evaluate tradeoffs and drive decisions that balance performance, reliability, safety, cost, and manufacturability.
Oversee development and documentation of safety-critical subsystems, including hazard analyses, DFMEAs, risk assessments, and verification and validation strategies.
Lead electrical engineering alignment with mechanical, embedded software, controls, autonomy, and systems engineering teams to ensure integration across vehicle subsystems and dependencies.
Lead electrical design reviews, identify technical risks, resolve system-level issues, and establish corrective actions using structured debugging and root-cause analysis.
Define and oversee hardware bring-up, bench testing, electrical system validation, prototype vehicle integration, fault isolation, and reliability testing.
Lead electrical design maturation from prototype through production, partnering with manufacturing, suppliers, and contract manufacturers on design-for-manufacturing, assembly processes, testability, quality, and production ramp-up.
Develop repeatable processes for electrical design, requirements traceability, configuration management, validation, and engineering change control.
Ensure electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, bills of materials, interface specifications, test reports, and engineering change documentation meet quality and traceability requirements.
Guide engineers through technical challenges, review designs, establish priorities, and promote consistent engineering practices.
Coordinate technical execution and align engineering deliverables with broader vehicle development milestones.
Identify critical-path electrical engineering risks, prioritize resources and technical activities, and communicate project status, dependencies, and tradeoffs to cross-functional stakeholders.