Lead Electrical Engineer

The posting, as Parallel Systems wrote it

Parallel Systems is pioneering autonomous battery-electric rail vehicles designed to transform freight transportation by shifting portions of the $900 billion U.S. trucking industry onto rail. Our innovative technology offers cleaner, safer, and more efficient logistics solutions. Join our dynamic team and help shape a smarter, greener future for global freight.

Parallel Systems is seeking a Lead Electrical Engineer to lead the design, development, integration, and validation of vehicle electrical systems for our production autonomous battery-electric rail vehicles. This role will provide technical direction for critical electrical architectures and subsystems, including power distribution, traction and braking interfaces, safety-critical control systems, wiring harnesses, and compute/sensor networks.

As the technical lead for vehicle electrical engineering, you will establish system architectures, drive critical design decisions, and oversee electrical system development from concept through production deployment. You will work closely with mechanical, software, autonomy, manufacturing, and external partners to ensure reliable integration across the vehicle while meeting performance, safety, reliability, and regulatory requirements.

The ideal candidate brings extensive experience developing complex electrical systems for automotive, rail, aerospace, or other vehicle-based applications. You are comfortable setting technical direction, resolving complex engineering challenges, establishing engineering standards, and balancing system-level ownership with hands-on design, testing, and integration in a fast-paced hardware development environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead electrical system architecture and development: Own the technical direction, architecture, design, development, integration, and validation of vehicle electrical systems, including power distribution, wiring harnesses, commercial-off-the-shelf hardware, and electrical test infrastructure.
• Establish technical direction: Define electrical system requirements, architecture standards, interface specifications, and design practices. Evaluate technical tradeoffs and drive decisions balancing performance, reliability, safety, cost, and manufacturability.
• Lead safety-critical engineering: Oversee the development and documentation of safety-critical subsystems, including system hazard analyses, Design Failure Mode and Effects Analyses (DFMEAs), risk assessments, and verification and validation strategies.
• Drive cross-functional integration: Lead electrical engineering alignment with mechanical, embedded software, controls, autonomy, and systems engineering teams to ensure seamless integration across vehicle subsystems and dependencies.
• Guide design reviews and technical problem-solving: Lead electrical design reviews, identify technical risks, resolve complex system-level issues, and establish corrective actions through structured debugging and root-cause analysis.
• Own

[…]
g harnesses and electrical assemblies.

• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop testing, automated test systems, data acquisition, or electrical test stand development.
• Programming or scripting experience in Python, C/C++, Rust, or similar languages for test automation, diagnostics, or hardware integration.
• Experience supporting contract manufacturers, supplier qualification, design-for-manufacturing, and production ramp-up.
• Experience mentoring engineers, leading design reviews, establishing engineering standards, and coordinating technical execution across multiple disciplines.
• Evidence of exceptional technical ability through shipped products, complex system deployments, patents, technical projects, or a portfolio of engineering work.

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

$161,000 — $206,000 USD

Parallel Systems is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any discriminatory factor protected by applicable federal, state or local laws. We work to build an inclusive environment in which all people can come to do their best work.

Parallel Systems is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, Parallel Systems will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact your recruiter.