Staff, Harness Engineering Manager

Kodiak Robotics, Inc. was founded in 2018 and has become a leader in autonomous ground transportation committed to a safer and more efficient future for all. The company has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) powered technology stack purpose-built for commercial trucking and the public sector. The company delivers freight daily for its customers across the southern United States using its autonomous technology. In 2024, Kodiak became the first known company to publicly announce delivering a driverless semi-truck to a customer. Kodiak is also leveraging its commercial self-driving software to develop, test and deploy autonomous capabilities for the U.S. Department of Defense.

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)

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