Senior Electrical Engineer

About Machina Labs:

Engineering moves at software speed. Manufacturing doesn't. Yet. 

Machina Labs is changing that. We build intelligent, software-defined factories that produce complex metal structures directly from digital design. By integrating advanced metal forming, robotics, and automated production inside a flexible factory architecture, we enable customers to move from prototype to production in weeks, not years. 

Backed by Lockheed Martin, Toyota, and NVIDIA, we're building the manufacturing infrastructure that defense, aerospace, and advanced mobility programs will run on. 

If you want to work on hard problems that matter and see them fly, drive, and defend, this is the place.   

Job Description:

Machina Labs is seeking a Senior Electrical Engineer to serve as both individual contributor and technical lead for the electrical systems behind our robotic manufacturing platforms. 

You will own electrical design across the production cell and the platforms that follow, along with the architecture, standards, interfaces, and supplier relationships those machines depend on. You will make consequential calls on cost, schedule, compliance, and production readiness, lead technical engagement with suppliers, certification bodies, and customers, and set the bar for electrical work across Mechanical, Robotics, Automation, and Manufacturing. 

The ideal candidate has led the electrical design of industrial machinery, robotics, CNC, or automation equipment across more than one machine or program, has taken machinery through compliance, and still wants to be hands-on while we grow the team. 

What you will own:

Electrical architecture across platforms:

• Own electrical design across the production cell and future platforms, including the electrical record: schematics, interconnect diagrams, panel layouts, and harness drawings, released and revision-controlled in PDM. 

• Set the electrical architecture and documentation approach that can be reused across platforms. 

• Define and govern interfaces between robot controllers, PLC panels, end effectors, and instrumentation under change control, and make the architecture, protection, and interface calls that affect cost, schedule, and production readiness. 

• Perform, document, and set the practice for power distribution, grounding and bonding, and signal integrity analysis for 480VAC and 24VDC systems, drives, sensors, and I/O. 

• Partner with the controls and software team, who own PLC and robot programming, on I/O, safety logic, and industrial network architecture. 

• Lead investigation of complex and intermittent electrical problems across power, controls, and integration, and deliver root causes. 

Suppliers and production:

• Own the technical relationship with outsourced panel and harness suppliers: release packages, approve deviations, drive quality issues to root cause, and prepare the supply base to build repeatably at production volume. 

• Correct how panels and harnesses are built in-house today and set the build and inspection standard both in-house and supplier builds are held to. 

• Design and review PLC and control panels for manufacturability and serviceability. 

• Resolve the electrical problems that have resisted resolution, including those that cross disciplines, suppliers, and field installations. 

PCBAs and instrumentation: 

• Design and review custom PCBAs and instrumentation, and set the review, bring-up, and production release practice for board-level work. 

Compliance and machine safety:

• Own the compliance approach for our machines against UL/IEC and machine safety requirements, and lead hardware through it. 

• Lead technical engagement with certification bodies and customers on electrical matters. 

• Anticipate systemic electrical and safety risk across programs and establish the design review practice that stops it before it reaches the floor. 

Technical leadership:

• Set the technical standard for electrical work across the hardware team, including design standards, symbol libraries, and review checklists. 

• Lead electrical design reviews across Mechanical, Robotics, and Manufacturing, and mentor and develop the engineers doing electrical work. 

*This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities required for this role. Duties and responsibilities may change based on business needs. 

Required Background & Experience:

• B.S. in Electrical Engineering or equivalent. 

• 7+ years of electrical engineering on industrial machinery, robotics, CNC, or automation equipment, including end-to-end ownership of electrical design across multiple machines or a platform. 

• Experience setting electrical standards, running design reviews, and developing other engineers. 

• Electronic system, device, or instrumentation design, including PCBA schematics, bring-up, test, and validation. 

• 480VAC power distribution and 24VDC control: panel design, drives, PLC I/O, safety circuits, grounding. 

• Industrial network design (EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP, PROFINET). 

• Diagnosing or mitigating EMI/EMC issues on servo drives and sensor wiring in high-noise industrial environments (shielding, grounding, cable routing). 

• Fluency in electrical CAD (EPLAN, SolidWorks Electrical, AutoCAD Electrical, or similar) and producing release-quality schematics and harness drawings. 

• Experience as the engineering owner for contract electrical system builds such as panels or harnesses. 

• Strong documentation and change control discipline. 

• Must be a U.S. person as defined under ITAR, due to access to export-controlled information. 

• Able to work onsite in Chatsworth, CA, with occasional travel to suppliers, customers, or additional Machina factory sites. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience taking industrial machinery through compliance (UL 508A, NFPA 79, NFPA 70 (NEC), IEC 60204-1, IEC 62061, or equivalent). 

• Designing safety circuits for robotic cells (safety PLCs, safety-rated I/O, guarding and interlocks), with working knowledge of ISO 13849 and robot cell safety standards (ISO 10218, ANSI/RIA R15.06). 

• Representing electrical design to customers or certification bodies. 

• Scaling machine builds from prototype to repeatable production. 

• Standardizing electrical components and BOMs across multiple machines, balancing cost, lead time, and obsolescence. 

• Panel SCCR, short-circuit, and thermal (heat load and cooling) calculations. 

• Servo drive commissioning and tuning, and motion control system integration. 

• Facility electrical integration for machine installs: utility planning, panel installation, cable management, and as-built turnover. 

• Test fixture and data acquisition (DAQ) design for instrumentation and validation. 

• PCBA layout (Altium, KiCad, or similar). 

• Industrial connector and cable selection (Harting, M12/M23 cordsets, IPC). 

• KUKA or similar industrial robot controller integration. 

Actual compensation will be determined based on experience, skills, qualifications, and geographic location.    In addition to the provided base salary range, comprehensive benefits (Medical, Dental, Vision), PTO, and Stock Options. Machina Labs is an Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity employer and considers all applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or status as a protected veteran in accordance with state and federal law.    We endeavor to make the job application process accessible to any and all users. If you have a disability that impacts your ability to complete the job application process and would like to request assistance or a reasonable accommodation, please contact us at (888)444-9777. This contact information is for accommodation requests only, not to inquire about the status of applications.