Senior Electrical Design Engineer

Arira; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Arira is seeking a Senior Electrical Design Engineer in San Jose, CA to own electrical designs from architecture through production. This hands-on role requires stepping into complex projects, making sound technical decisions, and contributing independently.

We expect a seasoned engineer with 10+ years in hardware design, strong schematic skills (Altium, Cadence, or Allegro), and experience with PCB layouts and DFx processes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field.
• 10+ years of hands-on electrical/hardware design, analysis, and system development experience.
• Strong schematic design experience using Altium Designer, Cadence OrCAD, or Allegro System Designer.
• Experience reviewing and/or implementing PCB layouts and Gerber files.
• Strong understanding of PCBA manufacturing processes and DFx principles.
• Strong circuit design, analysis, and system-level troubleshooting skills.

Responsibilities

• Own electrical designs from architecture and component selection through schematic capture, board bring-up, validation, compliance testing and production support.
• Design, analyze, optimize, and troubleshoot electrical circuits and systems across a range of advanced technology projects.
• Work directly with firmware, mechanical, PCB layout, manufacturing, project, and client teams to solve system-level design challenges.
• Evaluate feasibility, technical risk, cost, and design tradeoffs early enough to influence the product direction.
• Lead or contribute to technical reviews, design decisions, and project planning.
• Create clear engineering documentation, including schematics, specifications, design notes, and technical reports.
• Support prototyping, testing, validation, compliance activities, and production troubleshooting to ensure performance and reliability.

Skills

10+ years hardware design

Schematic design

PCB review

DFx manufacturing

Circuit analysis

Troubleshooting

Education

Bachelors in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Altium Designer

Cadence OrCAD

Allegro System Designer

Job description

If you like owning a complete design and working with many complex technologies - this may be the role for you!

This is a role for an engineer who enjoys technical ownership, variety of product types and technologies, and solving difficult system-level problems. One project may involve developing a new architecture from the ground up; another may involve diagnosing and improving an existing design. You will work across the product lifecycles and collaborate directly with clients and multidisciplinary teams. This is not an entry level position. We are specifically looking for a seasoned, hands-on hardware engineer who can step into complex projects, make sound technical decisions, and contribute independently.

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field
• 10+ years of hands-on electrical/hardware design, analysis, and system development experience
• Strong schematic design experience using professional EDA tools such as Altium Designer, Cadence OrCAD, or Allegro System Designer
• Experience reviewing and/or implementing PCB layouts and Gerber files
• Strong understanding of PCBA manufacturing processes and DFx principles
• Strong circuit design, analysis, and system-level troubleshooting skills

(If you do not currently have these core qualifications, we encourage you to keep an eye on Arira for future opportunities that may better match your experience)

Senior Electrical Design Engineer (Review/interviews to start mid Oct)

What You'll Actually Do

• Own electrical designs from architecture and component selection through schematic capture, board bring-up, validation, compliance testing and production support.
• Design, analyze, optimize, and troubleshoot electrical circuits and systems across a range of advanced technology projects.
• Work directly with firmware, mechanical, PCB layout, manufacturing, project, and client teams to solve system-level design challenges.
• Evaluate feasibility, technical risk, cost, and design tradeoffs early enough to influence the product direction.
• Lead or contribute to technical reviews, design decisions, and project planning.
• Create clear engineering documentation, including schematics, specifications, design notes, and technical reports.
• Support prototyping, testing, validation, compliance activities, and production troubleshooting to ensure performance and reliability.

Nice to Have - Great, but Not Required

• Software experience in C, C++, or Assembly and/or scripting experience in Python or Perl
• Familiarity with HDL such as Verilog or VHDL
• Hands-on PCB layout creation experience using Altium Designer, Cadence Allegro or similar tools
• Experience with regulatory compliance standards and testing
• Experience managing project schedules and budgets

Why Arira?

• Variety. Work across different clients, products, technologies, and engineering challenges.
• Ownership. Opportunity to contribute to the whole product rather than being limited to one narrow subsystem.
• Autonomy. Experienced engineers are trusted to make decisions, solve problems, and move projects forward.
• Visibility. Your work has a direct impact on client products and project outcomes.
• Hands-on engineering. This is a design role for people who still enjoy doing the engineering.

Base salary: $140,000-$180,000, based on experience and skill set