Senior Electrical Harness Engineer at Zoox (Foster City, CA)
Zoox· Foster City, CA· $185k–$222k·
Role details
Job description
As a Senior Electrical Low Voltage Design Engineer at Zoox, you will own the design and integration of wire harnesses that connect the controllers, sensors, and subsystems of our autonomous vehicles. Working within the Electrical Systems Team, you will take harnesses from concept through prototype builds and production launch, defining routing and 3D packaging, releasing 2D manufacturing drawings, and working directly with suppliers and the assembly plant. This is a hands-on role for an engineer who owns outcomes, works independently with suppliers, troubleshoots on the shop floor and inside prototype vehicles, and drives continuous improvement in how our harness team works.
In this role, you will:
- Own assigned harness families end to end, from concept through drawing release, prototype builds, and production launch.
- Define and own harness routing and 3D packaging in CATIA V5/V6, optimizing for mass, cost, packaging space, serviceability, and assembly.
- Create and release 2D harness manufacturing drawings and wire lists in Capital Harness (Siemens); read and understand electrical schematics and provide feedback to the electrical architecture team.
- Select clips, connectors, terminals, seals, and wire; size circuits for power consumption, voltage drop, and fuse protection; define electrical interfaces and endpoints with connected devices.
- Resolve technical issues including EMI, thermal protection, chafe/abrasion, mechanical strain, and environmental sealing; define protection, retention, and clipping strategies.
- Lead packaging and design reviews, develop and execute Design Verification, DFM, and contribute to DFMEA.
- Work directly and independently with harness suppliers from prototype development through design reviews, production readiness, and change implementation.
- Support early prototype and pilot builds at the assembly plant, troubleshooting build and vehicle issues and driving manufacturing integration fixes.
- Collaborate with electrical architecture, mechanical/packaging, manufacturing, and quality teams to align harness design with vehicle requirements.
- Develop and improve engineering processes for device transmittals, schematics, and 3D harness routing, along with design guidelines, best practices, and component libraries.
Qualifications
- Masters’s degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronics, or Electromechanical Engineering,
- 8+ years of wire harness / EDS design experience, preferably in the automotive industry (aerospace, heavy truck, or similar also considered), with a demonstrable work history
- Proficiency in 3D CAD for harness routing and packaging, preferably CATIA V5 or V6 (3DEXPERIENCE)
- Experience with 2D harness design software, preferably Siemens Capital Harness
- Ability to translate electrical schematics into 2D manufacturing drawings and 3D harness routing, including connector and terminal selection, wire sizing, power consumption, and electrical interfaces
- Experience with selection and validation of the harness components (clips, wires, terminals, seal, etc.)
- Working knowledge of automotive EE communication (CAN, LIN) and low-voltage power distribution architectures
- Hands-on experience supporting vehicle development and industrialization, from prototype through production launch
- Experience working directly with harness suppliers on design reviews and production readiness
Bonus Qualifications
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- Experience launching a mass-production vehicle program through Start of Production
- Familiarity with LV and HV connection systems, seals, and terminal retention mechanisms for electric vehicles
- Design of harness brackets, clips, and protection hardware in plastic and sheet metal, with DFM knowledge (injection molding, stamping)
- Experience with DFMEA, and cost/reliability trade-off analysis
- Understanding of signal integrity (SI), EMC/EMI, grounding, and shielding principles
- Experience with high-speed automotive communication harnesses (Automotive Ethernet, GMSL, A2B, CAN)
- Experience with Capital/Mentor Graphics Topology and HarnessXC bridging
- Hands-on use of harness test equipment (continuity testers, multimeters, oscilloscopes) and prototype vehicle instrumentation
- Familiarity with Jira and Confluence in an iterative development environment
Why work at Zoox
- Culture: Diverse, supportive community with inclusion‑focused strategy. Crew‑led groups for personal and professional development. Emphasis on trust, humility, and openness zoox.com/careers
- Work environment: Hybrid? The careers page lists many roles as “On‑site” in Foster City, CA, with other office locations available. In‑office perks include a famous food program with daily changing local and sustainable dishes, plus a busy calendar of events and sports teams.
- Benefits: Comprehensive health plans (Cigna), mental health support, wellbeing program, flexible time off, generous family planning and caregiver support, and a commitment to work‑life balance.
- Growth opportunities: Work on cutting‑edge autonomous vehicle technology alongside some of the brightest minds in AI, engineering, computer vision, and more. Offers internships and re‑entry programs (via Path Forward) for career returners.
- Recruitment process: Uses AI tools to assist in reviewing applications but final decisions are human. No fees are charged at any stage – watch for recruitment scams zoox.com/journal/landing-a-job-zoox