Electrical Engineer

IDEX Corporation•Rutherford, NJ

28d•$99,800 - $149,600

About The Position

The Electrical Engineer develops motor-control algorithms and advanced electrical systems for high-speed rotating equipment. The role focuses on control strategies and embedded firmware for variable frequency drives (VFDs) used with AC motors, DC motor controllers, motor-control electronics, and industrial communication protocols. The engineer owns the firmware portion of development and supports robust, efficient, reliable system performance through power-electronics expertise, modeling, simulation, testing, and validation. The position collaborates with engineering, manufacturing, quality, sales, product management, and external suppliers to take designs from requirements and specifications through prototyping, validation, and full-scale production. It involves developing and optimizing motor controllers and control algorithms; integrating supplier-developed hardware with internally owned firmware and other system components; testing and validating products; and supporting root-cause analysis and continuous improvement. The engineer also prepares technical requirements and documentation and communicates technical information to internal and external stakeholders. Airtech, part of the IDEX Performance Pneumatics Group, provides custom-engineered vacuum and pressure systems for applications including life sciences, electronics, and industrial automation. The position is based in an office environment with occasional factory-floor visits, where safety glasses and other required safety equipment must be used. The role involves minimal noise with occasional spikes.

Requirements

Bachelor’s or master’s degree in electrical engineering or a related discipline.
Minimum 10+ years of experience in electrical engineering, embedded motor-control algorithm development, firmware development, VFD or DC motor-controller development, power electronics, product development, and/or system validation.
Hands-on experience developing and validating control algorithms and embedded firmware for AC and/or DC motor-drive applications.
Experience collaborating with suppliers on hardware development, including specification writing, schematic and PCB reviews, prototype support, design verification, qualification, and production release.
Strong analytical ability to model dynamic systems and develop, tune, and troubleshoot closed-loop control algorithms for speed, torque, current, position, and efficiency.
Advanced knowledge of AC and DC motor-control methods, including PID control, vector control, field-oriented control (FOC), sensorless control, current regulation, modulation strategies, startup sequencing, and fault protection.
Strong knowledge of power electronics, embedded systems, motor fundamentals, inverter and converter topologies, sensing, gate drives, and interactions between control firmware, motor behavior, and mechanical loads.
Proficiency with MATLAB/Simulink, embedded C/C++, Python, HIL platforms, oscilloscopes, power analyzers, and circuit or electromagnetic simulation tools such as PSpice and Ansys Maxwell.
Ability to architect, develop, document, debug, release, and maintain embedded firmware for VFDs, DC motor controllers, and related motor-drive products.
Experience writing technical specifications and interface requirements, communicating technical information to vendors, reviewing supplier designs, and driving externally developed hardware through prototype, verification, qualification, and production release.
Experience integrating protocols such as CAN, Modbus, EtherCAT, or similar networks into motor-control systems, including command, status, diagnostics, and parameter-management functions.
Experience integrating VFDs, DC motor controllers, motors, sensors, power supplies, embedded firmware, communications, and high-speed rotating equipment into complete electrical systems.
Experience with thermal management, EMI/EMC, grounding, isolation, creepage and clearance, electrical safety, and mechanical integration of power-electronic systems.
Ability to develop HIL and system-level test strategies, test plans, automated scripts, acceptance criteria, and traceable validation reports for control algorithms, firmware, and hardware.
Ability to diagnose control instability, electrical faults, communication issues, component failures, and system-level performance problems and implement corrective actions.
Strong project-management, organizational, prioritization, and cross-functional coordination skills, with the ability to drive technical decisions and maintain development discipline.
Commitment to rapid learning cycles, design robustness, capability growth, product reliability, and disciplined engineering processes.
Ability to translate system requirements into clear technical specifications and communicate effectively with internal teams, customers, and external suppliers.
Ability to prepare and present technical proposals, reviews, validation results, evaluations, and recommendations to internal and external stakeholders.
Acts with a high level of personal integrity and technical ownership.

Responsibilities

Develop and optimize VFDs for AC motors and DC motor controllers for DC motor applications.
Design, integrate, and diagnose CAN-based communication architectures for deterministic data exchange between motor controllers and sensors.
Support motor design activities.
Evaluate motor behavior under different operating conditions, including speed, torque, and load, and use simulation tools to assess efficiency, thermal performance, and electromagnetic characteristics.
Develop, simulate, implement, tune, and optimize control algorithms for motor speed, torque, current, position, efficiency, and system stability.
Develop and own embedded firmware for VFDs and DC motor controllers, including control loops, state machines, diagnostics, protection functions, parameter management, and industrial communications.
Apply motor-control techniques such as PID control, vector control, field-oriented control, sensorless control, modulation strategies, and fault handling.
Conduct hardware-in-the-loop, dynamometer, and system-level testing for VFDs, DC motor controllers, motors, and high-speed rotating equipment.
Validate algorithms, firmware, hardware interfaces, fault responses, performance, safety, reliability, and electromagnetic compatibility against requirements and applicable standards.
Develop and maintain test plans, instructions, automated test scripts, acceptance criteria, and traceable validation reports.
Work with suppliers to develop motor-control hardware, power-electronic assemblies, PCBs, sensing circuits, gate-drive circuits, wiring harnesses, and related electrical subsystems.
Write technical specifications, interface-control requirements, performance requirements, and validation criteria for external hardware-development partners.
Review supplier proposals, schematics, PCB layouts, component selections, design calculations, prototypes, test results, and corrective actions.
Lead technical communication, design reviews, issue resolution, verification, and qualification with vendors through production release.
Integrate supplier-developed hardware with firmware, motors, sensors, communication networks, and high-speed rotating equipment.
Collaborate on enclosure design, thermal management, grounding, isolation, creepage and clearance, EMI/EMC compliance, manufacturability, and assembly validation.
Work cross-functionally with engineering, manufacturing, quality, sales, and product management on new product development.
Validate that manufacturing-process changes do not adversely affect product performance or reliability.
Support root-cause analysis for failures and implement corrective and preventive actions.
Identify data-driven opportunities to improve product reliability, quality, and durability.
Partner with engineering and quality teams to define, measure, and record key performance metrics.
Maintain accurate testing and design documentation and records.
Prepare and present reliability reports, findings, and recommendations to stakeholders.
Meet project milestones on time, complete milestone documentation, follow milestone processes, and support product validation that minimizes post-launch quality issues.
Prepare and present design proposals, architecture and milestone reviews, FMEAs, supplier design reviews, validation results, competitive evaluations, and technical recommendations.