Senior Electrical Engineer

Experienced Electric Engineer wanted to help create exceptional scaled down classic cars at The Little Car Company We need an enthusiastic Senior Electrical Engineer to take on all electrical design elements for our little cars, managing through development, testing and manufacture while leading team members and liasing with the Design Engineering team for our electric vehicles here at Bicester Heritage.

 

 

 

 

Summary

Compensation: Up to £60,000 based on experience + share options + bonus scheme

Location: The Little Car Company Headquarters, Bicester Heritage

Holiday: 25 days per year, option to take 1 month off unpaid per year after 1 year service

Share options scheme: After 6 months with us - we want everyone to feel ‘ownership’ of the company

Start date: ASAP

Reports to: Engineering Director

C-19 friendly process: We'll likely do the majority of initial interviews by video call, but will look to meet candidates in person before the final decision is made.

The Little Car Company

As it says in the name, we make little cars. But they're more than a little bit special.

The Little Car Company makes officially-branded drivable little cars for luxury high-end motor manufacturers. They are 75% scale, 100% electric and 200% fun tributes to classic cars; boasting swappable batteries, regenerative braking and different driving modes. We’re already making cars for Bugatti, Aston Martin and Ferrari and there’s more to follow.

Beautifully engineered vehicles don't just appear at our client's front doors - they are a result of months and sometimes years of meticulous design, dedicated craftsmanship, uncompromising testing and a personal customer experience second to none.

That doesn't happen without an exceptionally talented team fuelled by a determination to create truly remarkable vehicles, whilst having a ton of fun along the way. We work with the best car manufacturers in the business, so are only looking to recruit amazing talent to our small but highly functioning team.

We are building something special, an environment where everyone looks forward to their Monday mornings (our CEO Ben literally bounds out of bed each morning) and everyone in the company knows the difference they are making and can see how much value they are adding every day.

The role:

We need an enthusiastic Senior/Lead Electrical Engineer to take on all electrical design elements for our little cars. We’re a fast moving start up style company, and a ‘can do’ attitude is essential. You’ll report directly into the Engineering Director.

The day-to-day responsibilities:

  • Lead the electrical engineering element of vehicle development, to design and integrate all the electrical items onto the cars, working closely with the wider engineering team, to deal with whole vehicle packaging requirements and constraints.
  • Manage a small number of direct reports to fulfil all the requirements of the electrical engineering function.
  • Participate in and support the build and testing of prototype vehicles.
  • Involvement in coding of motor controller software with powertrain team.
  • Participate in and support the certification and homologation of pre-production vehicles.
  • Deliver harness drawings and data to enable the series production of electrical system components.
  • Oversee the quality testing of outgoing vehicles from the factory for electrical function and safety.
  • Identifying the best component suppliers, building a robust supply chain and looking to reduce supply costs where possible
  • Help shape the engineering process. Continually looking for opportunities to make designs better, safer, more efficient. 

What you bring to the table:

Essential:

  • A degree in Electrical Engineering or equivalent Electrical Engineering qualification.
  • Proven track record in industry of delivering electrical projects from cradle to grave with strong delivery in all key areas of the vehicle’s electrical systems and team leadership experience.
  • A background in niche, low volume or motorsport engineering with a broad understanding of other vehicle systems.
  • High level of attention to detail and a focus on safety.
  • CAD Experience, ideally on SolidWorks
  • The ability to design, create and test prototype wiring harnesses. 
  • You need to be practical, smart, detail-orientated and be able to spot problems before they happen. 
  • A hands-on approach. Comfortable in the design office as well as in the workshop.
  • Experience with lithium ion rechargeable batteries (we work at 48V).
  • Experience with electric vehicle charging systems. 
  • Experience with motor controllers (we work with Curtis).
  • Experience with electric motors in the 5-20kW+ range (we work with Dana).
  • Experience of taking vehicles through EMC testing.
  • High level of attention to detail and a focus on safety.

Nice to have: 

  • Motorsport experience
  • Experience with ‘full size’ vehicle electrical charging systems and knowledge of the different variants and how they are implemented.
  • Experience with vehicle remote kill systems
  • Experience with remote updating of vehicles over mobile networks
  • Solar vehicle experience
  • Team leadership experience so that you are able to manage the resources required to get projects done
  • Breadth of experience outside pure automotive, such as aerospace or robotics.

 Generally:

  • Comfortable working in a fairly unstructured environment where you have plenty of autonomy – we’re a pretty flat structure, as we expect everyone to be high-performing and self-managing. It’s an entrepreneurial environment which keeps things interesting, but it isn’t for everyone!
  • Switched on and can take the initiative, you don't need to be told what to do all the time. We want people who look for problems and solve them without being asked.
  • Self-motivating – you’ll have full support along the way but we won’t hold your hand throughout.
  • Ability to use Excel / PowerPoint / Outlook. Experience in Slack is useful, but not critical

…and lots more. Being a start-up, we’d expect whoever assumes the role to have adaptability, flexibility and can-do attitude.

Details / perks

  • Full time in at The Little Car Company’s brand new HQ at Bicester Heritage, the UK’s first automotive campus. It is a stunning place for any car enthusiast to be based. 
  • There may be occasional travel with the company as required, potentially nationally / internationally.
  • A full UK driving licence is essential
  • Competitive salary and 25 days holiday a year
  • Opportunity for equity ownership / stock options and compensation will increase as we grow – ultimately you are in control of your destiny and the rewards will be there for the right people
  • Opportunity for flexible working

Our Products in the News

Top Gear – Bugatti Baby 2

Autocar – Aston Martin Junior

The Drive – Ferrari Testa Rossa J

 

Please provide a cover letter / email with a brief description of your background, relevant experience and what makes you different from everyone else. In approximately 400 words or less please - consider this your highlight reel to entice us to open your CV.

 

Should you not hear from us by the end of the job posting period, it is likely you have been unsuccessful on this occasion - we will however, keep all CVs on file for future roles as we grow.