Senior Harness Design Engineer
$135,000–$235,000 year
On-siteSan Francisco, California, United States
Job Summary
Own harness architecture and design from concept through production release, performing core electrical analysis for wire sizing, voltage-drop budgets, and protection coordination. Develop schematics and drawings using the Zuken E3 suite, defining controlled lengths, routing intent, and shielding strategies across low, high, and RF interconnects. Audit topologies against interface control documents and build prototype harnesses to validate design intent before pre-launch integration and ground testing. Partner across avionics, power, and propulsion subsystems to lead root-cause analysis and drive design improvements for reliability and manufacturability. This senior seat requires 7+ years of system-level harness experience and proficiency in Zuken E3 to translate electrical architecture into flight-reliable designs for geostationary orbit missions.
Required Qualifications
- Degree in electrical, mechatronics, or a related engineering field, or equivalent hands-on harness design experience
- 7+ years of harness design experience, including 2 to 3 years at the system level, owning harness architecture across a vehicle rather than designing to someone else's spec
- Zuken E3 proficiency, with strong hands-on command of E3.cable, E3.smallcable, and E3.HarnessBuilder for schematic capture and harness engineering
- Strong electrical fundamentals, including wire and cable selection (ampacity, voltage drop, insulation ratings, shielding, bundling), protection coordination, derating, and connector and terminal selection
- Standards fluency in IPC/WHMA-A-620 (Class 3) workmanship, plus NASA harness workmanship and connector selection and qualification practices
- Documentation depth, able to generate complete harness packages (schematics, wire lists, connector face views, splice diagrams) and to dimension controlled lengths, branches, and service loops
- Hands-on electrical test equipment experience, including harness and continuity testers (e.g., Cirris), digital multimeters, and oscilloscopes
- Space-environment awareness, with a working understanding of how vacuum, thermal cycling, radiation, and launch vibration and shock drive harness and insulator design decisions
- Mechanical literacy, comfortable working alongside mechanical and packaging teams on 3D routing feasibility, clamp and datum definition, and harness path
- U.S. Citizenship, Lawful Permanent Residency, or Refugee/Asylee Status
Desired Qualifications
- Zuken E3.database librarian experience, having previously owned harness library and component-data governance (this is a role you can grow into)
- Spacecraft charging expertise, familiar with surface charging, internal and deep-dielectric charging (dielectric penetration), and their effects on wire insulation, connector dielectrics, and shielding, per references such as NASA-HDBK-4002 and ECSS-E-ST-20-06
- HV design for the space environment, including corona and Paschen-law behavior from ascent to vacuum, and E-field analysis for partial discharge in HV connector qualification and selection
- RF literacy, comfortable with shielded and coax interconnects, impedance control, and shielding effectiveness sufficient to design and route RF harnesses alongside RF engineers. Familiarity with space coax and connector specifications (e.g., NASA SSQ 21653, MIL-PRF-39012, GSFC S-311-P-718) is a plus
- Test and verification, including continuity, insulation resistance, dielectric withstanding voltage, bonding resistance, and TDR
- 3D CAD proficiency in CATIA Electrical, SolidWorks, or 3DEXPERIENCE for harness routing and formboard work
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