Kodiak Robotics

Staff, Harness Engineering Manager

Kodiak Robotics$170K — $235K *
Manufacturing & Automotive
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • BS or MS in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent experience
  • 10+ years of experience in hardware development in safety-critical industries such as automotive or aerospace
  • Deep expertise in electrical harness design and manufacturing
  • Proven experience leading engineering teams and setting design standards
  • Strong troubleshooting abilities and hands-on root cause analysis expertise
  • Familiarity with IPC quality standards and their application
  • Experience in managing supplier negotiations and partnerships

Responsibilities

  • Own the technical architecture for harness design across the vehicle system
  • Set and enforce design standards and review processes for harness schematics
  • Drive supplier strategy and external manufacturing relationships for harness production
  • Lead trade studies on harness architecture impacting cost, weight, and reliability
  • Govern the program lifecycle including testing and release oversight
  • Conduct root cause analysis on complex electrical system issues
  • Define automated harness validation tooling and testing strategy
  • Mentor harness engineers and manage the harness engineering team
  • Represent harness engineering in design reviews with cross-functional leaders

Benefits

  • Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision benefits with specialized plans
  • Flexible PTO and generous parental leave
  • Office perks including free catered lunches and a dog-friendly environment
  • Wellness benefits including various mental health resources
  • 401(k) plan with Fidelity and additional financial benefits programs
Full Job Description
We're seeking a Lead Harness Engineer/Manager to lead harness architecture and strategy for our autonomous vehicle platform. This is a hands on role who owns the technical direction for harness design across the full vehicle system - high speed, low voltage, and high power - and sets the standards, processes, and supplier relationships that the harness engineering function runs on. You'll drive cross-functional alignment with electrical, mechanical, integration, and manufacturing teams, and mentor engineers building toward those standards. In this role, you will: - Own the technical strategy and architecture for wire harness and subassembly design across the vehicle platform, balancing high speed, low voltage, and high power requirements - Set and enforce design standards, review processes, and DFM/DFA practices for harness schematics, diagrams, and system interconnect diagrams - Drive make/buy and supplier strategy for harness manufacturing; own key external manufacturing partner relationships and scale-up readiness - Lead trade studies on harness architecture (topology, routing, connector strategy, EMI/signal integrity tradeoffs) with system-level cost, weight, and reliability impact - Own full program lifecycle governance: technical reviews, DVP&R, outsourced cable manufacturing, qualification testing, and release - Lead or oversee root cause analysis on complex/escalated electrical system issues; drive corrective and preventive action across teams - Define and champion automated harness validation tooling and test strategy - Mentor and provide technical leadership to harness and electrical engineers and directly manage a harness engineering team - Represent harness engineering in cross-functional and executive-level design reviews with Software, Mechanical, Manufacturing, Systems, and external suppliers What you'll bring: - BS or MS in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering, or equivalent experience - 10+ years of hardware development experience, including automotive, aerospace, or related safety-critical industries, with a track record of technical leadership - Deep expertise in electrical harness design, architecture, and manufacturing at the system level - Proven experience setting design/quality standards and mentoring or leading engineers or teams - Strong troubleshooting skillset with hands-on root cause analysis experience - Expert familiarity with IPC quality standards (IPC/WHMA-A-620, etc.) and their application to program-level quality processes - Experience with implementation and on-vehicle debugging of low-level hardware buses (CAN, Ethernet, LIN) - Demonstrated ability to lead supplier negotiations and manage external manufacturing partnerships - Hands-on. Comfortable in the shop debugging a subsystem and in the room driving architecture decisions - Excellent communicator - experience writing and reviewing clear, concise technical documentation and presenting to leadership - Passion for autonomous vehicles and their potential impact What we offer: - Competitive compensation package including equity and annual bonuses - Excellent Medical, Dental, and Vision plans through Kaiser Permanente, Cigna, and MetLife (including a medical plan with infertility benefits) - MetLife Legal Services, Identity & Fraud Protection, Hospital Indemnity Insurance, Accident Insurance, & Critical Illness Insurance - Flexible PTO, 10 paid holidays, and generous parental leave policies - Our office is centrally located in Mountain View, CA - Office perks: dog-friendly, free catered lunch, a fully stocked kitchen, and free EV charging - Long Term Disability, Short Term Disability, Life Insurance - Wellbeing Benefits - Headspace through Cigna, Calm through Kaiser, One Medical, Gympass, Spring Health through Cigna, Rula (mental health navigation) - Fidelity 401(k) - Commuter, FSA, Dependent Care FSA, HSA - Various incentive programs (referral bonuses, patent bonuses, etc.) The pay range listed below reflects the base salary in our SF/Silicon Valley location, across several internal levels. Actual starting pay will be based on job-related factors including: work location, experience, relevant training, education, skill level and performance during interview. Total compensation at Kodiak includes base pay, equity, bonus and a competitive benefits package California Pay Range $170,000-$235,000 USD

About Kodiak Robotics

Kodiak Robotics is a startup that is developing autonomous trucks for long-haul freight transportation. The company was founded in 2018 by Don Burnette and Paz Eshel, both former employees of the self-driving truck company Otto. Kodiak's trucks use a combination of sensors, cameras, and software to navigate highways and other roads without a human driver. The company has raised $40 million in funding from investors including Battery Ventures and CRV. Kodiak is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has a testing facility in North Texas.
Learn more about Kodiak Robotics
Size
101 employees
Market Cap
$347.1 million
Industry
Net Income
-$133.1 million
Founded
2016
NASDAQ

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