Staff or Chief Electrical Engineer

Hello
- Our North San Diego client is very actively searching for a Chief or Staff level Electrical Engineer to be the final technical authority on LV/HV electrical decisions.

We are seeking an experienced Staff or Chief Electrical Engineer to own the design and delivery of production-ready low-voltage (LV) and high-voltage (HV) electrical systems for a startup environment. This is a senior individual contributor role requiring exceptional expertise in circuit and schematic design
, disciplined component selection
, and the ability to troubleshoot complex issues at both the board and system levels
.

The ideal candidate combines deep hands-on engineering skill with sound judgment, design rigor, and the ability to influence technical direction across teams.

This role is explicitly focused on designing for production
. Our prototyping phase is complete; candidates must have experience delivering robust, manufacturable designs suitable for scale, reliability, and long-term support.

• Architect and own integrated LV and HV electrical systems from requirements definition through production release.
• Define system-level electrical architectures, including isolation boundaries, grounding strategies, safety partitioning, and interfaces.
• Make and document technical tradeoffs balancing performance, reliability, cost, manufacturability, testability, and supply-chain risk.
• Take end-to-end ownership of electrical design quality within assigned subsystems or across the full system.

• Design, review, and maintain production-quality electrical schematics using Altium Designer
  .
• Develop and own circuits covering:
• HV and LV power generation, conversion, and distribution
• Regulation, sensing, control, and protection
• Isolation and safety-critical functions
• Perform rigorous circuit analysis including worst-case conditions, transient behavior, fault scenarios, startup/shutdown behavior, and tolerance stack-ups.
• Ensure schematics clearly convey design intent and support long-term maintenance, revision control, and knowledge transfer.

• Lead component selection with clear ownership and accountability.
• Select components based on:
• Electrical and thermal margins and derating
• Reliability and lifetime expectations
• Proven field performance where applicable
• Supply-chain availability, alternates, and obsolescence risk
• Cost sensitivity appropriate to a startup environment
• Select HV-rated components with appropriate creepage, clearance, isolation ratings, and certifications.
• Design circuits explicitly for DFM, DFA, and in-production testability
  .
• Support BOM reviews, component qualification, and controlled design changes.

• Design HV systems including insulation strategies, creepage/clearance, grounding, discharge paths, and safety interlocks.
• Implement HV fault detection, arc-energy mitigation, and controlled energy discharge strategies.
• Ensure compliance with applicable safety and regulatory requirements.

• Design LV circuitry including power management, control electronics, interfaces, signal conditioning, and communications.
• Manage LV/HV interactions to prevent noise coupling, ground loops, and safety risks.
• Ensure robust EMC/ESD performance suitable for real-world deployment.
• Lead board-level and system-level troubleshooting across development, validation, and production.
• Diagnose electrical failures related to components, tolerances, layout interactions, or system-level behavior.
• Drive root-cause analysis and implement corrective actions, including schematic, component, or architectural updates.
• Partner with manufacturing, test, and quality teams to resolve production and field issues.

• Work closely with mechanical, firmware, systems, safety, manufacturing, and operations teams in a fast-moving startup environment.
• Engage directly with suppliers to resolve technical issues and qualify components.
• Balance engineering rigor with execution speed and…