Director Electronic Design Engineer Jobs in California

About the Role

Chariot Defense is seeking a highly motivated and skilled Electronic Design Engineer to join our engineering team, reporting to the Head of Electrical Engineering. In this role, you will conceptualize, design, develop, and test advanced energy storage and power electronic systems. You will work across multidisciplinary engineering and design teams to ensure our systems meet stringent MIL-STD performance, reliability, and security requirements for deployment in demanding environments, performing critical missions.

Key Responsibilities

• Design & Development: Create schematics, layouts, and circuit designs for low- and high-voltage power electronics systems coupled with advanced energy storage, management, and safety systems, optimizing for stable circuit dynamics, power efficiency, latency, electrical safety and system protection, and abuse loading cases, to name a few.

• Testing & Validation: Perform circuit simulations, bench testing, and system-level validation to ensure compliance with military and industry standards.

• System Integration: Collaborate with mechanical, thermal, software, and systems engineers to integrate electronics into cohesive and elegant products, carry out electrical and system integration, and manage tight coupling between electrical IO's and firmware behavior.

• Reliability Engineering: Apply design-for-reliability practices, including EMI/EMC mitigation, ruggedization for harsh environments, and thermal management.

• Documentation & Compliance: Generate technical reports, test plans, and ensure adherence to MIL-STD and other defense specifications.

• Lifecycle Support: Provide engineering support throughout the product lifecycle, from concept through field deployment and sustainment.

What We're Looking For

• Top-notch engineering intuition and first principles thinking toward designing complex products that function seamlessly for your customer, taking both an engineering/ technical, and product/ customer approach, to strike the optimal balance.

• Able to independently identify critical information or priority gaps and apply effort toward closing those gaps.

• Undaunted by imperfect, incomplete or absent datasets or information, and capable of making sound, comprehensive, and swift first-principled decisions to achieve a product end-state that meets and/or exceeds the need of the hour.

• Not satisfied by superficial explanations of a problem or "band-aid engineering"; seeks persistently to find the specific root cause through data-driven methods, and resolve failures or recurring issues, so they can be mitigated to prevent future such instances.

• Gratified by helping your peers succeed, building a robust team culture.
  
• Seeks to break down information silos by collaborating rigorously with others to solve problems, share knowledge, and provide input.

Qualifications Required:

• BS or MS in Electrical Engineering, or related degree.
• 3+ years of experience in end-to-end circuit design, component selection and specification, electrical architecture trade-offs, ASIL redundancy/ functional safety, embedded systems troubleshooting, and electronics testing.
• Proficiency with CAD tools (preferred, Altium), simulation software (preferred, MATLAB/Simulink/Spice)
• Competence with test equipment such as oscilloscopes, function generators, low and high voltage programmable power supplies, spectral, logic, and impedance analyzers, debuggers, voltage probes, current clamps, and automation of tests, reflow techniques, soldering, connector selection and integration etc.
• Fluent in CAN BUS protocols (preferred, J1939, CANOPEN) and other low-voltage networking protocols.
• Familiarity with MIL-STD, DO-160, or other automotive, defense, and aerospace standards.
• Strong problem-solving and troubleshooting skills.

Preferred:

• Experience designing and working directly with low and high voltage energy storage systems, high current/ high voltage power distribution, and voltage regulating power electronics.
• Experience with advanced circuit modeling tools such as LTSpice and multiphysics systems such as Comsol, and familiarity with common and less frequent complex circuit dynamics (e.g.: oscillations, ringing, ground bounce etc.)
• Experience designing, and debugging, various end-point nodes on an electrical grid such as motors, sensors, resistors, other inductive/ capacitive/ resistive loads
• Experience designing low-side and high-side circuit switches, half and full bridges, advanced noise filters and power stabilizers, fly back diode circuits, passive and active discharge systems etc.
• Experience with critical managing radiated emissions for minimizing any RF signatures, and designing for immunity from external RF spectra, and some exposure to broadband amplifiers, antennas, near-field probes etc.
• Experience in industries/applications requiring high-reliability embedded power electronics operated in austere environments.
• Familiar with U.S. and NATO operational requirements, particularly the Tactical Microgrid Standard.

Role Requirements

• This position is an onsite role based in Chariot Defense's San Bruno, CA, office.

• Willingness to support 10% travel, domestically and internationally, as well as work extended and weekend hours, when necessary

• Able to work on your feet for extended periods in a shop setting.

• Able to lift and carry 50lbs.

A reasonable estimate of the current salary range is $130,000-$180,000 annually. Compensation packages also include early-stage equity and access to company-sponsored benefit plans.