Staff Battery Electrical Engineer
Hybrid contract at Mountain View, CA (3 days/week onsite)
12+ Months Contract to Hire
We are seeking a Staff Electrical Design Engineer to serve as a primary technical authority for our high-voltage (HV) battery systems and power distribution architectures. In this role, you will lead the electrical development of safety-critical propulsion systems for our eVTOL aircraft, bridging the gap between cell-level energy storage and aircraft-level power conversion.
As a Staff Electrical Design Engineer, you will focus on the design, analysis, and integration of HV components, ensuring the electrical system is optimized for high power density, EMI/EMC compliance, and rigorous aerospace safety standards. You will be a key contributor to the Energy Storage and Power Systems (ESPS) team, driving the electrical architecture from conceptual trade studies to flight-certified hardware.
In This Role, You Will...
- Architect HV Power Systems: Define and design the high-voltage distribution architecture, including busbars, wiring harnesses, contactors, fuses, and power electronics interfaces.
- Design Battery Electrical Systems: Lead the electrical design of battery modules and packs, focusing on sensing (voltage/temperature), cell balancing circuits, and high-current interconnects.
- Design Battery Charging Systems. Lead the development of on-board and off-board charging systems, ensuring compatibility with high-power standards such as CCS, MCS and NACS.
- Execute Electrical Analysis: Perform detailed electrical modeling and simulation, including power budget analysis, voltage drop calculations, fault current modeling, and thermal-electrical co-simulation.
- Manage EMI/EMC & Shielding: Define grounding and shielding strategies to ensure system compatibility and compliance with aerospace electromagnetic interference standards (e.g., DO-160).
- Drive HV Safety & Protection: Design isolation monitoring, interlock circuits (HVIL), and circuit protection schemes to ensure operator safety and system resilience during fault conditions.
- Lead Validation & Testing: Design and oversee electrical verification plans, including high-current characterization, insulation resistance testing, and dielectric withstand (HiPot) validation.
What You Will Do
- Technical Lead for HV Systems: Serve as the subject matter expert for electrical physics, providing guidance on component selection (e.g., MOSFETs, IGBTs, contactors) and high-power PCB layouts.
- System-Level Optimization: Conduct trade studies to balance electrical efficiency against mass, volume, and thermal constraints in the propulsion string.
- Supplier Engagement: Draft technical specifications and Statements of Work (SOW) for HV components and sub-assemblies, managing technical deliverables from strategic partners.
- Failure Mode Analysis: Lead electrical Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) to identify and mitigate risks such as short circuits, arc flashes, or insulation breakdown.
- Certification Support: Author technical reports and design descriptions to demonstrate compliance with aviation safety standards (ARP 4754, DO-311A, DO-160, ARP 4761).
Requirements
- Education: B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering or a related field.
- Experience: 8+ years of experience in electrical design, specifically with high-voltage (>400V) systems in aerospace, EV propulsion, or heavy transportation.
- General Electrical Mastery:
- HV Design: Deep expertise in high-power distribution, busbar design, and creepage/clearance requirements for high-altitude environments.
- Analysis Tools: Proficiency in SPICE (LTspice/PSpice), MATLAB/Simulink, or equivalent tools for transient and steady-state electrical simulation.
- Sensing & Control: Experience with Battery Management System (BMS) hardware, including precision voltage/current sensing and isolation circuits.
- Battery Specifics: Applied knowledge of lithium-ion cell electrical behavior, state-of-charge (SoC) estimation hardware, and cell-balancing architectures.
- Design Tools: Proficiency in ECAD tools (Altium, Mentor Graphics, or Zuken) and familiarity with MCAD (NX/SolidWorks) for harness and busbar integration.
- Regulatory Awareness: Strong familiarity with aerospace environmental and safety standards (DO-160G, DO-311A).
Communication: Ability to distill complex electrical architectures into clear requirements for software, mechanical, and systems engineering teams.
