Microgrid Controller Development Firmware Engineer - Morrisville/Raleigh, NC
- Compensation
- Not disclosed
- Location
- Morrisville, NC, US
- Work setup
- Not specified
- Seniority
- Not specified
- Employment
- Not specified
- Experience
- Not specified
- Category
- Embedded
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- B.S. or M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Power Electronics, Controls, or Computer Engineering (or equivalent experience)
- Strong grasp of power-electronics control — inverter current/voltage loops, PLL, droop, grid-forming/grid-following, and inverter-based-resource dynamics
- Hands-on real-time embedded software in C/C++ on RTOS (FreeRTOS/SafeRTOS/ThreadX) or PREEMPT_RT Linux, with bounded WCET, ISR, and deterministic scheduling discipline
- Practical experience with industry controllers / IEDs
- Working knowledge of power-system protocols: IEC 61850 (GOOSE/MMS), Modbus, DNP3, and PTP time synchronization
- Experience with model-based design and HIL (MATLAB/Simulink, PLECS, Typhoon HIL / OPAL-RT / RTDS) and test automation in Python
- Ability to read SLDs, I/O lists, protection settings, control narratives, and register maps; clear technical writing for specs, test plans, and release evidence
Nice to have
- Microgrid / BESS plant controller, PPC, or grid-forming inverter control development
- Familiarity with Azure DevOps, Git mono-repo workflows, CI/CD, and formal change control / release gates
Full description
Who We Are
Delta, founded in 1971, is a global provider of power and thermal management solutions. Its mission statement, "To provide innovative, clean and energy-efficient solutions for a better tomorrow," focuses on addressing key environmental issues such as global climate change. As an energy-saving solutions provider with core competencies in power electronics and automation, Delta's business categories include Power Electronics, Mobility, Automation, and Infrastructure.
At Delta, we’re leading the energy transition with innovative solutions in solar inverters, energy storage systems, and EV charging infrastructure. Our technologies are helping utilities, businesses, and communities decarbonize and build resilient, intelligent energy ecosystems. Join us in creating a cleaner, smarter energy future.
Role Summary
You will own the design and in-house development of the real-time control software that runs on the Microgrid Controller (MGC). This role sits at the intersection of power-electronics control theory and deterministic embedded software, building the droop / grid-forming / grid-following, dispatch, mode-transition, and protection logic that coordinates PCS, BESS, PV, and genset assets. You will bring hands-on knowledge of industry-grade controllers and translate control laws into safe, bounded, real-time code verified on HIL.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop the MGC real-time control application on a deterministic RTOS/RT-Linux target — droop/VSG, PLL, GFM/GFL reference generation, P/Q dispatch, and bumpless mode transitions within ≤ 1 ms loops
- Implement secondary control (P-f and Q-V droop, virtual inertia, SOC-aware allocation, ramp-rate limiting, black-start sequencing, resynchronization) at the 1–100 ms layer
- Build protection coordination logic (50/51, 27/59, 81/81R, anti-islanding, interlock state machine, GOOSE fast trip/block) with hardware trip paths executing in ≤ 20 µs
- Design and tune power-electronics control loops interfacing to PCS/BESS unit controllers; validate stability, ride-through (LVRT/HVRT), and grid-fault behavior
- Configure and program industry controllers
- Implement deterministic comms and middleware — IEC 61850 GOOSE/MMS/SV, Modbus TCP, DNP3, PTP (IEEE 1588), lock-free IPC (DDS / shared-memory SPSC queues), with no dynamic allocation on the RT path
- Verify all functions on HIL (Typhoon HIL, OPAL-RT, RTDS, dSPACE) for grid-tied, islanded, black-start, failover, and fault-injection scenarios
- Support certification and release evidence — UL 1741 SB, IEEE 1547, IEC 61850 conformance, IEC 62443 / NERC CIP — with clear design and test documentation.