Lead Electrical Engineer

Gatik; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Gatik is seeking a Staff Electrical Engineer in Santa Clara, CA to lead electrical and electronic component development for our autonomous vehicle platform, partnering with hardware, software, and systems teams from concept to production.

You will define architectures, drive sensor integration (camera, lidar, radar), oversee bring-up and calibration, review prototypes, and ensure reliability and manufacturability.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of leading electrical system development for mechatronic or robotics platforms.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s in Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or related field.
• Experience with sensor technologies and automotive-grade integration.
• Familiarity with in-vehicle networks such as GMSL2, CAN, CAN-FD, and LIN.

Responsibilities

• Define and develop electrical and electronic components and system architecture for an autonomous vehicle platform.
• Collaborate across hardware, software, and systems teams to integrate sensors, compute, and power.
• Serve as technical contact for component and sensor suppliers.
• Oversee bring-up and calibration, coordinating with software/validation teams.
• Define technical documentation and interface specs for NPI and manufacturing.
• Support field performance through investigations with test and service teams.
• Contribute to engineering best practices for electrical system integration and reliability.
• Participate in design reviews and cross-functional problem solving.

Skills

Electrical leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Sensor integration

System bring-up

Python scripting

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering or Mechatronics

Tools

MATLAB/Simulink

Job description

Gatik, the leader in autonomous middle-mile logistics, is revolutionizing the B2B supply chain with its autonomous transportation-as-a-service (ATaaS) solution and prioritizing safe, consistent deliveries while streamlining freight movement by reducing congestion. The company focuses on short-haul, B2B logistics for Fortune 500 retailers and in 2021 launched the world’s first fully driverless commercial transportation service with Walmart. Gatik's Class 3-7 autonomous trucks are commercially deployed across major markets, including Texas, Arkansas, and Ontario, Canada, driving innovation in freight transportation.

The company's proprietary Level 4 autonomous technology, Gatik Carrier™, is custom-built to transport freight safely and efficiently between pick-up and drop-off locations on the middle mile. With robust capabilities in both highway and urban environments, Gatik Carrier™ serves as an all-encompassing solution that integrates advanced software and hardware powering the fleet, facilitating effortless integration into customers' logistics operations.

About the role

As a Staff Electrical Engineer in our Hardware Engineering team you will be responsible for all electronic components on and off the vehicle along with establishing

processes needed to bring-up and to calibrate the stack. This means you are closely working with the Systems Engineering team to establish architectures meeting our requirements as well as bringing the system to production, while collaborating with a diverse and multidisciplinary team delivering high quality vehicles. You are following best engineering practices & standards in general and are able to be scrappy when needed to make progress. Your area of expertise is selecting, integrating, connecting and troubleshooting electronics and software bring-up. While the focus is on technical leadership and cross-functional coordination, a willingness to engage at a practical level—such as reviewing prototypes, validating system behavior, or supporting early integration efforts is essential to drive informed decision-making and ensure real-world

performance.

This role is onsite 5 days a week at our Santa Clara, CA office.

What you'll do

• Define and develop electrical and electronic components and system architecture for an autonomous vehicle platform
• Collaborate across hardware, software, and systems teams to drive integration of sensors, compute, and power systems from concept through deployment
• Serve as the technical point of contact for key component and sensor suppliers, guiding selection, validation, and integration decisions
• Oversee vehicle- and system-level bring-up, ensuring readiness for calibration, testing, and manufacturing in close partnership with software and validation teams
• Define and manage technical documentation, interface specifications, and deliverables to support New Product Introduction (NPI) and volume manufacturing
• Support field performance improvements through structured investigation of vehicle issues and coordination with test, systems, and service teams
• Contribute to the development and enforcement of engineering best practices for electrical system integration, verification, and vehicle reliability
• Participate in design reviews, integration planning, and cross-functional problem-solving to ensure system-level performance and scalability

What we’re looking for

• 8+ years of experience leading electrical system development for complex mechatronic, vehicle, or robotics platforms
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field (Master’s preferred, deep understanding of sensor technologies (camera, lidar, radar, ultrasound) and their integration into vehicle architectures
• Ability to evaluate sensor trade-offs and calibration strategies in the context of autonomous system design
• Experience with vehicle-level electrical integration, system reliability, and design for manufacturability
• Proven track record collaborating across hardware, software, and systems teams during bring-up and integration phases
• Experience in industries such as automotive, aerospace, robotics, or automation, particularly in fast-paced development environments
• Familiarity with scripting and automation tools to support system integration and validation (e.g., Python, command-line tools)
• Working knowledge of in-vehicle communication protocols such as GMSL2, CAN, CAN-FD, and LIN
• Familiarity with system modeling or simulation tools such as MATLAB/Simulink (preferred)
• Understanding of embedded system interfaces and microcontroller-based architectures (preferred)

Salary Range - $180,000-$260,000

More about Gatik

Founded in 2017 by experts in autonomous vehicle technology, Gatik has rapidly expanded its presence to Mountain View, Dallas-Fort Worth, Arkansas, and Toronto. As the first and only company to achieve fully driverless middle-mile commercial deliveries, Gatik holds a unique and defensible position in the AV industry, with a clear trajectory toward sustainable growth and profitability.

We have delivered complete, proprietary AV technology - an integration of software and hardware - to enable earlier successes for our clients in constrained Level 4 autonomy. By choosing the middle mile – with defined point-to-point delivery, we have simplified some of the more complex AV challenges, enabling us to achieve full autonomy ahead of competitors. Given extensive knowledge of Gatik’s well-defined, fixed route ODDs and hybrid architecture, we are able to hyper-optimize our models with exponentially less data, establish gate-keeping mechanisms to maintain explainability, and ensure continued safety of the system for unmanned operations.

Visit us at Gatik for more company information and Careers at Gatik for more open roles.

Notable News

• Bloomberg: Autonomous Trucking Firm Gatik Inks Contracts Worth $600 Million
• Forbes: Hundreds’ Of Gatik Robot Delivery Trucks Headed For U.S. Roads
• Forbes: Gatik And Loblaw Announce Largest Commercial Deployment Of AV Trucks
• Forbes: Forget robotaxis. Upstart Gatik sees middle-mile deliveries as the path to profitable AVs
• Tech Brew: Gatik AI exec unpacks the regulations that could shape the AV industry
• Business Wire: Gatik Paves the Way for Safe Driverless Operations (‘Freight-Only’) at Scale with Industry-First Third-Party Safety Assessment Framework
• Auto Futures: Autonomous Trucking Group Gatik Secures Investment From NIPPON EXPRESS HOLDINGS
• Automotive News: Gatik foresees hundreds of self-driving trucks on road soon, and that's just the beginning
• Bloomberg: Autonomous Vehicle Startup Takes Off by Picking Off Easier Routes
• Reuters: Driverless vehicles on limited routes bump along despite US robotaxi scrutiny

Taking care of our team

At Gatik, we connect people of extraordinary talent and experience to an opportunity to create a more resilient supply chain and contribute to our environment’s sustainability. We are diverse in our backgrounds and perspectives yet united by a bold vision and shared commitment to our values. Our culture emphasizes the importance of collaboration, respect and agility.

We at Gatik strive to create a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone feels they have opportunities to succeed and grow because we know that together we can do great things. We are committed to an inclusive and diverse team. We do not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, marital status or any legally protected status.