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.

Who are We?

Field AI is transforming how robots interact with the real world. We are building risk-aware, reliable, and field-ready AI systems that address the most complex challenges in robotics, unlocking the full potential of embodied intelligence. We go beyond typical data-driven approaches or pure transformer-based architectures, and are charting a new course, with already-globally-deployed solutions delivering real-world results and rapidly improving models through real-field applications.

Learn more at https://fieldai.com.

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 Field AI, 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.