User Experience Hardware Electrical Engineer

Our client, a leader in the autonomous vehicle and robotics industry, is looking for a skilled User Experience Hardware Electrical Engineer to join their team for a 6-month onsite contract in Foster City, CA. This project involves developing key human-machine interfaces (HMI) for a purpose-built, fully autonomous vehicle, including hardware for user authentication, ingress access, communication, and cabin/occupant monitoring. Collaborate with world-class engineers across AI, robotics, machine learning, and controls to rethink hardware design and make a high-impact contribution.

Responsibilities

• Hands-on issue resolution: investigate and resolve problems, drive design updates, and enable scale.
• Component development and supplier management: specify electrical component/system requirements, lead engineering discussions with external suppliers, conduct drawing reviews, validate requirements, and document change requests.
• Production coordination: manage supplier tooling and production to meet critical vehicle milestones.
• Cross-functional collaboration: work with mechanical, systems, firmware, and software teams, as well as system operators, to iterate on existing designs and develop future solutions.
• Root cause analysis and validation: conduct root cause analysis during development, validation, build, and deployment phases; support system and component-level validation test plans.
• Manufacturing support: collaborate with manufacturing and quality engineers to mature components and support vehicle build, bring-up, and test activities.

Requirements

• 5-10 years of experience in electrical component/system design and troubleshooting with a Bachelor's degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering (or equivalent).
• Experience taking a part or assembly from concept through production, working with external suppliers, and managing deliverables for multiple projects.
• Expertise in automotive (CAN bus, automotive Ethernet, A2B, and other automotive networks), aerospace, or safety-critical industry experience—this is not a learning role.
• Experience with on-board digital serial interfaces such as SPI, UART, I2C, and I2S.
• Experience with electrical and EMI/EMI testing.
• Strong communication skills for clear and concise status updates.
• Ability to travel within the Bay Area and internationally as required.

Bonus Qualifications

• Knowledge of automotive functional safety (ISO26262) standards.
• Firmware/software experience (managing/developing/testing) including functional knowledge of Python, C/C++, and other scripting languages.
• Experience with chassis and/or electromechanical systems.
• Experience with high-speed bus protocols such as PCIe, Display Port, and HDMI.
• Experience using Altium, 3DX, Catia V5/V6, or similar tools.

Pay

$85 - $90/hr (W2 only, no C2C or 1099 contractors).

Schedule

6-month contract starting 6/29, onsite in Foster City, CA.