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Lead Engineer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

AI Lead Engineer

Sunnyvale, CA · On-site

$53 - $53.57/hr

Immediate need for a talented AI Lead Engineer. This is a 06+months contract opportunity with long-term potential and is located in Sunnyvale CA(Onsite). Please review the below and contact me ASAP ...

AI Lead Engineer

Sunnyvale, CA · On-site

$120K - $158K/yr

Lead service rationalization and decomposition across complex enterprise ecosystems * Design and ... Proven ability to move between architecture design, hands-on coding, and leading engineering teams ...

The Affordability Program Lead Engineer partners with Chief Engineers, Program Managers, Supply Chain leadership, Operations, and Finance to ensure that affordability objectives, cost-awareness, and ...

The Affordability Program Lead Engineer partners with Chief Engineers, Program Managers, Supply Chain leadership, Operations, and Finance to ensure that affordability objectives, cost-awareness, and ...

The Lead Quality Engineer is responsible for leading quality engineering activities that ensure product conformity, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement across aerospace programs. This ...

The Lead Quality Engineer is responsible for leading quality engineering activities that ensure product conformity, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement across aerospace programs. This ...

Okta Lead Engineer

Oakland, CA · On-site

$117K - $155K/yr

Key Responsibilities: * Lead the transition of applications/services from Okta to a new IDP ... Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Technology or a closely ...

Performance lead Engineer Location: Menlo Park, CA ( Remote Till Covid) Type: Long term Contract /Skill Set:- * In depth experience in scripting and designing load scenarios using Load Runner, JMeter

We need a lead Firmware candidate who is strong in C,C++ coding. Should be able to clear the codility test. Requirements - Firmware Engineer Firmware configuration and maintenance for new product ...

Senior Lead Engineer, Software Date: Aug 4, 2026 Location: San Jose, CA, US General Overview Functional Area: Engineering Career Stream: Design - Software Engineering SAP Short Name: SLE-ENG-DSE Job ...

Union Lead Engineer

Los Angeles, CA · On-site

$110K - $145K/yr

The negotiated rate for the Union Lead Building Engineer position is $60 hourly. Please refer to the Collective Bargaining Agreement regarding pay scale. Equal Employment Opportunity: CBRE has a long ...

Comms Avionics Lead Engineer

Saratoga, CA · On-site

$150K - $220K/yr

The Comms Avionics Lead Engineer will lead the development and test of RF hardware for E-Space satellite communications equipment. The ideal candidate has 15+ years of experience in RF electrical ...

Showing results 41-60

Lead Engineer information

See California salary details

$41.9K

$122.2K

$178.1K

How much do lead engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 22, 2026, the average yearly pay for lead engineer in California is $122,163.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $101,200.00 and $133,200.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a lead engineer?

A lead engineer oversees a team of engineers who work on maintaining and streamlining corporate projects. In this job, your primary duties and focus is on the equipment, technology, and infrastructure that make up the company’s operating system. Educational qualifications include a bachelor’s degree in engineering and specialization in the company’s industry. You hone your skills as a junior engineer before gaining enough experience to advance your career to a lead engineer position.

What does a lead engineer do?

A Lead Engineer is responsible for overseeing technical projects, guiding engineering teams, and ensuring that design and development processes meet organizational goals. They serve as both a technical expert and a team leader, providing mentorship, setting project timelines, and coordinating with other departments. Lead Engineers often participate in decision-making, problem-solving, and quality assurance to deliver successful engineering outcomes.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a lead engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Lead Engineer, you need deep technical expertise in engineering principles, project management experience, and typically a bachelor's or master's degree in a relevant field. Familiarity with industry-standard design tools, version control systems, and certifications like PMP or Six Sigma are often required. Strong leadership, problem-solving, and communication skills distinguish top performers in this role. These skills ensure effective project delivery, team coordination, and technical excellence in complex engineering environments.

What are some common challenges lead engineers face when managing cross-functional teams?

Lead Engineers often face the challenge of aligning technical teams with stakeholders from other departments, such as product management or quality assurance. Balancing project deadlines with technical excellence can require strong communication and negotiation skills. It's also common to encounter differences in priorities or technical understanding, so building consensus and fostering collaboration are key. Adapting to shifting project requirements while maintaining team morale is another important aspect of the role.

What job categories do people searching Lead Engineer jobs in California look for?

The top searched job categories for Lead Engineer jobs in California are:

What cities in California are hiring for Lead Engineer jobs?

Cities in California with the most Lead Engineer job openings:

What are popular job titles related to Lead Engineer jobs in CA?

For Lead Engineer jobs in CA, the most frequently searched job titles are:

Infographic showing various Lead Engineer job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 91% Full Time, 7% Part Time, and 2% Contract. Highlights an 89% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 8% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $122,163 per year, or $58.7 per hour.

Full-time

Posted 18 days ago


Celestica rating

8.8

Company rating: 8.8 out of 10

Based on 8 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

14th of 159 rated electronics manufacturers


Job description

Req ID: 139141 
Region: Americas 
Country: USA 
State/Province: California 
City:  San Jose 

General Overview

Functional Area:  Engineering        
Career Stream:  Design - Software Engineering
SAP Short Name:  SLE-ENG-DSE
Job Level:  Level 09
IC/MGR:  Individual Contributor        
Direct/Indirect Indicator:  Indirect

Summary

The Senior Lead Engineer, Software develops, debugs, tests, deploys and supports code to be deployed in systems/products/equipment for various applications. They write, debug, maintain, and test software in various common languages and for software at various levels in the hierarchy (from Firmware to Application). Software creation follows an agreed to development process (such as Agile, Scrum, etc.) and complies with the product life cycle development (phase/gate deliverables).

