Business Title: Senior Electrical Engineer
Reports to: Senior Engineering Manager
Leadership Scope: Individual Contributor
Company Info: With a heritage of nearly 120 years, we aren't just a company; we are a brand of trust. But more than anything, we are a collection of individuals who, together, give Grote Industries a decisive competitive advantage. At Grote, our shared vision is clear - to meet the needs of the customers we serve. We accomplish that mission every day by following a set of core values that makes us who we are.
Innovation has been the hallmark of Grote Industries from the start. From durable, easy to see stop lights to the latest in LED lighting technology, Grote has been leading the way in advanced vehicle system solutions from early in the last century right up to today. With these innovations, Grote has helped millions of people throughout North America and the world benefit from the innovation and design excellence of Grote products.
Position Summary: The Senior Electrical Engineer is responsible for the design, development, validation, and support of automotive headlamp and signal lamp systems for OEM customers in the heavy-duty market. This role leads electrical design activities, supports cross-functional teams, and ensures products meet regulatory, customer, performance, durability, quality, manufacturing, and cost requirements while mentoring less-experienced engineers.
Position Duties:
- Working with project team members to understand/develop requirements and to develop new or improved lamp concepts/designs satisfying regulatory and customer performance, durability, and quality requirements along with meeting internal manufacturing process requirements and cost targets.
- Developing the design of electrical systems and components for lamps including primary responsibility for electrical system architecture, PCBA schematics, and component / PCB material selection and directing/reviewing the development of the PCB keep-outs and layouts, harnesses, and embedded software.
- Leading the development/review of drawings for all PCBAs, harnesses, and relevant electrical sub-assemblies ensuring the proper use of GD&T and linear dimensioning/tolerancing as appropriate, that all critical features are defined, that all relevant specifications are noted, completeness and accuracy, etc.
- Supporting/performing tolerance stack-up analysis using statistical methods as appropriate.
- Completing PCBA circuit simulations and coordinating/reviewing thermal FEA/CFD simulations.
- Performing and/or coordinating testing of lamps and components to ensure designs meet all electrical and thermal requirements, including ESD, voltage transients, EMI/EMC emissions/immunity, over/reverse voltage, etc.
- Developing/improving and documenting design, simulation, and testing standards related to all aspects of lamp electrical design.
- Researching, interpreting, and applying relevant regulatory requirements and industry standards including FMVSS 108, UN Regulations (R10 and R148-R150), SAE Lighting Systems Group standards, and those from IEC, IPC, CISPR, ISO, etc.
- Working with the Manufacturing and Quality teams to troubleshoot and resolve issues related to manufacturing processes and quality controls.
- Working with the Purchasing team in the sourcing of purchased components and validation of suppliers and ensuring that purchased components are properly designed/spec'd to conform to industry standards, minimize cost, and maximize supply chain flexibility.
- Working with the Sales team in the quoting of new or revised business and customer management including the estimation of part and capital costs.
- Mentoring other engineers and team members in all aspects, and electrical aspects in particular, of lamp quoting, design, manufacturing, validation, etc.
Requirements: The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor degree or higher in Electrical or Electronics Engineering or a related technical field and extensive (3-5+ years) electrical engineering design experience in automotive headlamps and/or signal lamps including familiarity with relevant optical and/or mechanical engineering design principles, along with experience with the manufacturing processes relevant to automotive lighting and PCBs/PCBAs, such as surface mount and through hole PCB assembly, PCB fabrication, PCBA testing/programming, harness assembly, terminal crimping, lamp assembly, etc. Good documentation, communication, and teamwork are essential. Specific relevant skills/experience are listed below:
- Switch-mode and/or linear power supply design, specifically constant current applications
- Design of/for mixed-signal electronics, analog circuit protection, electromagnetic emissions and immunity, ESD, signal and power integrity
- Familiarity with PCB layout principles and usage of common PCB materials, including FR4 and Al metal core, and finishes, including ENIG and HASL
- Circuit simulation in LT Spice or similar
- Wiring harness design
- Experience in Altium Designer / Altium 365
- SAE J1939, ISO 11898, or other CAN/LIN protocols
- Board-level communication protocols like UART, I2C, and SPI
- Embedded software development
- Creo CAD exposure is optimal, followed by Catia or NX and then other systems
- Performing and/or coordinating/reviewing the listed simulations/analyses utilizing the listed or similar software:
- Thermal FEA utilizing Ansys Mechanical / CFD utilizing FloEFD
- Part measurement and dimensional analysis utilizing PolyWorks
- Intermediate GD&T application and tolerance stack-up analysis
Research, review, interpretation, and application of relevant regulatory requirements and industry standards, specifically in relation to FMVSS 108, UN Regulations (R148-R150), and the SAE Lighting Systems Group
