Electrical Engineering Team Lead

Socket.dev; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); Hybrid; USD 185,000 - 270,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and Wellness benefits

Unlimited Vacation

Flexible hours

Work from Home support

Daily drinks, snacks and catered meals

Team building activities

Job summary

Waabi, a leader in physical AI for autonomous transportation, is seeking an Electrical Engineering Team Lead in the US. You will guide a team designing Waabi's custom electronics, moving from prototype to production, and ensuring safety, reliability, and manufacturability.

You will own DFM/DFT across hardware iterations, manage CM relationships during NPI cycles, and collaborate with OEMs to translate requirements into robust engineering specs while upholding ISO 26262 standards.

Qualifications

• BS/MS in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 10+ years in hardware development and team leadership.
• Experience with high-performance embedded compute and vehicle power architectures.
• Fluency with automotive production processes (PPAP, APQP).

Responsibilities

• Lead the electrical engineering team and set technical direction.
• Design for Manufacturability and Design for Testability across hardware iterations.
• Own the CM relationship and manage NPI cycles with contract manufacturers.
• Partner with OEMs to translate supplier requirements into engineering specs.
• Uphold functional safety and quality per ISO 26262 and maintain reliability roadmap.

Skills

Team leadership

PCB design

High-speed signaling

Power distribution

Automotive standards (ISO 26262, AEC-Q

PPAP/APQP knowledge

Hardware debugging

Mentoring engineers

Education

BS/MS in Electrical Engineering or related field

Tools

DFM (Design for Manufacturability)

DFT (Design for Test)

NPI management

Job description

Waabi, founded by AI visionary Raquel Urtasun, is the leader in Physical AI. With a world-class team, we're unlocking the next era of autonomous transportation with technology that's powering commercial autonomous trucks and robotaxis. Waabi is backed by and partners with world leaders in AI, automotive, logistics, and deep tech.

With offices in Toronto, San Francisco, Dallas, and Pittsburgh, Waabi is growing quickly and looking for diverse, innovative and collaborative candidates who want to impact the world in a positive way. To learn more visit: www.waabi.ai

Waabi builds generative AI for the physical world, starting with autonomous trucks. The hardware behind that intelligence has to be as rigorous as the software — road-ready, manufacturable at scale, and trusted by the OEMs whose trucks it lives in.

As our Electrical Engineering Team Lead, you'll own that bridge. You'll guide the team that designs Waabi's custom electronics and carries them from prototype to production, making sure every design is built for the assembly line and meets the exacting standards of our OEM partners and our own safety and functional requirements.

This position is open to candidates in both San Francisco & Pittsburgh with the expectations of 4 days onsite.

You Will…

• Lead the team. Guide and mentor a group of electrical engineers working on high-performance embedded compute and robust power distribution. Set technical direction and help people do the best work of their careers.
• Design for scale. Drive Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and Design for Testability (DFT) across every hardware iteration, moving from prototype toward zero-defect mass production.
• Own the CM relationship. Serve as the primary technical interface with our contract manufacturers — running NPI (New Product Introduction) cycles, conducting line audits, and clearing production bottlenecks.
• Partner with our OEMs. Be the technical face of Waabi to our OEM partners, translating their supplier requirements into engineering specifications and making sure our hardware integrates cleanly into their vehicle platforms.
• Uphold functional safety and quality. Ensure electrical systems meet automotive standards such as ISO 26262 and AEC-Q100, and maintain a roadmap for long-term reliability in the field.

Qualifications

• BS/MS in Electrical Engineering or a related field, or equivalent hands-on experience.
• 10+ years in hardware development, including time leading or mentoring engineers. (Formal management experience is a plus, not a prerequisite — we care that you can grow a team.)
• Deep experience with complex PCB design, high-speed signaling, and the thermal challenges of AV compute platforms.
• A strong grasp of power distribution and DC-DC conversion for high-performance compute and sensor loads, plus a clear understanding of how that hardware interfaces with the vehicle's power architecture.
• Fluency with the automotive production world — you know PPAP, APQP, and what automotive-grade reliability actually demands.

Nice-to-haves

• Direct experience owning a CM or OEM technical relationship through an NPI cycle.
• Hands-on functional-safety work under ISO 26262.
• Comfort moving between the lab bench and the high-level roadmap — happy to debug hardware yourself, and able to step back and set direction.

The US yearly salary range for this role is: $185,000 - $270,000 USD in addition to competitive perks & benefits. Waabi (US) Inc.’s yearly salary ranges are determined based on several factors in accordance with the Company’s compensation practices. The salary base range is reflective of the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations. Note: The Company provides additional compensation for employees in this role, including equity incentive awards and an annual performance bonus.

Perks/Benefits:

• Competitive compensation and equity awards.
• Health and Wellness benefits encompassing Medical, Dental and Vision coverage (for full-time employees only).
• Unlimited Vacation.
• Flexible hours and Work from Home support.
• Daily drinks, snacks and catered meals (when in office).
• Regularly scheduled team building activities and social events both on-site, off-site & virtually.
• As we grow, this list continues to evolve!

Waabi is a technology start-up building technologies to transform the way the world moves. Join our talented team to be a part of the future and to make an impact!

Waabi is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating a supportive, inclusive, and accessible workplace for all our employees. We seek applicants of all backgrounds and identities, across race, color, ethnicity, national origin or ancestry, age, citizenship, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military or veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or parental status, caregiver status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. We make workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process please let our recruiting team know.