The Senior Lead Engineer, Software works in cross functional teams with other designers, customers, manufacturing engineering and project leadership to ensure robust and high quality product development. Enhance designs with feedback from reviews in areas such as manufacturing, test, supply chain, reliability, industrial design and simulations.

In this role, the Senior Lead Engineer leads OpenBMC platform management software development for Celestica's high-performance networking and compute platforms. Working upstream-first on the Linux Foundation OpenBMC codebase, the engineer delivers Redfish-based remote management, platform bring-up, telemetry, thermal control, and firmware update capabilities in close partnership with hardware, manufacturing, and customer teams. Deep understanding of embedded Linux and Yocto.

Detailed Description

Performs tasks such as, but not limited to, the following:

  • Lead the design, development and implementation of technical solutions for OpenBMC-based platform management. Participate in project planning and scheduling.

  • Provide technical leadership and direction to a team of engineers. May be a recognized expert (go-to person) in OpenBMC or other platform technical areas.

  • Own platform enablement on the Linux Foundation OpenBMC stack, including Yocto meta-layers, U-Boot and kernel porting, device tree, and flash layout, following an upstream-first development model.

  • Develop and maintain remote management interfaces, with Redfish as the primary API, and supporting debug interfaces such as SSH.

  • Develop platform management capabilities across power control, FRU inventory, sensor telemetry, thermal and fan control, and event logging.

  • Deliver firmware update flows (BMC, BIOS, CPLD, VR, and related components) with versioning, verification, and event logging.

  • Implement management features for security, reset and recovery, health monitoring, and diagnostics.

  • Review, interpret and may negotiate customer requirements/specifications, provide customer feedback, and ensure quality of deliverables.

  • Work closely with hardware engineers on board bring-up and with manufacturing teams to support product qualification.

  • Analyze, design and develop tests and test-automation suites, leveraging the upstream openbmc-test-automation framework for Redfish-based regression testing.

  • Proactively promote and apply industry best practices, and provide recommendations for continuous improvement.

#HPS-NA 

Knowledge/Skills/Competencies
  • Hands-on experience developing OpenBMC or comparable BMC/platform management firmware.

  • Experience with the Linux Foundation OpenBMC ecosystem: Yocto/BitBake, U-Boot, Linux kernel, and device tree, with an upstream-first contribution model.

  • Working knowledge of Redfish, and platform management concepts such as sensors, FRU inventory, thermal/fan control, power control, and firmware update.

  • Strong programming skills in C/C++ and Python; comfortable with shell and Git.

  • Experience in software design under Linux and familiarity with Linux kernel driver interaction over common buses (I2C, SPI, GPIO, etc.).

  • Understanding of platform security concepts such as verified boot and redundant/failover flash layouts is a plus.

  • Outstanding software debugging skills; experience with board bring-up and hardware test equipment is a plus.

  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills; strong interpersonal, multitasking, and organizational skills.

  • Project Management - Ability to manage/lead complex, multiple line engineering projects that may also involve other functions. Demonstrate solid understanding of the technical, financial and people aspects of the project. Able to create a project/change management plan and ensure that the project is delivered within the assigned time and budget. Ability to recognize project barriers and develop mitigation plans 

  • Leadership - Demonstrate "People & Team Leadership Behaviors" as per Celestica Leadership Imperatives.

Physical Demands
  • Duties of this position are performed in a normal office environment.
  • Duties may require extended periods of sitting and sustained visual concentration on a computer monitor or on numbers and other detailed data. 
  • Repetitive manual movements (e.g., data entry, using a computer mouse, using a calculator, etc.) are frequently required.
  • Occasional travel may be required.
Typical Experience
  • 6 to 12 years
Typical Education

Bachelor degree or consideration of an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Educational Requirements may vary by Geography

Salary Range

The salary range described in this posting is an estimate by the Company, and may change based on several factors, including by not limited to a change in the duties covered by the job posting, or the credentials, experience or geographic jurisdiction of the successful candidate. 

Notes

This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities of the position. Employees are held accountable for all duties of the job. Job duties and the % of time identified for any function are subject to change at any time.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.
Celestica's policy on equal employment opportunity prohibits discrimination based on race, color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran or disability status, or other characteristics protected by law. 
This policy applies to hiring, promotion, discharge, pay, fringe benefits, job training, classification, referral and other aspects of employment and also states that retaliation against a person who files a charge of discrimination, participates in a discrimination proceeding, or otherwise opposes an unlawful employment practice will not be tolerated. All information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

COMPANY OVERVIEW:
Celestica (NYSE, TSX: CLS) enables the world's best brands. Through our recognized customer-centric approach, we partner with leading companies in Aerospace and Defense, Communications, Enterprise, HealthTech, Industrial, Capital Equipment and Energy to deliver solutions for their most complex challenges. As a leader in design, manufacturing, hardware platform and supply chain solutions, Celestica brings global expertise and insight at every stage of product development - from drawing board to full-scale production and after-market services for products from advanced medical devices, to highly engineered aviation systems, to next-generation hardware platform solutions for the Cloud. Headquartered in Toronto, with talented teams spanning 40+ locations in 13 countries across the Americas, Europe and Asia, we imagine, develop and deliver a better future with our customers.

Celestica would like to thank all applicants, however, only qualified applicants will be contacted.
Celestica does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruitment agencies or fee based recruitment services.

This location is a US ITAR facility and these positions will involve the release of export controlled goods either directly to employees or through the employee's movement within the facility. As such, Celestica will require necessary information from all applicants upon an applicant's acceptance of employment to determine if any export control exemptions or licenses must be filed.


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