# Sr. Electrical Harness Engineer at 9 Mothers

Sr. Electrical Harness Engineer at 9 Mothers in Austin. On-site, full-time, paying $140k–$175k. Posted October 28, 2026.

- Company: 9 Mothers
- Location: Austin
- Workplace: On-site
- Job type: Full-time
- Pay: $140k–$175k
- Experience: 8+ years
- Posted: 2026-10-28
- Apply: https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/9-mothers/08f4ee14-b1fd-4a9f-9122-96f153e08619/application
- Source: https://jobmagic.ai/jobs/sr-electrical-harness-engineer-9-mothers-pevwcz

## Requirements

- Design for flex life: specify cable construction, bend radii, twist limits, carrier geometry and strain relief for harnesses that cross moving axes and take recoil; set and prove cycle-life targets.

## Description

**Location**: Onsite — Austin, TX
**Employment Type**: Direct Hire, Full‑Time
**Job Title**: Senior Electrical Harness Engineer
 **About 9 Mothers**
The modern battlefield has changed. Cheap, autonomous suicide drones have turned the tactical advantage upside down, and the world is looking for a solution. At 9 Mothers, we aren’t just "innovating"—we are building the shield.
Backed by top-tier investors, we develop AI powered machines designed to intercept and neutralize Group 1/sUAS threats in real-time. Our flagship product is a low-power, counter-drone system built for the edge—on vehicles, at bases, or in a soldier's pack.
 **Why 9 Mothers?**
While others build for "awareness" or "long-term research," we build for the immediate survival of those in harm’s way. We are a team of hackers, engineers, and mission-driven builders who value field-ready capability over polished slide decks. If you want to see your code or hardware in the field next month—not next year—this is your playground.
 **Position Summary**
EDDA's cables are its nerves, and we're hiring the person who owns them: every harness in the product — power, signal, data and fiber — from wire list through connector selection, routing across moving axes, bench prototyping, qualification and production sourcing. You have shipped rugged, high-flex-life harnesses and are equally at home with copper, fiber and hybrid builds.
EDDA is the low-cost counter-UAS solution, so the job is one judgment made hundreds of times: rugged where it matters, cost-efficient where it doesn't. MIL-spec circular connectors and continuous-flex cable where a harness crosses the elevation axis and takes recoil; a less-rugged sealed connector and standard jacket where it sits bolted inside the base. You defend each call with test data and a cost roll-up.
 **What You'll Own**

- **Power:** battery, bus and motor-drive feeds — conductor sizing, voltage drop, thermal budgets, fusing, grounding.

- **Signal and data:** encoder, sensor, CAN, Ethernet, USB and camera links, with the shielding they need.

- **Fiber and hybrid:** EMI-immune, high-bandwidth links between sensor heads and compute, including copper/fiber hybrids through one rugged connector.

- **Moving axes:** continuous-flex and torsion-rated cables, service loops, cable carriers and slip-ring interfaces across EDDA's azimuth and elevation joints.

- **Connectors and sealing:** rugged circular MIL-spec where it earns its place, less-rugged sealed or overmolded connectors where it doesn't.

- **Manufacturing and sourcing:** formboard drawings, IPC/WHMA-A-620 workmanship, contract-manufacturer qualification, second sources and cost-down.

 **Essential Duties**

- **Architect the harness system:** turn the electrical architecture into a harness topology — segmentation, connector locations, grounding and shield strategy, service loops and slip-ring boundaries — that is buildable, field-serviceable and cheap to make.

- **Design and specify:** wire lists, schematics, 3-D routings and formboard drawings; select conductors, jackets, shielding and connectors against electrical, environmental and cost requirements, with the margin shown.

- **Design for flex life:** specify cable construction, bend radii, twist limits, carrier geometry and strain relief for harnesses that cross moving axes and take recoil; set and prove cycle-life targets.

