Sr. Harness Engineer

Astrolab; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity ownership

Comprehensive health benefits

Flexible PTO

Weekly lunch stipend

Social hours with food and drinks

Job summary

Astrolab in Hawthorne, California, seeks a Harness Design Engineer to lead design and execution of flight, GSE, and test harnesses. This role ensures reliability in extreme environments and involves close collaboration with several engineering disciplines.

Ideal candidates will possess a Bachelor's degree in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering, supported by over 5 years of relevant experience. A hands-on approach and a problem-solving mindset will be key to develop safe and efficient harness systems.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in wire harness design in aerospace or similarly rigorous environments.
• Ability to interpret and create complex wiring diagrams and schematics.
• Strong understanding of harness design and manufacturing methods.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate with Avionics Engineers to manage system level harness schematics.
• Design routed harness models using 3D CAD tools.
• Perform essential analyses such as voltage drop and EMI shielding effectiveness.

Skills

Wire harness design

CAD tools proficiency

Aerospace-grade materials knowledge

Complex wiring diagrams interpretation

Strong communication skills

Problem-solving ability

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or Mechanical Engineering

Tools

Siemens NX

E3 Zuken

Job description

Overview

Venturi Astrolab, Inc. (Astrolab) is pioneering new ways to explore and operate on distant planetary bodies. We are singularly focused on designing, building, and operating a fleet of multi-purpose commercial planetary rovers to extend and enhance humanity’s presence in the solar system. We are seeking motivated, creative, and exceptional people to join our world-class team.

As a Harness Design Engineer, you'll own the design and execution of flight, GSE, and test harnesses that connect avionics, sensors, power systems, and vehicle subsystems—ensuring reliability in extreme environments. This is an end-to-end role spanning requirements definition, architecture, detailed design, first-article builds, qualification testing, and production support. You will work closely with mechanical, thermal, electrical, integration, and manufacturing teams to deliver harness systems that are safe, lightweight, manufacturable, and flight-ready. We are looking for a hands-on, highly collaborative engineer who thrives in fast-paced environments and is excited to build real flight hardware. You’ll be a key technical owner on the vehicle program with high visibility and the ability to shape best practices as the organization scales.

What you'll do

• Coordinate with Avionics Engineers to define and manage system level harness schematics for flight hardware, test, and GSE assets.
• Identify and maintain a library of aerospace-grade materials, including connectors, backshells, shielding, wires, and cables for signal, power, data, and RF.
• Use 3D CAD tools to design routed harness models, ensuring proper physical architecture based on aerospace standards for bend radii, strain relief, retention, isolation, and separation, within complex vehicle assemblies.
• Create 2D flat harness drawings and formboards for production. Support first-article builds and resolve manufacturing non-conformances.
• Perform essential analyses such as voltage drop, current derating, and EMI/EMC shielding effectiveness and resolve designs to defined standards. Coordinate qualification tests like continuity, isolation, and vibration/thermal cycling.

What you'll bring

• Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a closely related technical field
• 5+ years of professional experience in wire harness design (aerospace, vehicles, robotics, defense, or similarly rigorous environments)
• Proficiency with CAD tools and PLM systems; comfortable releasing production drawings
• Ability to interpret and create complex wiring diagrams, schematics, and interface documentation
• Strong understanding of harness design and manufacturing methods (buildability, inspection, testability, and rework considerations)
• Experience with aerospace-grade materials/component selection and design for weight, cost, and manufacturability
• Hands-on experience troubleshooting harness issues to root cause, with a corrective-action mindset
• Familiarity with one or more relevant standards, such as: IPC/WHMA-A-620, NASA-STD-8739.4 / 8739.6, NASA-STD-6016, SAE AS22759, J-STD-001
• Strong communication skills and ability to manage interfaces across multiple engineering teams
• Self-directed and comfortable solving open-ended problems with speed and rigor

Additional Preferred Skills

• Prior experience in aerospace or launch vehicle applications
• Knowledge of redundancy strategies for flight-critical systems
• Experience designing for high vibration, vacuum, thermal cycling, and harsh EMI environments
• Background in harness-level or system-level signal integrity analysis for high-speed data interfaces (Ethernet, SpaceWire, LVDS)
• Proficiency with Siemens NX and Teamcenter
• Experience with harness-specific design tools such as E3 Zuken

Benefits and Perks

• Join a team of best-in-class engineers building the foundation of planetary surface exploration
• Equity ownership in the company
• Comprehensive health benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and mental health support
• 401(k) plan with company match
• Flexible PTO and parental leave
• Home office set up reimbursement
• Weekly lunch stipend, plus complimentary snacks and beverages on-site
• Once a month social hour on-site with food and drinks