Senior Power Electronics Engineer
Senior Power Electronics Engineer at Salient Motion (Hawthorne, CA, on-site) designing high-power (>10 kW) converters/inverters for aerospace motion and electrical systems. Owns power-stage architecture, Si/SiC/GaN device selection, thermal and EMI/EMC design, and prototype bring-up through flight-ready verification. Salary $175k-$200k + equity; US citizenship or green card required.
- Compensation
- $175K–$200K / yr
- Location
- Hawthorne, CA
- Work setup
- Not specified
- Seniority
- Senior
- Employment
- Full time
- Experience
- 7+ years
- Category
- Hardware
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- U.S. Citizens or U.S. Permanent Residents (Green Card holders)
- 7+ years (or equivalent depth) in power electronics design and product development
- Strong experience with power converter/inverter topologies, architecture, device selection, gate-drive design, controller selection, feedback stability, protection, and high-voltage/high-current PCB l
- Hands-on bring-up and debug experience with high-power hardware (safe lab practices, oscilloscopes, HV differential probes, current probes, power analyzers, network/stability analyzers)
- Ability to take designs from concept through prototype, verification, and production readiness with clear documentation
Nice to have
- Demonstrated work on high-power systems (>10 kW)
- Aerospace experience: qualification mindset, configuration control, test practices, EMI/EMC test workflows
- Motor drive experience: three-phase inverters for BLDC/PMSM, sensing, DC bus design, regen handling, protection timing
- High-voltage design experience (200-800 VDC class) including isolation strategy and creepage/clearance design
- Power factor, THD, and EMI/EMC success in shipped products (e.g., MIL-STD-461/DO-160) with early design-for-compliance
- Safety qualification experience: leakage current, ESD, lightning and surge test
- Circuit simulation familiarity (LTspice/PLECS/Simetrix/Simplis/Simulink or similar)
- PCB CAD and layout tool experience
Full description
Applicants must be U.S. Citizens or U.S. Permanent Residents (Green Card holders) to meet customer and regulatory requirements**
Who We Are**
We are pioneering modular motion technologies to power the next generation of innovation for Industrial, Aerospace and Defense. If you're excited about disrupting legacy industries, and passionate about building next generation technology, let's chat!
We are at the forefront of innovation, crafting exclusive motion control components that propel the industrial, aerospace, and defense sectors into the future.
A couple other things:
- We are open to relocating you
- We have great benefits
- We are well funded, and generating revenue
- We are located in beautiful Hawthorne, CA and just moved into a new large hangar facility
Role Summary
We are hiring a Senior Power Electronics Engineer to lead the design and integration of high-power (>10 kW) power conversion hardware for aerospace motion and electrical systems. You will own key power-stage architecture decisions, drive prototype bring-up and verification, and partner with controls, firmware, mechanical, and manufacturing teams to deliver flight- and mission-ready hardware.
What you'll do:
- Architect and design high-power converters/inverters (>10 kW) for aerospace electrical and motion control products, balancing efficiency, power density, and reliability
- Select and apply Si, SiC, and/or GaN power devices (as appropriate) and design gate-drive, controller, feedback stability, magnetic components including power inductors and transformers, sensing, and protection (short-circuit, overcurrent, over/undervoltage, thermal, desaturation)
- Design topologies and the power stage (DC bus, precharge/discharge, snubbers/clamps, current sensing, filtering) and define safe operating envelopes and derating at given environments
- Drive thermal design with mechanical engineering (heatsinks, cold plates, airflow/liquid cooling) and validate junction-to-ambient performance including loss breakdown, thermal analysis
- Own EMI/EMC strategy for aerospace environments: grounding, shielding, layout constraints, conducted/radiated mitigation, filter design, and test readiness
- Lead schematic capture and review PCB layout for low-inductance, high-current/high-voltage design; ensure creepage/clearance, isolation, and safety best practices
- Plan and execute prototype bring-up and high-power lab testing with safe procedures; debug failures and perform root-cause analysis
- Define verification plans and acceptance criteria and produce clear, review-ready test reports and evidence packages; support supplier/parts selection and DFM/DFT as designs transition to manufacturing