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Electrical Engineering Lead

Merlin Labs
Boston, USA
Full-time
Senior Level
Onsite
USD 165000-215000 yearly
Discovered 1 months ago

Full Job Posting

  • Lead, mentor, and grow a team of electrical engineers responsible for the electrical architecture of our aircraft autonomy system, including power distribution, communications, computing, electro-mechanical systems, control systems, and user interfaces.
  • Own technical planning and execution for the electrical engineering function: define priorities, allocate resources, manage schedules, and balance competing demands across aircraft programs.
  • Establish and continuously improve engineering processes, design standards, and review practices to ensure robust, certifiable designs delivered on agile timelines.
  • Guide architectural decisions and design trade studies, providing technical oversight for the integration and verification of Commercial/Modified-Off-the-Shelf (COTS/MOTS) electronic subsystems.
  • Review and approve electrical design and fabrication drawings, test plans and reports, and associated aircraft installation and certification documents.
  • Partner with cross-functional leaders in software, systems, mechanical, certification, and flight test to align electrical engineering deliverables with program milestones.
  • Recruit, hire, and onboard electrical engineers; conduct performance reviews, support career development, and foster an inclusive, high-performing team culture.
  • Serve as the escalation point for technical issues in lab, field, and aircraft settings, and coordinate support for installation technicians.
  • Act as the senior technical lead for the electrical discipline: personally own complex or highest-risk design problems, including power distribution architecture, signal integrity, and EMI/EMC challenges.
  • Contribute hands-on to design work as needed — creating and releasing schematics, wiring diagrams, and interface control documents alongside the team, particularly during critical program phases.
  • Lead root-cause investigations for electrical anomalies discovered during integration, ground test, and flight test, driving corrective actions to closure.
  • Set the technical roadmap for the electrical discipline, including tooling, component standards, and reuse strategies that scale across future aircraft platforms.
  • This position may require up to 25% travel, sometimes with short notice, to both domestic and international locations to support aircraft and system integration activities.
  • BS in Electronics, Electrical, or Aerospace Engineering; MS preferred.
  • 8+ years of relevant systems-level electrical design and integration experience in the aviation and aerospace industries.
  • 2+ years of direct people management experience, or demonstrated technical leadership (tech lead, project lead) with responsibility for team deliverables and mentorship.
  • Deep experience integrating and debugging systems containing COTS/MOTS modules, custom circuits, software, sensors, and human/machine interfaces.
  • Working knowledge of standard interface protocols such as Ethernet, ARINC 429, RS-232, RS-422, and RS-485, sufficient to guide design reviews and resolve integration issues.
  • Strong command of system schematics, wiring diagrams, and subsystem block diagrams, with the ability to critically review the work of others.
  • Experience with aviation/aerospace wire harness design, connector selection, and sourcing, including managing supplier relationships and lead times.
  • Demonstrated ability to plan and manage engineering schedules, budgets, and resource allocation across multiple concurrent projects.
  • Outstanding organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
  • Excellent written, verbal, and presentation communication skills, including experience presenting to executive leadership and external partners or regulators.
  • Specific experience with aircraft systems including avionics, communications, and power distribution and management systems.
  • Working knowledge of environmental qualification and regulatory requirements for commercial and military aircraft. Specifically: RTCA DO-160, DO-178, DO-254, MIL-STD-461, and MIL-STD-810.
  • Experience leading teams through aircraft certification programs (e.g., FAA Part 23/25, STC efforts) and interfacing with certification authorities or DERs.
  • Hands-on capability in lab, field, and aircraft settings; comfortable diving in alongside the team when needed (soldering, wiring, crimping, cable assembly build and test).
  • Familiarity with design tools such as SolidWorks, Altium, or KiCAD, sufficient to review designs and set tooling standards.
  • Experience scaling an engineering team in a startup or fast-growth environment.

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