Electrical Engineer - Vehicle Systems

About the role

Parallel Systems is seeking an Electrical Engineer to own the design and development of vehicle electrical systems for our production autonomous battery-electric rail vehicles. This role focuses on vehicle electronics, including power distribution, traction & braking systems, safety-critical control logic, and compute/sensor networks. You'll serve as the responsible engineer of high-reliability electrical systems that are tightly integrated with mechanical, software, and autonomy components and subject to regulatory oversight.

The ideal candidate brings automotive or vehicle experience, is eager to work on regulated, safety-critical systems, and thrives in cross-functional environments.

This position requires up to 25% travel to our contract manufacturer and customer sites.:

Responsibilities

• Own the design & development of vehicle electrical systems, including wiring harnesses, commercial-off-the-shelf hardware, and test stands
• Drive the development and documentation of safety-critical subsystems, including DFMEAs, system hazard analyses, and verification & validation
• Perform hands-on hardware bring-up, bench testing, and debugging of electrical assemblies and prototype vehicles
• Lead end-to-end system integration with full lifecycle ownership, interface management, and cross-functional alignment to ensure the system works with all software and mechanical dependencies
• Maintain accurate engineering documentation including schematics, BOMs, test reports, and change logs

What Success Looks Like

• 30 Days: You've built a strong understanding of the vehicle architecture, taken ownership of a subsystem, and are leading a concept review with the broader engineering organization
• 60 Days: You're hands-on in your subsystem, driving progress. Testing and validation is fully defined and first articles are running in the lab
• 90 Days: You've completed initial design validation and are working with the manufacturing engineering team to bring your subsystem into production

Basic Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or related discipline
• 3+ years experience with power distribution, control logic, or embedded communication protocols (e.g., CAN, Ethernet, SPI)
• Comfortable working from first principles to analyze, troubleshoot, and validate system performance
• Experience with CAD and design tools such as SolidWorks, Altium, RapidHarness, or similar

Preferred Qualifications

• Evidence of exceptional ability (prior projects, portfolio of work, completed products, etc)
• Full lifecycle experience with electrical systems in automotive, rail, aerospace, or heavy industry
• Programming experience with Python, Rust, or C/C++
• Working knowledge of ISO 26262, ASIL, IEC 61508, or other functional safety frameworks
• Hands-on experience designing, prototyping, integrating, and testing complex harnessing

Pay and benefits

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

$137,000—$157,000 USD