Electrical Engineer, Autonomous Vehicles (Federal)

FieldAI’s Irvine team is where embodied AI meets real robots, real sensors, and real field deployments. Based in the heart of Southern California’s robotics ecosystem, we build risk-aware, reliable, field-ready AI systems that solve the hardest problems in robotics and unlock the full potential of embodied intelligence. If you want your work to ship, get tested on hardware, and improve through real deployments, Irvine is the place. We go beyond typical data-driven approaches or pure transformer-only architectures, combining rigorous engineering with learning systems proven in globally deployed solutions that deliver results today and get better every time our robots run in the field.

About the Job At FieldAI, we build autonomous robotic systems that operate in demanding, real-world environments where tight integration between hardware and software is critical. We’re looking for an Electrical Engineer to support system and component level design, integration, and validation for sensing systems on wheeled robotic platforms across both federal and commercial programs Electrical Systems Role: As an Electrical Engineer on the Federal Team at FieldAI, you will contribute to the design and implementation of electrical systems that enable power and communications across the sense and compute packages. Your work will span across power systems, wire harnesses, PCB design, and communications networks with the goal of ensuring our systems are electrically robust, safe, and scalable. Responsibilities may span the full lifecycle from electrical CAD through production to field support. You will collaborate closely with the mechanical, sensor, and compute teams to build tightly integrated solutions ready for deployment in challenging field environments. Additionally, while your focus will be on electrical systems you will likely contribute across all hardware domains.

What You Will Get To Do

1. Electrical System Design

Power Architecture: Design regulated power systems including voltage rails, DC/DC converters, switches, fuses, and grounding schemes.

Wire Harness Design: Design and document robust wire harnesses for power and data lines, including shielding, strain relief, and standard connectors.

PCB Design: Create PCBs for power distribution, protocol bridging, and embedded control.

Networking & Communication: Architect wired and wireless communication systems (Ethernet, USB, CAN, I2C, WiFi, 5G).

Budgets & Tolerances: Maintain system-level power and bandwidth budgets. Ensure electrical tolerance to noise, EMI, and vibration.

2. Electrical System Implementation

CAD & Schematics: Create PCB schematics, harness diagrams, pinouts, and complete PCB BOMs using tools like KiCAD or Altium.

Calculations: Conduct electrical calculations including current draw, peak power, signal integrity, and fault analysis.

Design for Field Conditions: Engineer for EMI/EMC robustness, thermal resilience, and fault isolation under field operating conditions.

Testing: Conduct power validation (noise, load, transients), communication tests (bandwidth, latency), and EMI evaluation.

Integration: Collaborate with sensor, compute, and mechanical teams to ensure end-to-end system compatibility and robustness.

Documentation & Budgets: Maintain PCB schematics and systems level wiring diagrams. Manage system-level power and data bandwidth budgets.

3. Electrical System Production & Servicing

Build: Work with vendors and contract manufacturers to procure PCBs and harnesses. Develop QA checks for incoming units.

Debug: Investigate system faults using logs, oscilloscopes, analyzers, and power monitors.

Support: Provide hands-on support during integration, deployment, and servicing in the field.

What You Have

Education: B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Robotics, or a related field.

Experience Level: We are recruiting across a wide range of experience levels from entry level engineers to senior and staff engineers.

Power Systems: Experience designing and testing low-voltage regulated power systems.

Harnessing: Hands-on design and integration of custom wire harnesses for robotics or automotive-style systems.

PCB Design: Proficiency in PCB schematic and layout using KiCAD, Altium, or equivalent tools.

Communication Protocols: Familiarity with USB, Ethernet, CAN, I2C, GMSL, and wireless technologies.

Testing & Debugging: Skills using electrical test tools including oscilloscopes, power analyzers, and EMI/EMC setups.

Documentation: Ability to produce detailed electrical documentation for design, manufacturing, and servicing.

Systems Thinking: Experience working across mechanical, compute, and autonomy teams to deliver robust integrated systems.

Cross Functional Robotic Skills: Ability to contribute electrical, sensing, and embedded computing work to deliver robust integrated systems.

What Will Set You Apart

Scaling: Experience taking systems from prototype to large scale production.

Field Environments : Experience developing systems for harsh field environments.

Deployed Robotics: Experience working on robotics deployed in real world settings such as autonomous vehicles, drones, or ruggedized robots.

Systems Level Robotics: Fluency across electrical, mechanical, and software systems.

Reliability Engineering: Background in fault protection, EMI/EMC compliance, and safety-critical design.

Our salary range is generous and we consider each individual’s background and experience when determining final compensation. Base pay may vary based on role scope, job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and the Irvine, California market.

Why Join FieldAI in Irvine? In Irvine, you will work where the robots are. Our local team builds and tests systems on real hardware with real sensors, then ships them to operate in unstructured, previously unknown environments around the world. We are solving one of robotics’ hardest challenges: reliable deployment outside the lab. Our Field Foundational Models™ raise the bar for perception, planning, localization, and manipulation, with an emphasis on explainability and safety for real-world use. You will collaborate with a world-class team that thrives on creativity, resilience, and bold thinking. We bring deep experience from organizations such as DeepMind, NASA JPL, Boston Dynamics, NVIDIA, Amazon, Tesla Autopilot, Cruise, Zoox, Toyota Research Institute, and SpaceX, along with a track record of field deployments and strong performance in DARPA challenge segments.

Be Part of the Next Robotics Revolution We are looking for builders who want their work to leave the whiteboard and show up on robots. If you enjoy tackling tough, uncharted questions and working across disciplines, you will find your people here. Our teams span AI, software, robotics engineering, product, field deployment, and technical communication, all focused on shipping systems that perform in the real world.

Our headquarters is in Irvine, and we partner closely with teams there as well as colleagues across the US and around the world. Join us in Southern California and help define what dependable, field-ready autonomy looks like.

We value diverse perspectives and are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace. We evaluate candidates and employees based on merit, qualifications, and performance, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, or any other legally protected status.