Lead Controls Engineer – Power Electronics

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in California.

📋 Description

• Lead the design of control systems for bidirectional DC/DC power conversion stages, covering current and voltage loops, mode transitions, and protection mechanisms.

• Create control strategies for four-switch buck-boost and multiphase interleaved converters, incorporating feedforward techniques and phase current balancing.

• Develop small-signal plant models for buck, boost, four-switch buck-boost, and multiphase interleaved topologies.

• Design PID, type II/III, 2p2z/3p3z compensators along with feedforward paths.

• Discretize control designs for digital deployment and define sampling rates and delay budgets.

• Construct closed-loop converter models in PLECS and/or MATLAB/Simulink and validate switching cells using SPICE-class tools.

• Automate simulation processes, parameter sweeps, tolerance analysis, worst-case evaluations, and stability assessments utilizing Python or MATLAB.

• Execute production C control code in simulation to confirm firmware implementation prior to hardware testing.

• Establish operating modes, transitions, bumpless transfer requirements, protection thresholds, and response times.

• Convert designs into firmware-ready specifications that include block diagrams, difference equations, coefficients, scaling, limits, and anticipated margins.

• Collaborate with firmware engineers throughout implementation, code reviews, and bench debugging sessions.

• Assess loop gain, transient response, and ripple on hardware, correlating the results with models.

• Participate in hardware design reviews addressing sensing, anti-aliasing filters, magnetics, and gate drive considerations.

• Act as the technical lead by defining control design and verification protocols and reviewing the work of other engineers.

• Compose control specifications and certification documentation for UL 1973, UL 1998, and UL 9540.

⛳️ Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or an equivalent demonstrated capability.

• At least six years of experience in designing control systems for switched-mode power converters.

• Hands-on experience in designing control loops for switched-mode power converters that have reached validated hardware.

• Ability to identify the topology, control mode, switching and sampling frequencies, compensator structure, and achieved crossover and phase margin for a personally designed converter.

• Proficient in small-signal modeling techniques, including state-space averaging or similar methodologies.

• Expertise in frequency-domain design, including Bode and Nyquist analysis, crossover, phase and gain margin, and right-half-plane zeros.

• Solid understanding of discrete-time control, including s-to-z mapping, sampling and computational delay effects, aliasing, and quantization.

• Proficient in PLECS or MATLAB/Simulink, with the ability to construct converter models.

• Skilled in Python or MATLAB scripting for simulation automation and data analysis.

• Competent in C for reading and writing control code, executing it in simulation, and assessing firmware reliability.

• Knowledgeable about PWM-triggered ADC sampling, update latency, fixed-point range and resolution, and ISR timing budgets.

• Capable of independent lab work with oscilloscopes, isolated and differential probes, current probes, electronic loads, bidirectional supplies, and a network or frequency response analyzer.

• Proven track record of written control design specifications successfully implemented by other engineers.

• Preferred: Master’s or PhD in Electrical Engineering with a focus on power electronics or control systems.

• Preferred: Experience with bidirectional and multiphase interleaved converter control, coupled inductors, current sharing, and phase balancing.

• Preferred: Knowledge of average current mode control and feedforward design for four-switch buck-boost converters.

• Preferred: Understanding of large-signal behavior, including mode transitions, discontinuous conduction boundaries, saturation recovery, and limit cycles.

• Preferred: Experience with wide-bandgap power stages (GaN, SiC).

• Preferred: Familiarity with digital power controllers such as dsPIC33C, TI C2000, or STM32G4.

• Preferred: Experience with hardware-in-the-loop or real-time simulation platforms such as PLECS RT Box, Typhoon HIL, or OPAL-RT.

• Preferred: Proficiency in Python numerical tools including NumPy, SciPy, or python-control.

• Preferred: Background in battery energy storage, EV charging, photovoltaic inverters, or grid-interactive converters.

• Preferred: Exposure to functional safety and certification, including IEC 61508, UL 1973, UL 1998, UL 9540, and FMEA.

• Preferred: Experience with version control and code review applied to models and analysis scripts.

🏝️ Benefits

• Equity options as part of the compensation package.

• Comprehensive healthcare benefits (medical, dental, vision).

• Generous paid time off.

• Paid holidays (PTO) policy.