Electrical Engineering Lead, Merlin

• BS in Electronics, Electrical, or Aerospace Engineering; MS preferred
• 8+ years of relevant systems-level electrical design and integration experience in the aviation and aerospace industries
• 2+ years of direct people management experience, or demonstrated technical leadership (tech lead, project lead) with responsibility for team deliverables and mentorship
• Deep experience integrating and debugging systems containing COTS/MOTS modules, custom circuits, software, sensors, and human/machine interfaces
• Working knowledge of standard interface protocols such as Ethernet, ARINC 429, RS-232, RS-422, and RS-485, sufficient to guide design reviews and resolve integration issues
• Strong command of system schematics, wiring diagrams, and subsystem block diagrams, with the ability to critically review the work of others
• Experience with aviation/aerospace wire harness design, connector selection, and sourcing, including managing supplier relationships and lead times
• Demonstrated ability to plan and manage engineering schedules, budgets, and resource allocation across multiple concurrent projects
• Outstanding organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation communication skills, including experience presenting to executive leadership and external partners or regulators

Desirable

• Are you an experienced electrical engineering leader who is passionate about building and guiding teams developing systems at the forefront of aviation technology?
• Do you thrive at the intersection of deep technical work and people leadership — equally comfortable setting technical direction at the whiteboard and rolling up your sleeves in the lab?
• Would you like to shape the engineering culture, processes, and technical direction for a new class of aircraft autonomy products?
• If so, you might be a good fit for the Electrical Engineering Manager / Lead role here at Merlin Labs
• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of electrical engineers responsible for the electrical architecture of our aircraft autonomy system, including power distribution, communications, computing, electro-mechanical systems, control systems, and user interfaces
• Own technical planning and execution for the electrical engineering function: define priorities, allocate resources, manage schedules, and balance competing demands across aircraft programs
• Establish and continuously improve engineering processes, design standards, and review practices to ensure robust, certifiable designs delivered on agile timelines
• Guide architectural decisions and design trade studies, providing technical oversight for the integration and verification of Commercial/Modified-Off-the-Shelf (COTS/MOTS) electronic subsystems
• Review and approve electrical design and fabrication drawings, test plans and reports, and associated aircraft installation and certification documents
• Partner with cross-functional leaders in software, systems, mechanical, certification, and flight test to align electrical engineering deliverables with program milestones
• Recruit, hire, and onboard electrical engineers; conduct performance reviews, support career development, and foster an inclusive, high-performing team culture
• Serve as the escalation point for technical issues in lab, field, and aircraft settings, and coordinate support for installation technicians
• Act as the senior technical lead for the electrical discipline: personally own complex or highest-risk design problems, including power distribution architecture, signal integrity, and EMI/EMC challenges
• Contribute hands-on to design work as needed — creating and releasing schematics, wiring diagrams, and interface control documents alongside the team, particularly during critical program phases
• Lead root-cause investigations for electrical anomalies discovered during integration, ground test, and flight test, driving corrective actions to closure
• Set the technical roadmap for the electrical discipline, including tooling, component standards, and reuse strategies that scale across future aircraft platforms
• This position may require up to 25% travel, sometimes with short notice, to both domestic and international locations to support aircraft and system integration activities