Senior Electrical Engineer, Autonomous Vehicles

AeroVect•South San Francisco, CA

1d•$155,000 - $190,000

About The Position

AeroVect is seeking a Senior or Staff Electrical Engineer to own the electrical architecture and vehicle integration systems for its autonomous tractor platform. The platform integrates high-voltage traction systems, custom power distribution, vehicle control networks, embedded computing hardware, and autonomy sensors. The engineer will define and maintain the electrical architecture, vehicle harness systems, schematics, and standards used by build, integration, and field-service teams. The role spans vehicle engineering, autonomy hardware, and production. It includes investigating electrical faults across the deployed fleet, driving corrective actions, leading electrical bring-up and validation for new platforms and upfits, and working with harness manufacturers and integration partners. The engineer will collaborate with mechanical, software, autonomy, and field teams and contribute to next-generation platforms, including higher-voltage systems and advanced compute integration.

Requirements

At least 5 years of electrical engineering experience in a hardware-centric domain such as automotive, autonomous vehicles, robotics, aerospace, or industrial equipment.
Deep expertise in vehicle electrical systems, including harness and connector design, power distribution, CAN bus and other vehicle networking protocols, and grounding and EMC practices.
Demonstrated ability to read, create, and own complex electrical schematics and wiring diagrams as primary design deliverables.
Strong background in electrical fault analysis and root cause investigation, including translating field failure data into actionable design improvements.
Experience designing for reliability and serviceability in harsh operational environments involving vibration, thermal cycling, moisture, and contamination.
Comfort working across the full product lifecycle, from architecture and design through bring-up, field deployment, and sustaining engineering.
Ability to operate independently, set technical direction, and drive decisions across cross-functional teams without requiring a large team structure.

Nice To Haves

Experience with autonomous vehicle or mobile robot electrical systems, including multi-sensor integration and embedded computing hardware.
Familiarity with high-voltage vehicle architectures and their safety and isolation design requirements.
Experience working directly with harness fabrication vendors and contract manufacturers to specify and qualify electrical assemblies.
Background defining and executing electrical validation and verification programs, including bring-up procedures and acceptance test criteria.
Exposure to relevant standards in vehicle electrical engineering or safety-critical system design.
Experience at an early-stage company building electrical engineering infrastructure and design standards from scratch.

Responsibilities

Own the autonomous tractor platform’s end-to-end electrical architecture, including harness design, power distribution schematics, CAN bus topology, sensor integration wiring, and grounding and shielding strategies.
Design, review, and maintain vehicle wiring diagrams and electrical schematics as authoritative references for build, integration, and field-servicing teams.
Lead root cause analysis of electrical faults and system-level failures across the deployed fleet, including power distribution anomalies, control network faults, sensor failures, and connector or harness degradation.
Drive corrective actions based on field failure analysis, translating findings into design improvements, updated build standards, and fleet retrofit plans.
Own electrical bring-up and validation for new vehicle platforms and major upfits, including acceptance criteria, commissioning procedures, and electrical verification checklists.
Work with harness manufacturers and integration partners to define build specifications, review fabricated assemblies, and qualify workmanship standards.
Select, integrate, and qualify electrical and electronic components, including connectors, power electronics, vehicle controllers, embedded compute, and communication hardware, emphasizing reliability and field serviceability.
Establish and maintain electrical design standards, labeling conventions, and documentation practices for internal engineers and external field technicians.
Partner with software and autonomy teams on hardware bring-up, sensor calibration, and debugging issues at the hardware-software boundary.
Contribute to next-generation vehicle electrical architecture, including higher-voltage systems and advanced compute integration, from concept through production release.