Role Overview
This is a hybrid engineering + operations role. You will act as the interconnect DRI for six
months, owning both the engineering side (connector and wire selection, DFM with suppliers,
cable build and reliability testing, design reviews) and the operations side (cable drawing
release, Jira tracking, purchase orders, vendor follow-up, inventory, BOM sync). You will be the
single point of contact that designers, vendors, the build floor, and the field team come to for
anything cable related, and you will keep the work moving without waiting to be told what is
next.
Key Responsibilities
Interconnect Engineering (DRI)
● Own the cable harness and interconnect workstream for Boron and Carbon, including
body/arm (48V/24V power, EtherCAT, GMSL camera coax), hand mini-cables (sub-2 mm
bundles), and head/audio harnesses.
● Select and qualify connectors, wire, and terminations, covering both crimp-contact and
solder-contact connectors (e.g., JST SUR/SUH, Hirose DF53, Harwin Datamate, Molex;
crimp vs. solder cup vs. IDC; strand count, shielding, jacket material), against current,
bundle diameter, flex life, and lead-time constraints.
● Create, review, and red-line cable drawings, wiring diagrams, and harness schematics in
SolidWorks, Siemens NX / Teamcenter, and AutoCAD Electrical, plus Lucidchart
topology diagrams; drive DFM conversations with suppliers.
● Build, test, and inspect cables in the lab: set up and program Cirris cable/harness testers
(continuity, resistance, hipot), run Schleuniger cut and strip machines, verify crimp
quality (crimp height, pull test), and do first-article inspection of vendor builds.
● Run cable reliability testing: coordinate cable-level flex/torsion testing with suppliers and
actuator-level cyclic life testing with internal engineers; reconcile the two data sets and
turn failures into drawing or process changes.
● Drive custom-interconnect development with strategic partners (e.g., ECT) and keep
design notes (RDNs) current.
● Manage engineering changes through the team's CCB / ECR / Deviation process.
● Request prototype fabrication (3D printed molds, overmolds, CNC fixtures) through RL
Proto intake and track it to completion.
Cable Release & Operations
● Run the cable drawing release workflow: pull new drawing PDFs from the Drive intake
folder, file them by sub-assembly, archive superseded revisions, and update the Drawing
Registry.
● Keep Jira as the source of truth: update each cable's drawing ticket under the Boron and
Lithium/Beryllium drawing epics with revision letter, released PDF link, release date, and
change summary; create tickets for new cables.
● Create and manage vendor purchase tickets (Symmetry Electronics, HSI, Mira
Technologies, MechConnect, and others), link them to the released drawing, and attach
the correct PDF revision so vendors always build to the latest rev.
● Submit purchase requests / POs with the correct cost center, project code, and PSID;
chase quotes, lead times, first articles, and shipments.
● Sync the Cable Drawing Registry into the Build Matrix / BOM (left/right limb duplication,
harness container rows, Jira links) so builds are kitted correctly.
● Maintain Jira-based min/max cable inventory and prioritize scarce material across robot
programs (e.g., Boron over winding-down Beryllium).
● Triage incoming interconnect requests from the Interconnect Jira form and the field
team's Kanban board; keep stale tickets moving.
Communication & Reporting
● Report weekly status in the Roboline Weekly Roll Up and run cable release reviews
("release parties") with engineering and suppliers.
● Be the primary contact for suppliers and internal stakeholders in Slack, Workplace, and
email.
● Use and maintain the team's AI agent automations, such as the daily vendor
Jira report, cable release skills, and purchase-ticket cable lookup, and improve them
when the process changes.
Minimum Qualifications
● Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Mechanical, or Manufacturing Engineering, or equivalent
experience.
● 4+ years in cable harness / interconnect engineering, manufacturing engineering, or
hardware NPI in robotics, consumer electronics, automotive, or aerospace.
● Familiarity with connectors that use crimp contacts as well as solder contacts: selecting
the contact, terminating it correctly, and inspecting the result; plus wire gauge and
stranding, shielding, and bundle sizing.
● Able to read, create, and red-line cable drawings and schematics in SolidWorks and/or
Siemens NX, and in AutoCAD Electrical.
● Experience managing cable or electromechanical suppliers: quotes, first articles, DFM
feedback, and on-time delivery.
● Daily, fluent use of Jira and Google Workspace (especially Sheets) to track a high
volume of parts, revisions, and orders.
● Comfort working onsite in a lab / build environment with frequently changing priorities.
Preferred Qualifications
● IPC/WHMA-A-620 certification. A current certificate is ideal; an expired one is still a big
plus.
● Hands-on experience programming Cirris testers and setting up Schleuniger cut and
strip machines.
● Experience with both SolidWorks and Siemens NX / Teamcenter.
● Cable reliability testing (flex, torsion, cyclic life) and failure analysis.
● Familiarity with EtherCAT, CAN / CAN-FD, GMSL coax, and 24–48V power distribution in
robots or actuators.
● Experience with overmolding, strain relief, and in-actuator / through-bore cable routing.
● Experience with procurement systems, BOM management, and inventory min/max.
● Comfort using AI agents and automations (or scripting) to cut down repetitive tracking
work.
Pay Rate: $35-50/hr
Cable Engineer in washington dc at Unknown Company
This position is listed as full time and hybrid.