Staff Electrical Engineer

Job Description

Job Description

Interview Process:
• Round 1: Electrical Engineering Manager
• Round 2: Staff Electrical Engineer / Technical Lead

Why It's Open:
• New programs are ramping up fast.
• Immediate need for an experienced electrical engineer who can independently own PCBA development efforts.
• High-impact role supporting critical battery management and electrical system architecture within Form Energy's next-generation battery platform.
 
Mission / About the Role:
Form Energy is seeking a Senior/Staff Electrical Engineer to support the design, development, validation, and release of critical PCBAs used within its battery management and electrical systems architecture. This individual will own the full lifecycle of PCBA development, from requirements generation and component selection through schematic capture, layout oversight, design release, bring-up, verification, sustaining engineering, and root cause analysis.
 
Day-to-Day Responsibilities:
PCBA Design & Development

• Own full PCBA development lifecycle from concept through production release.
• Generate electrical requirements, block diagrams, architecture documentation, and design specifications.
• Perform component selection and schematic capture using Altium.
• Drive PCB layout development and review for signal integrity, power integrity, manufacturability, and reliability.
• Support vendor DFM reviews and design release activities.

System Integration & Validation

• Develop bring-up procedures, test plans, and verification strategies.
• Support board bring-up, debugging, validation, and root cause investigations.
• Troubleshoot released designs and support sustaining engineering efforts.
• Generate design documentation, test reports, decision matrices, and 8D corrective action reports.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Firmware, Software, Manufacturing, and Test teams.
• Support design reviews and ensure alignment across hardware and system-level requirements.
• Balance speed, rigor, safety, and reliability within an aggressive development environment.

 
Technical Scope:
Power & Control Systems
• 48V power distribution architecture
• High-power actuator, fan, and sensor control
• Power conversion including buck converters, LDOs, and power management systems
• Data acquisition and control systems
Communication Interfaces:
• 1000BASE-T1 Single Pair Ethernet (highly important)
• CAN-FD, SPI, UART, I2C, isoSPI, JTAG
Components & Subsystems:
• MCUs and MPUs
• SOM / SMARC carrier boards
• Ethernet switches and PHYs
• ADCs, DACs, IO expanders
• Motor drivers, gate drivers, high-side drivers
• Sensor interfaces and control circuitry
Safety & Compliance :
• Design for high-power and hazardous environments
• UL 991, UL 1973, UL 1998, UL 9540
• Safety-critical communication architectures
• Reliability-focused design methodologies
 
Must-Haves:
• BS or MS in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related discipline.
• 7+ years of electrical engineering experience (5+ with MS considered).
• Strong Altium experience (or equivalent ECAD platform).
• Demonstrated ownership of schematic capture and PCBA development.
• Multi-layer PCB design experience.
• Board bring-up and hardware validation experience.
• Experience across the full product development lifecycle.
• Hands-on experience with:

• Ethernet (1000BASE-T1 strongly preferred)
• CAN-FD
• SPI, UART, I2C
• Data acquisition systems
• Control systems
• MCU/MPU-based designs
• Power electronics and power management circuits

• Experience working in high-power, industrial, automotive, energy, battery, or similarly safety-critical environments.
• Knowledge of UL991, UL1973, UL1998, and/or UL9540 compliance requirements.
• Strong problem-solving, documentation, and cross-functional communication skills.
• Ability to operate independently with minimal oversight.
 
Nice-to-Haves:
• 10+ years of experience.
• Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) experience.
• EV, automotive, industrial automation, or power systems background.
• Experience with DFMEA and CFMEA.
• Familiarity with Arena, Teamcenter, or other PLM tools.
• Experience with JIRA and JAMA.
• SOM/carrier board architecture experience.
• Deep hands-on PCB layout execution experience, not just design review.
• Experience supporting production release and sustaining engineering.

 
Ideal Candidate Profile:
A senior hardware engineer who has personally owned complex PCBAs from requirements through production. The strongest candidates will come from battery, EV, industrial controls, power electronics, or embedded systems environments and will have hands-on experience with Ethernet-based communication, CAN networks, power distribution systems, board bring-up, and safety-critical product development.