Senior Harness Design Engineer (Maritime)
About Odin Dynamics
Founded in 2025, Odin Dynamics is a defense technology company building autonomous underwater vehicles that will define the next era of undersea warfare. We are focused on delivering capable, resilient autonomous systems that strengthen the strategic advantage of the United States and its allied navies. We move fast, build real hardware, and operate with the urgency that the mission demands.
We are building a new platform from the ground up. This is not a role where you will inherit a mature product with every architectural decision already made. You will take incomplete requirements, early hardware, and difficult technical constraints and turn them into dependable, production-ready vehicle interconnect systems.
We value rigorous engineering without unnecessary process. Decisions should be driven by physics, test data, and product outcomes—not inherited convention or documentation volume.
The Role
Odin Dynamics is hiring a Senior Harness Design Engineer to serve as the Responsible Engineer for vehicle wiring harnesses, cable assemblies, connectors, and electrical interconnect systems across our autonomous underwater vehicle platform.
This is a hands-on individual-contributor role with end-to-end ownership. You will own harnessing and connector systems throughout the vehicle, from initial architecture and requirements through detailed design, CAD, prototype build support, integration, verification, field testing, production support, failure analysis, and continued improvement after deployment.
This role sits at the intersection of electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, manufacturing, and test. You will be responsible for both the electrical behavior of the vehicle interconnect system and its mechanical implementation, including routing, packaging, strain relief, vibration, thermal exposure, environmental sealing, maintainability, and manufacturability.
You will be expected to design real hardware, create production-ready documentation, make technical decisions, mentor other engineers, and remain accountable for the performance and reliability of the vehicle harnessing and connector system. There are no organizational handoffs when a difficult problem crosses the boundary between harnessing, electrical, mechanical, manufacturing, software, or test engineering.
What You’ll Do
Serve as the Responsible Engineer for vehicle wiring harnesses, cable assemblies, connectors, and interconnect systems.
Develop greenfield harness and connector designs from initial requirements and architecture through field-tested, production-ready implementation.
Own harness architecture, connector selection, wire and cable selection, grounding and shielding definitions, current ratings, routing, packaging, validation requirements, production release, and sustaining improvements.
Personally create harness drawings, cable assembly drawings, wiring diagrams, connector documentation, BOMs, manufacturing documentation, and release packages.
Design harnesses that support power distribution, high-current vehicle harnessing, digital communications, sensors, actuators, embedded compute, motor controllers, battery systems, and vehicle-level electrical interfaces.
Select and integrate connectors, backshells, cable assemblies, wire, shielding, jackets, retention features, and related interconnect hardware for demanding vehicle environments.
Own harness routing and packaging, including strain relief, clamp placement, bend radius, abrasion and chafing protection, connector access, service loops, assembly sequence, maintainability, and manufacturability.
Evaluate harness designs for electrical performance, including voltage drop, current carrying capacity, derating, thermal rise, connector margin, grounding, bonding, shielding, isolation, EMI/EMC behavior, signal integrity, and noise susceptibility.
Review board schematics and connector pinouts and help maintain harness- and connector-related aspects of PCBA designs.
Work closely with Avionics, Power Electronics, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, and Test Engineering to define and validate vehicle electrical and mechanical interfaces.
Bring up and integrate harnesses with prototype vehicle hardware in the lab and during system-level testing.
Debug system-level issues involving intermittent connections, grounding problems, shielding issues, connector failures, water ingress, mechanical damage, assembly errors, and hardware/software interactions.
Define harness validation requirements and work with Manufacturing Engineering and Test Engineering to develop procedures for continuity, isolation, signal quality, environmental exposure, vibration, system integration, and production acceptance.
Support prototype builds, sea trials, production testing, manufacturing transition, deployed-hardware failure analysis, and sustaining improvements throughout the product lifecycle.
Work closely with Manufacturing Engineering and Supply Chain on harness vendors, cable assembly suppliers, connector manufacturers, component availability, manufacturability, and production readiness.
Produce concise, functional engineering documentation that enables implementation, testing, operation, manufacturing, and future development.
Mentor other engineers and contribute to technical reviews without moving away from hands-on engineering.
What We’re Looking For
Deep practical experience designing wiring harnesses, cable assemblies, connector systems, or vehicle electrical interconnects for complex electromechanical systems.
Strong understanding of both the electrical and mechanical aspects of harness design, including routing, packaging, strain relief, grounding, shielding, current capacity, signal quality, environmental sealing, serviceability, and manufacturability.
Experience personally creating harness drawings, cable assembly drawings, wiring diagrams, connector documentation, BOMs, and manufacturing-ready release documentation.
Experience with major mechanical CAD, harness design, and PCBA design tools.
Ability to read and work with mechanical CAD, schematics, PCB documentation, connector documentation, datasheets, and interface requirements.
Experience with power distribution, high-current vehicle harnessing, and a range of common digital, serial, differential, and RF vehicle interfaces.
Practical understanding of signal integrity for vehicle harnesses, including differential pairs, shielded cables, impedance-sensitive links, terminations, crosstalk, grounding, bonding, shielding, EMI/EMC mitigation, and noise control.
Experience using lab equipment such as multimeters, oscilloscopes, hipot or insulation testers, continuity testers, and related tools to validate designs and debug failures.
Experience defining harness validation requirements and working with manufacturing and test teams to turn those requirements into repeatable procedures.
Experience supporting prototype builds, field testing, production transition, production test, failure analysis, and sustaining engineering.
Demonstrated ability to work from first principles, make progress with incomplete information, and rapidly iterate between design, implementation, testing, and refinement.
Ability to work independently with minimal oversight while collaborating closely across Avionics, Power Electronics, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, and Test Engineering.
Willingness to support sea trials and field testing when required.
U.S. citizenship and eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.
Approximately five or more years of relevant harness, electrical, electromechanical, or vehicle-integration engineering experience is preferred, but demonstrated technical depth, multidisciplinary problem-solving ability, and a record of delivering difficult hardware systems matter more than a specific number of years. Exceptional candidates at any experience level are encouraged to apply.
Preferred Experience
Developing safety-critical, mission-critical, or high-reliability products.
Taking a wiring harness, cable assembly, connector system, or vehicle interconnect architecture from a blank sheet through prototype, test, production release, and operational deployment.
Autonomous vehicles, underwater systems, UAVs, robotics, aerospace, automotive, motorsport, marine systems, industrial equipment, energy systems, space systems, or other tightly integrated electromechanical products.
Designing harnesses, cables, connectors, or electrical interconnects for harsh or environmentally sealed vehicle applications.
Hands-on harness fabrication experience for prototyping, including crimping, soldering, shield termination, backshell assembly, connector assembly, continuity testing, or insulation testing.
FEA or simulation experience for strain, vibration, retention, thermal exposure, or mechanical robustness.
Specialized harness or environmental test equipment experience, such as network analyzers, TDRs, cable analyzers, thermal cameras, environmental chambers, or pull testers.
Familiarity with applicable harness, connector, and workmanship standards.
Working with manufacturing engineering, supply chain, connector manufacturers, cable assembly suppliers, and harness vendors to move designs from prototype to production.
Disclosures
This position may require access to information protected under U.S. export control laws and regulations, including the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Please note that any offer for employment may be conditioned on authorization to receive software or technology controlled under these U.S. export control laws and regulations without sponsorship for an export license.
Odin Dynamics, Inc. participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S.
Odin Dynamics is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. All qualified applicants will be treated with respect and receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, uniform service, Veteran status, age, or any other protected characteristic per federal, state, or local law, including those with a criminal history, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws.