Staff Electrical Engineer

Applied Research Associates, Inc.

Arlington (VA)

On-site

USD 105,000 - 123,000

Full time

6 days ago

Be an early applicant

Application generator

Stand out for this role — generate a tailored resume and cover letter in about a minute.

Get past ATS filters

Job summary

Applied Research Associates, Inc. is seeking a Staff Electrical Engineer in Arlington, VA to design, integrate, and commission electrical systems for large industrial machinery and unmanned systems hardware.

You will own electrical scope from concept through fielding on federal defense programs and support battery of tests at customer sites.

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering.
5+ years of relevant electrical engineering experience with industrial equipment.
Hands-on experience with wiring diagrams, schematics, and control panel design.
Experience with Allen Bradley PLC/controls programming and equipment automation.
Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance (U.S. citizenship required).

Responsibilities

Design electrical systems for large industrial machinery and process equipment, including power distribution and equipment-level control architecture.
Develop and integrate controls for automated and semi-automated equipment (PLC/HMI programming, control panel design, interlocks, and safety circuits).
Produce wiring diagrams, schematics, and electrical design packages for equipment integration projects.
Support smaller-scale electronics scope, including PCB design and layout for specialized subsystems.
Design wire harnesses for unmanned systems (UxS) and drone-related hardware, including connector selection, routing, and documentation.
Coordinate with mechanical, process, and program engineering teams to ensure electrical designs integrate cleanly with overall system/facility design.
Support vendor coordination, factory acceptance testing (FAT), and commissioning activities for integrated equipment.
Prepare technical documentation, design packages, and deliverables in accordance with program and customer requirements.
Support proposal efforts with technical input, level-of-effort estimates, and design approach narratives as needed.

Skills

Allen Bradley PLC/controls programming

Electrical controls integration

Wiring diagrams & schematics

On-site hardware support

Safety and control panel design

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Master's degree in Electrical Engineering

PhD in Electrical Engineering

Tools

PCB design

Wire harness design

Job description

Description

ARA is seeking a Staff Electrical Engineer to support the design, integration, and controls development for large-scale industrial machinery and equipment on advanced manufacturing and defense-related programs. This role bridges electrical engineering, controls integration, and — on select programs — small-scale electronics design in support of unmanned systems (UxS) hardware.

The ideal candidate is comfortable moving between large equipment-level electrical/controls work and PCB and wire harness design, and is capable of owning electrical scope from concept through commissioning on programs supporting federal defense customers.

This position is located out of our Arlington, VA office, and will require up to two trips a month to our Government client’s site in Indian Head, Maryland. This is an on-site position (Hybrid eligible after 6 months). The range for this position is between $105K - $123K.

Key Responsibilities

Design electrical systems for large industrial machinery and process equipment, including power distribution and equipment-level control architecture.
Develop and integrate controls for automated and semi-automated equipment (PLC/HMI programming, control panel design, interlocks, and safety circuits).
Produce wiring diagrams, schematics, and electrical design packages for equipment integration projects.
Support smaller-scale electronics scope, including PCB design and layout for specialized subsystems.
Design wire harnesses for unmanned systems (UxS) and drone-related hardware, including connector selection, routing, and documentation.
Coordinate with mechanical, process, and program engineering teams to ensure electrical designs integrate cleanly with overall system/facility design.
Support vendor coordination, factory acceptance testing (FAT), and commissioning activities for integrated equipment.
Prepare technical documentation, design packages, and deliverables in accordance with program and customer requirements.
Support proposal efforts with technical input, level-of-effort estimates, and design approach narratives as needed.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related.
5+ years of relevant electrical engineering experience, with demonstrated work on industrial equipment integration and controls.
Hands-on experience with wiring diagram development, electrical schematics, and control panel design.
Experience with Allen Bradley PLC/controls programming and equipment automation.
Ability to work onsite and support hardware integration, testing, and commissioning activities.
Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance (U.S. citizenship required).

Preferred Qualifications

Masters' degree in Electrical Engineering or related with 3-5 years of relevant experience.
PhD in Electrical Engineering or related with 0-2 years of relevant experience.
Experience with PCB design and layout for specialized or low-volume electronics.
Experience with wire harness design for unmanned systems, robotics, or drone platforms.
Familiarity with hazardous area/intrinsically safe electrical design.
Prior experience supporting DoD or federal defense manufacturing programs.
Experience working within an A&E (architecture & engineering) or multidisciplinary integrated design team.

Company & Division Information

Applied Research Associates, Inc. is an employee-owned international research and engineering company recognized for providing technically superior solutions to complex and challenging problems in the physical sciences. The company, founded in Albuquerque, NM, in 1979, currently employs over 2,240 professionals and continues to grow. ARA offices throughout the United States and Canada provide a broad range of technical expertise in defense technologies, civil technologies, computer software and simulation, systems analysis, environmental technologies, and testing and measurement. The corporation also provides sophisticated technical products for environmental site characterization, pavement analysis, and robotics.

At ARA, employees are our greatest assets. The corporation realizes that employee ownership spawns greater creativity and initiative along with higher performance and customer satisfaction levels. ARA gives employees the tools, training, and opportunities to take more active roles as owners. The culture is challenging and innovation and experimentation are the norm. Employees are eligible for contributions which not only add to the company’s success, but also their own through the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). The motto, “Engineering and Science for Fun and Profit” sums up the ARA experience. We invite you to visit our website (https://www.ara.com/) to learn more about who we are (https://www.ara.com/who-we-are/) , what we do (https://www.ara.com/what-we-do/) , the excellent careers (https://www.ara.com/careers/) and benefits (https://www.ara.com/benefits/) we offer and explore some of our featured offices (https://www.ara.com/featured-offices/) .

Qualifications

Education

Required