Senior Electrical Engineer — Grounded
Detroit, MI (in-person)
About Grounded
Grounded is a 25-person Detroit-based startup building modular electric platforms for specialty vehicles. We take cab chassis from OEMs like Ford and Harbinger and build configurable vehicle systems on top, serving mobile healthcare, RVs, command centers, food and beverage, pet care, and more. Our customers include Colgate, Nokia, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and Portland PD. We've raised ~$5M in VC funding and are shipping vehicles in market today.
We also build our own software: a mobile app, fleet dashboard, and onboard computer system that lets customers monitor and control vehicle systems remotely. We design, fabricate, and assemble everything in-house at our facility in Corktown.
The Role
We're hiring a senior electrical engineer to own the electrical systems that make our vehicles work: high-voltage battery and charging, low-voltage power distribution, wiring, and integration of our onboard computer system. Like everything at Grounded, the goal is modularity — today each vehicle's electrical design is largely custom, and we need a universal electrical architecture (power, routing, connectors, protection) that lets customers add modules without a redesign every time.
You'd do this while we ship. We have a production backlog of vehicles going to customers, so you'll balance delivering current builds with iterating toward a standardized electrical platform.
What you'd actually do
Own electrical design across customer vehicles and the modular platform: high-voltage battery/charging, DC power distribution, low-voltage systems, and wiring harnesses
Define standardized electrical interfaces, connectors, routing, and protection that modules can plug into
Integrate our onboard computer system, sensors, and controls so customers can monitor and control vehicle systems remotely
Create schematics, wiring diagrams, and work instructions, and work daily with the technicians who build and wire everything in-house
Spec components (batteries, inverters/converters, contactors, fusing) and own electrical safety, compliance, and serviceability
Partner with mechanical and software engineers on how power, packaging, and controls come together
Problem-solve on the shop floor when designs meet reality, and iterate fast
What we're looking for
7+ years of electrical engineering experience; you've taken electrical systems from design through production in real products
Strong with automotive/EV high- and low-voltage power systems: battery, charging, distribution, protection
Experience with wiring harness design, schematics, and electrical CAD
Solid grasp of electrical safety, compliance, and designing for serviceability
Systems thinker comfortable working across mechanical and software boundaries
Comfortable on a shop floor, next to technicians, debugging real hardware
Startup or small-company experience strongly preferred — you thrive with ambiguity and move fast
Nice-to-haves
EV powertrain, energy storage, or off-grid / mobile power experience
Embedded systems, CAN bus, or controls experience
Familiarity with electrical schematic automation or generative tooling
Compensation
Competitive base salary + meaningful equity in Grounded + comprehensive health insurance
Why this role is different
At most companies, electrical engineers own a narrow slice of a fixed product. Here you'll own the entire electrical system of a vehicle — and then figure out how to make it a configurable platform that powers a mammography unit, a command center, and a coffee truck off the same architecture. You'll work hands-on, see your designs built feet from your desk, and work directly with the leadership team every day.