Lead Electrical Engineer

Parallel Systems · Los Angeles · $161,000–$206,000 (stated in the posting)

Parallel Systems is pioneering autonomous battery-electric rail vehicles designed to transform freight transportation by shifting portions of the $900 billion U.S. trucking industry onto rail. Our innovative technology offers cleaner, safer, and more efficient logistics solutions. Join our dynamic team and help shape a smarter, greener future for global freight.

Parallel Systems is seeking a Lead Electrical Engineer to lead the design, development, integration, and validation of vehicle electrical systems for our production autonomous battery-electric rail vehicles. This role will provide technical direction for critical electrical architectures and subsystems, including power distribution, traction and braking interfaces, safety-critical control systems, wiring harnesses, and compute/sensor networks.

As the technical lead for vehicle electrical engineering, you will establish system architectures, drive critical design decisions, and oversee electrical system development from concept through production deployment. You will work closely with mechanical, software, autonomy, manufacturing, and external partners to ensure reliable integration across the vehicle while meeting performance, safety, reliability, and regulatory requirements.

The ideal candidate brings extensive experience developing complex electrical systems for automotive, rail, aerospace, or other vehicle-based applications. You are comfortable setting technical direction, resolving complex engineering challenges, establishing engineering standards, and balancing system-level ownership with hands-on design, testing, and integration in a fast-paced hardware development environment.

Responsibilities

Lead electrical system architecture and development: 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.
Establish technical direction: Define electrical system requirements, architecture standards, interface specifications, and design practices. Evaluate technical tradeoffs and drive decisions balancing performance, reliability, safety, cost, and manufacturability.
Lead safety-critical engineering: Oversee the development and documentation of safety-critical subsystems, including system hazard analyses, Design Failure Mode and Effects Analyses (DFMEAs), risk assessments, and verification and validation strategies.
Drive cross-functional integration: Lead electrical engineering alignment with mechanical, embedded software, controls, autonomy, and systems engineering teams to ensure seamless integration across vehicle subsystems and dependencies.
Guide design reviews and technical problem-solving: Lead electrical design reviews, identify technical risks, resolve complex system-level issues, and establish corrective actions through structured debugging and root-cause analysis.
Own validation and system reliability: Define and oversee hardware bring-up, bench testing, electrical system validation, prototype vehicle integration, fault isolation, and reliability testing.
Drive production readiness: 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.
Establish engineering processes and standards: Develop repeatable processes for electrical design, requirements traceability, configuration management, validation, and engineering change control.
Oversee engineering documentation: Ensure electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, bills of materials (BOMs), interface specifications, test reports, and engineering change documentation meet quality and traceability requirements.
Provide technical leadership and mentorship: Guide engineers through technical challenges, review designs, establish priorities, and promote consistent engineering practices. Help coordinate technical execution and align engineering deliverables with broader vehicle development milestones.
Manage technical risks and priorities: Identify critical-path electrical engineering risks, prioritize resources and technical activities, and communicate project status, dependencies, and tradeoffs to cross-functional stakeholders.

What Success Looks Like

30 Days: You've developed a strong understanding of existing vehicle electrical architectures, subsystem interfaces, and key technical risks. You're identifying architectural gaps, participating in safety and design reviews, and establishing priorities for electrical system development and improvement.
60 Days: You're driving the electrical engineering roadmap for a new or upgraded subsystem, aligning requirements and interfaces across disciplines, and establishing design, validation, and compliance strategies. You're guiding technical decisions and ensuring engineering activities align with vehicle development priorities.
90 Days: You've established or advanced a system-level electrical architecture, driven key design decisions, and led integration activities for a prototype or test vehicle. You're coordinating cross-functional execution, managing technical risks, and shaping the roadmap for future electrical system development, production readiness, and regulatory milestones.

Basic 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 stages of the product lifecycle, 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.

Preferred Qualifications

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.

We are committed to providing fair and transparent compensation in accordance with applicable laws. Salary ranges are listed below and reflect the expected range for new hires in this role, based on factors such as skills, experience, qualifications, and location. Final compensation may vary and will be determined during the interview process. The target hiring range for this position is listed below.

Target Salary Range:

$161,000—$206,000 USD

Parallel Systems is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any discriminatory factor protected by applicable federal, state or local laws. We work to build an inclusive environment in which all people can come to do their best work.

Parallel Systems is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, Parallel Systems will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact your recruiter.

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