Senior Electrical Engineer

Department: Engineering

Location: Berkeley

Employment Type: FullTime

Company Description

Backed by leading climate and American dynamism investors, Terranova builds intelligent robotic systems to terraform the Earth itself - lifting land, restoring wetlands, and protecting critical infrastructure from floods and sea-level rise.

Our mission is to preserve the built environment, create new habitats, and usher in an era of abundance. Our work supports climate resilience, disaster recovery, and defense across the United States and beyond.

We’re assembling a world-class team that wants to work on something real, physical, and civilization-scale. If you want your work to reshape the world (literally), this is the place to do it.

What to to Expect

Terranova seeks a Senior Electrical Engineer to join our core engineering team. The ideal candidate has a passion for their craft and can go deep on design and analysis while maintaining a systems-level view across electrical, embedded, and controls disciplines. This person thrives in a startup environment - owning problems end-to-end, moving fast, and building machines that survive the real world.

You’ll lead projects from concept through field deployment: designing, analyzing, fabricating, and testing large-scale robotic systems that operate in the most demanding environments on Earth. Expect to be hands-on, spend long hours in the factory and in the field working alongside technicians and operators.

Key Responsibilities

• Own all aspects of electrical design, analysis, controls integration, and component/supplier selection

• Understand high power systems (150+ kW) and ensure safe design

• Lead design reviews and guide projects through prototyping, testing, and initial production

• Collaborate closely with electrical, controls, and field teams to deliver integrated, field-ready systems

• Design custom PCBs and circuit boards for development

• Drive failure analysis, testing, and iterative improvement based on real-world data

Preferred Skills and Experience

• 4+ years of electrical engineering experience in machinery, robotics, or heavy equipment

• Hands-on prototyping skills - you enjoy working in the shop

• Experience in electromechanical controls - VFDs

• Experience in high voltage AC power conversion systems and lithium batteries

• VFD control and setup

• PCB and embedded systems design skills (Altium or equivalent)

• Comfortable with the pace and intensity of early-stage startup life, including long days, 6-day workweeks, and extended field hours

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Electrical Engineering or related field

• U.S. permanent residency required

Nice to Have Skills

• CAD proficiency (OnShape, SolidWorks, Fusion 360, or NX)

• Familiarity with C++, Python, or similar for controls or simulation

• Proven project management capabilities with multiple concurrent workstreams

• Experience with compliance, HAZOP, and FMEA tools for machine safety

Ideal Archetype

• Have worked on large complex outdoor high power systems - ideally large robots, electric, large motors, many sensors

• OSHA compliance familiarity for construction equipment

• Maker background - love building stuff, work is fun to you

• Coming from a startup environment - high ownership, fast paced environment