- **Prototype at the bench:** build first-article harnesses yourself — crimp, solder, terminate fiber, trial overmolds — so every drawing is proven by hand before it goes to a supplier.

- **Test and qualify:** flex, pull and vibration rigs; continuity, hipot and insertion-loss tests; shock, vibration, temperature, water and dust qualification; root-cause failures that come back from the range.

- **Engineer the cost:** hold the harness BOM to target — standardize connector families, cut unique part numbers, go rugged only where the requirement demands it.

- **Source and release:** qualify contract manufacturers, run RFQs, manage second sources and lead times, and release drawings and acceptance tests that production can build from without you.

 **Requirements**

- **Experience:** 8+ years designing, specifying and sourcing cable harnesses for shipped hardware — robotics, aerospace, defense or industrial equipment that lives outdoors and gets abused.

- **Rugged, high-flex-life harnesses:** you have designed harnesses across moving joints (pan-tilt, gimbal, turret, robot arm or cable-track), specified continuous-flex constructions and bend limits, and proven cycle life on a flex rig.

- **Copper, fiber and hybrid:** hands-on with shielded multi-conductor copper builds, single-mode and multimode fiber termination and testing, and copper/fiber hybrids through a shared connector.

- **Connectors and sealing:** working command of rugged circular MIL-spec families (MIL-DTL-38999 or similar) and less-rugged sealed families — when each is right, how to terminate and seal them, and what they cost.

- **Harness CAD and documentation:** wire lists, 3-D routing and formboard drawings in SolidWorks Electrical/Routing, Zuken E3, Capital, Altium or similar; drawings a contract manufacturer can quote and build from.

- **Workmanship:** IPC/WHMA-A-620 fluent; you crimp with calibrated tooling and pull-test your terminations.

- **Signal integrity basics:** shielding, grounding and impedance control for Ethernet, USB, CAN and camera links.

- **Test and failure analysis:** continuity, hipot, insertion-loss and flex testing; you have cut open a failed harness, found the root cause and fixed the design.

- **Compliance:** U.S. citizenship and the ability to pass a background check.

 **Nice‑to‑Have**

- MIL-STD-810 shock, vibration, temperature, sand/dust and immersion; MIL-STD-461 EMI/EMC.

- Harnesses on weapon-mounted or recoil-loaded systems.

- Slip rings and rotary joints — electrical, fiber and hybrid.

- Expanded-beam and MIL-PRF-29504 fiber termini; OTDR and fusion splicing.

- Overmolding and potting design rules and tooling.

- UAS or counter-UAS platform experience.

- Security clearance or the ability to obtain one.

 **Benefits**

- **Meaningful Early Equity:** You aren't just an employee; you are a foundational owner. Your contributions directly drive the value of your stake in the company.

- **Direct Roadmap Influence:** Forget the bureaucracy of big defense. You will have a seat at the table, directly shaping our product and technology trajectory from day one.

- **Mission-Critical Work:** We don't build for "what if." We build systems the Department of War actively needs to counter immediate, real-world threats.

- **The Builder's Playground:** Work in a brand-new lab fully optimized for rapid prototyping, equipped with NVIDIA Jetsons, high-end scopes, and 3-D printers.

- **100% Employer-Paid Premiums:** We cover 100% of your medical, dental, and vision insurance premiums and cover 50% of healthcare premiums for your dependents.

- **Unlimited PTO:** We value results, not clock-watching. Take the time you need to stay sharp and recharge.

- **Zero Red Tape:** You report to the founders. You have the autonomy to make technical decisions that would take months of committee approval at a larger firm.

- **Austin-Based Culture:** Join an onsite team in Austin, TX, where we prioritize high-bandwidth collaboration and rapid field-testing.

- **Relocation Assistance:** We want the best talent in the room. If you aren't in Austin yet, we’ll help you get here, to make your transition to the Silicon Hills seamless.

 **About the Interview**

- Virtual interview (45 min via MS Teams)

- Onsite interview in Austin (1.5 hr in-person)