Staff Electrical Engineer, Electronics Design

Mainspring Energy; Menlo Park (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Mainspring Energy is seeking a Senior Electrical Engineer, Electronics Design to own end-to-end electrical hardware and PCBA designs powering the Linear Generator. You will design and validate low-voltage systems, lead cross-functional reviews, and drive hardware reliability in a fast-paced startup environment.

Join a world-class team to push innovations in power generation control architecture, collaborating across HV/LV domains and with external suppliers to scale manufacturability and

Qualifications

• 8+ years of electrical design experience with Bachelor's degree (7+ years with Master's).
• Hands-on design, troubleshooting, and realization of low-voltage hardware (<60V).
• Proficient in PCBA schematic capture and PCB design tools (Altium preferred).
• Strong analog/mixed-signal fundamentals (op-amps, ADCs, filtering).
• DFMEA, tolerance analysis, derating concepts.
• Proven ability to drive projects from requirements to production.
• Collaborative communication across diverse technical teams.

Responsibilities

• Low-Voltage Hardware Design: Design low-voltage (<60V) electrical systems and PCBAs.
• Bring-Up & Validation: Own bring-up, validation, and qualification of hardware designs.
• Technical Reviews: Lead cross-functional design reviews for requirements and approvals.
• Complex Diagnostics: Debug and troubleshoot hardware issues across field deployments and labs.
• Design for Reliability: Work with reliability engineers to improve robustness.
• Manufacturing Collaboration: Align with NPI and suppliers for DFM/DFT.
• Cross-Domain Integration: Define cabling and embedded firmware support.
• Team Growth: Mentor peers within a world-class engineering team.

Skills

Low-Voltage Design

PCB Design

Schematic Capture

Analog/Mixed-Signal

DFMEA

Project Leadership

Collaboration

Education

Bachelors in Electrical Engineering

MS in Electrical Engineering

Tools

Altium

Job description

Mainspring Energy manufactures and delivers fuel-flexible, low-emissions local power solutions that rapidly add new capacity and deliver reliable, affordable, and sustainable electric power. The company began commercial shipments of its Mainspring Linear Generators in 2020 and today has hundreds of megawatts in advanced development and field operations for leading Fortune 500 companies, data centers, and utilities. Mainspring also partners with global energy leaders including AEP, NextEra Energy Resources, Schneider Electric, and more.

The core values that ground our work, guide our decisions, and connect us together:

• Pragmatic Optimism
• Excellence without Ego

About Mainspring

Mainspring Energy manufactures and delivers fuel-flexible, low-emissions local power solutions that rapidly add new capacity and deliver reliable, affordable, and sustainable electric power. The company began commercial shipments of its Mainspring Linear Generators in 2020 and today has hundreds of megawatts in advanced development and field operations for leading Fortune 500 companies, data centers, and utilities. Mainspring also partners with global energy leaders including AEP, NextEra Energy Resources, Schneider Electric, and more.

The core values that ground our work, guide our decisions, and connect us together:

• Pragmatic Optimism
• Excellence without Ego
• Proactive Collaboration

Job Overview

Are you an innovative hardware leader who thrives on driving cutting-edge electronics from initial concept to production? Do you prefer the challenge of owning complex, low-voltage control systems and guiding cross-functional teams through technical hurdles over routine, single-phase component tweaking? Mainspring Energy is looking for a highly autonomous, intellectually curious, and influential Senior Electrical Engineer, Electronics Design to join our core Electrical Engineering organization. Unlike traditional electrical design roles confined to narrow subsystems or isolated schematic capture, this is a high-impact engineering position where you will take end-to-end ownership and act as the technical lead for the critical electrical hardware and PCBA designs that power our revolutionary Linear Generator. Working alongside a world-class team of multidisciplinary engineers, you will have the execution autonomy to design advanced low-voltage (< 60V) systems, spearhead complex hardware validation and technical reviews, and directly shape the future of our power generation control architecture.

Responsibilities

Mainspring’s Linear Generator is unlike any other generator technology on the market. The Linear Generator relies on innovative electrical power and control hardware systems to achieve its best-in-class efficiency while meeting the world’s strictest emissions requirements. These electrical hardware systems are designed by a talented team of electrical engineers that own hardware design from initial concept through test and manufacturing. We have a high impact opportunity for an electronics engineer to shape the future of the Linear Generator’s electrical control hardware systems. As a member of the team, you will:

• Low-Voltage Hardware Design: Design low-voltage (< 60V) electrical systems and PCBAs that enable core functions and expand the capability of the Linear Generator
• Bring-Up & Validation: Own the full bring-up, validation, and qualification of your custom electrical hardware designs
• Technical Reviews: Lead cross-functional design reviews to present concepts, align requirements, and secure approvals
• Complex Diagnostics: Debug and troubleshoot complex hardware issues that arise across field deployments, test labs, and the production floor
• Design for Reliability: Partner closely with reliability engineers to analyze hardware performance and continuously increase system robustness
• Manufacturing Collaboration: Work directly with our New Product Introduction (NPI) team and external suppliers to optimize designs for manufacturability (DFM) and testability (DFT)
• Cross-Domain Integration: Interface with high-voltage hardware teams and define requirements for cabling and embedded firmware support
• Team Growth: Learn complex design concepts and mentor peers while collaborating with a world-class engineering team

Qualifications

You have...

• 8+ years of experience with a Bachelor's degree, or 7+ years of experience with a Master's degree, in Electrical Engineering or a related field.
• Proven hands-on experience designing, troubleshooting, and realizing low-voltage electrical hardware (e.g., DC/DC converters, relays, e-fuses, and MOSFETs)
• Proficiency with PCBA schematic capture and PCB design tools (Altium strongly preferred)
• Strong fundamentals in analog/mixed-signal design, including operational amplifiers, ADCs, and hardware filtering (anti-aliasing, bandpass, etc.)
• Experience performing component derating analysis, worst-case tolerance stack-ups, and Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (DFMEA)
• Demonstrated ability to drive projects forward from initial requirements through production
• A "collaborate-first" mindset with strong communication skills across diverse technical teams and personalities

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in the full hardware development life cycle of PCBA’s and electrical assemblies, from requirements development to manufacturing support
• Familiarity with hardware reliability and environmental validation testing (e.g., HALT, thermal chamber testing, Hipot, vibration)
• Experience working in a startup or rapid product development environment