What are the responsibilities and job description for the Principal Electrical Engineer Cable & Harness Design, Integration & Test position at Invariant Corporation?
Invariant Corporation is a small company with a highly qualified technical staff that takes pride in providing quality services to our customers. We offer a comprehensive benefits package including 401k, profit sharing, and health/dental insurance. We have the following position available in our Huntsville office:
Principal Electrical Engineer Cable & Harness Design, Integration & Test
26-077
Invariant Corporation is seeking a highly experienced Electrical Engineer to provide technical leadership in the design, development, testing, integration, and troubleshooting of cable and wire harness assemblies for rugged military and defense systems.
The ideal candidate is a seasoned electrical engineer with 25 years of hands-on experience and deep expertise in cable and wire harness design, fabrication, testing, system integration, and troubleshooting. Serve as a technical bridge between engineering disciplines, manufacturing, test personnel, and customers.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the design, development, documentation, and testing of complex cable and wire harness assemblies for military and ruggedized electrical systems.
- Design
- and review cable/harness assemblies, including wire selection, connectors, shielding, grounding, routing, termination, and electrical interfaces.
- and support cable test equipment, test fixtures, breakout boxes, and verification methods.
- Develop and maintain electrical wiring diagrams, schematics, cable layouts, assembly drawings, BOMs, and work instructions using CAD tools.
- Perform hands-on electrical testing, troubleshooting, failure analysis, and root-cause determination for cable assemblies, subsystems, and integrated systems.
- Support
- subsystem and platform-level hardware/system integration and verification testing.
- 3-phase 115/208/277/480 VAC and PLC cable assembly design and implementation/installation.
- Apply EMI/EMC, signal integrity, RF, and grounding principles to cable and harness designs.
- Conduct technical design reviews, risk assessments, and engineering evaluations.
- Establish and improve engineering processes, design practices, test methods, and documentation standards.
- Provide technical direction and mentor younger engineers and designers in cable/harness design, troubleshooting, testing, and engineering best practices.
- Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, software, systems, manufacturing, test, and configuration-management teams and interface with customers as required.
Required Qualifications
- Masters degree in Electrical Engineering.
- 25 years of progressive, hands-on electrical engineering experience, preferably supporting DoD, aerospace, or other highly regulated systems.
- IPC/WHMA-A-620 certification or the ability to obtain.
- Experience:
- designing, testing, troubleshooting, and integrating cable and wire harness assemblies (Extensive).
- with subsystem/platform-level system integration and verification testing.
- developing cable assembly documentation, work instructions, test procedures, and engineering reports.
- hands-on with electrical test equipment including DMMs, oscilloscopes, function/pulse generators, power supplies, and spectrum analyzers.
- Expert knowledge of electrical drawings, wiring diagrams, wire selection, military connectors, shielding, grounding, and cable interfaces.
- Demonstrated ability to:
- independently troubleshoot complex electrical problems and determine root cause.
- mentor, coach, review, and provide technical direction to less-experienced engineers.
- Working knowledge of MIL-STD-461, MIL-STD-464, MIL-STD-810, NFPA 70/NEC, and ASME Y14.100.
- Proficiency with CAD tools such as AutoCAD or equivalent.
- Strong technical communication, documentation, problem-solving, and engineering judgment.
- U.S. Citizenship required; ability to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance.
Preferred Qualifications
- Knowledge of EMI/EMC requirements and cable design practices.
- Experience with:
- military or aerospace cable/harness design (Extensive)
- ruggedized electrical systems and complex military platforms.
- RF cable design.
- designing or automating cable verification test fixtures.
- PCB/PCBA and FPGA-based systems sufficient to support system-level integration and troubleshooting.
- Altium, AutoCAD, MS Office Suite, and engineering/document management systems.
- data acquisition and automated test systems.
- test sets, breakout boxes, and specialized electrical test equipment.
- government programs, projects, or platforms.
- developing engineering processes and mentoring engineering personnel.
Technical Leadership & Mentoring
This position is expected to provide Principal/SME technical leadership. Traditional people-management opportunities exist within the organization. The successful candidate will be a trusted technical resource for the engineering organization and will:
- Mentor younger and less-experienced engineers in cable/harness design and electrical engineering practices.
- Review designs and provide practical, experience-based technical guidance.
- Teach effective troubleshooting and root-cause-analysis techniques.
- Help:
- engineers translate system requirements into practical cable and harness designs.
- establish and maintain engineering standards and best practices.
- Promote disciplined design, documentation, testing, and configuration-management practices.
- Share lessons learned from field, laboratory, manufacturing, and integration experience.
Essential Functions:
Requires Ability To
- Work effectively in a small, fast-paced, mission-driven environment.
- Support office, laboratory, field, and customer-site activities.
- Occasional travel for special circumstances only.
Work Environment
Office, laboratory, and field environments. Requires clear, accurate, and timely verbal and written communication and professional interaction with coworkers, management, and customers.
Physical Requirements
Ability to work at a desk and in laboratory/field environments, read printed and electronic materials, operate standard laboratory equipment, and access multiple floors and buildings at customer and company facilities.
This position is expected to be performed only in the state of Alabama.
Invariant Corporation is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer - minorities/males/females/veterans/individuals with disabilities/sexual orientation/gender identity.
Invariant is a drug-free workplace.
Headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama, Invariant is a 100% employee owned, non-traditional defense contractor providing advanced engineering solutions to support national defense, homeland security, and law enforcement. We are ISO 9001 certified with secure facilities, labs, and high bay space performing advanced manufacturing, integration, assembly, and testing of mission critical systems. Join a team where innovation fuels impact. At Invariant, every voice contributes, and every employee-owner shares in the success of our mission to protect those who protect us. We’re home to engineers, developers, and specialists—web builders of mission-critical systems, united by purpose and driven by pride. As a 100% employee-owned company, your work doesn’t just power national defense—it helps power your future. Ready to take the next step in your career? Explore our current openings and discover how you can make a lasting impact while building ownership in everything you help create.