Design Engineer

Job Title: Lead Wiring Harness Design Engineer

Job Description

The Lead Wiring Harness Design Engineer designs, develops, and releases complete high-voltage and low-voltage wiring harness systems for high-volume manufactured products. This role owns the full lifecycle of wiring harness design, from concept and detailed engineering through prototyping, supplier coordination, and validation, while ensuring compliance with regulatory standards and supporting cross-functional teams in a Lean product development environment.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and release complete high-voltage and low-voltage wiring harness systems, including wire and cable gauge sizing, connector selection, terminal and crimp definitions, complex harness routing, and manufacturing considerations.
• Create and maintain logical wiring diagrams and schematics, detailed 2D harness manufacturing drawings, bills of materials (BOMs), and related engineering specifications to support production and service needs.
• Complete the GEA wiring harness checklist to ensure thorough design reviews and adherence to internal standards and best practices.
• Drive the CAD team on 3D harness routing, packaging, clearance optimization, and thermal and vibration strain relief within a 3D CAD environment.
• Build and support prototype harness builds to validate feasibility, manufacturability, serviceability, and assembly methods, and incorporate lessons learned into the final design.
• Coordinate harness fabrication with external suppliers, including development of quality plans and execution of first-piece qualification activities.
• Ensure compliance with UL requirements for harnesses, connectors, and related components, and support efforts to meet other regulatory standards such as FCC and CE as needed.
• Drive connector and harness standardization across product lines to improve quality, reduce cost, and increase design reuse.
• Own FRACAS (Failure Reporting, Analysis, and Corrective Action System) investigations for wiring harness failures identified during design verification, reliability testing, or early field returns, and ensure timely closure with robust corrective actions.
• Apply Six Sigma and reliability engineering methods to validate designs, drive corrective actions, and implement durable, high-reliability solutions.
• Collaborate with cross-functional engineering and operations teams within a Lean product development process to ensure designs meet performance, cost, manufacturability, and serviceability targets.
• Partner with Controls and Electrical Engineering teams to support product-level EMI/EMC testing and issue resolution, including design updates and verification testing as needed.
• Lead DFMEA (Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) activities for wiring harness systems, ensuring risks are identified, mitigated, and documented.
• Develop and maintain project plans for wiring harness design activities, including schedules, milestones, and deliverables, and communicate progress to stakeholders.
• Use strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a hands-on approach to troubleshoot design issues, support testing, and resolve field and manufacturing problems.
• Work closely with the CAD team to ensure that 2D and 3D representations of harness designs are accurate, manufacturable, and aligned with product requirements.

Essential Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, or a related engineering field.
• Minimum of 7 years of engineering design experience on high-volume manufactured products.
• At least 5 years of dedicated experience designing wiring harnesses, including connector and terminal selection, wire insulation and derating calculations, and supplier qualification.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience using Creo Schematic or a similar electrical CAD tool for wiring harness design.
• Proficiency in wiring harness design, including wire harnesses, cable assemblies, and harness routing strategies.
• Strong ability to create and interpret wiring schematics, logical wiring diagrams, and related documentation.
• Demonstrated experience leading DFMEAs for complex electromechanical systems.
• Demonstrated project planning experience, including scheduling, milestone tracking, and coordination with cross-functional teams.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a hands-on approach to testing, validation, and issue resolution.
• Experience working with regulatory requirements such as UL, FCC, or CE for electrical products and components.
• Ability to collaborate closely with CAD teams, even if not serving as the primary CAD modeler, to ensure high-quality 2D and 3D design outputs.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Experience with harness design standardization across multiple product lines to improve quality, cost, and reuse.
• Familiarity with Six Sigma methodologies and reliability engineering practices for design validation and continuous improvement.
• Experience supporting FRACAS investigations and implementing corrective actions for wiring harness failures.
• Experience in EMI/EMC testing support at the product level, including issue identification and design remediation.
• Experience working within a Lean product development process and collaborating with operations, manufacturing, and controls teams.
• Ability to coordinate with external suppliers on harness fabrication, quality plans, and first-piece qualification.
• Strong communication skills for cross-functional collaboration and documentation of design decisions and test results.

Work Environment

This role operates primarily within a laundry and electronic controls department located in Building 1. The engineer works closely with cross-functional engineering, operations, and CAD teams in a Lean product development environment. Daily work involves collaboration around electrical and electronic control systems, use of electrical CAD tools such as Creo Schematic, and interaction with prototype and production harness builds. The setting supports hands-on work with harness assemblies, testing equipment, and supplier-produced components, with a focus on reliability, manufacturability, and compliance with regulatory standards.

This is a Contract to Hire position based out of Louisville, KY.

The pay range for this position is $110000.00 - $140000.00/hr.

Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following: • Medical, dental & vision • Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital • 401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available • Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents) • Short and long-term disability • Health Spending Account (HSA) • Transportation benefits • Employee Assistance Program • Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

This is a fully onsite position in Louisville,KY.

This position is anticipated to close on Sep 2, 2026.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email [email protected] for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.