Electrical R&D Engineer

Thea Energy•Kearny, NJ

13h

About The Position

The Electrical R&D Engineer designs, builds, commissions, and supports electrical and power-supply systems for Thea Energy’s technology development programs. The role moves quickly from concept to hardware, covering prototype equipment, experimental test stands, and electrical infrastructure for high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet test facilities. It calls for substantial hands-on experience with commercial off-the-shelf and custom power-supply systems, including building hardware, measuring performance, diagnosing faults, and rapidly revising designs as test requirements evolve. Close coordination with controls engineers is essential so power commands, sensor feedback, protection functions, and operating sequences work as an integrated system. The engineer will deliver prototypes, design electrical distribution for test stands, select and integrate commercial power supplies, and develop custom power-conversion hardware where needed. The work also includes current and voltage sensing, controls integration, troubleshooting and root-cause analysis, EMI/EMC and noise mitigation, engineering documentation, supplier and fabrication coordination, and support during active test campaigns. The role involves coordinating with controls, mechanical, magnet, cryogenic, safety, facilities, and program teams. The position requires a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience, and five or more years of relevant experience. Proficiency with Altium Designer is required, along with hands-on PCBA experience, power-supply integration or development, measurement-based commissioning and troubleshooting, electrical safety judgment, and experience with high-power systems. Occasional lifting, travel, and work at night, on weekends, or on call may be required. Work takes place in a facility with industrial hazards, including heat, cold, noise, fumes, strong magnets, high voltage, high current, pressure systems, and cryogenics.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
Five or more years of relevant experience in electrical R&D, power electronics, prototype development, test engineering, or electrical systems for research or industrial test facilities.
Extensive hands-on experience rapidly building, wiring, modifying, and testing prototypes and test stands, rather than working only at the analysis or specification level.
Demonstrated experience selecting and integrating commercial power supplies and developing custom power supplies or power-conversion hardware for specialized loads.
Hands-on PCBA experience, including schematic capture, layout review, assembly support, rework, bring-up, and circuit debugging.
Proficiency with Altium Designer.
Practical knowledge of current and voltage sensing and experience connecting sensors, commands, feedback, trips, and interlocks to power-supply control systems.
Experience commissioning and troubleshooting electrical and power-supply systems using disciplined, measurement-based methods.
Working knowledge of EMI and EMC, grounding, shielding, filtering, cable routing, and noise troubleshooting in mixed-signal and high-power environments.
Strong electrical safety judgment and experience working with high current, high voltage, stored energy, and energized test equipment.
Ability to communicate clearly, document work as it evolves, and coordinate daily execution with controls engineers, technicians, and other technical teams.
Ability to occasionally lift up to 50 lbs.
Ability to perform activities such as typing, standing, or sitting for extended periods.
Willingness to occasionally travel or work required nights, weekends, or on call.
Ability to work in a facility containing industrial hazards, including heat, cold, noise, fumes, strong magnets, high voltage, high current, pressure systems, and cryogenics.

Nice To Haves

Experience with switching and linear power-supply design; rectifiers, DC-DC converters, inverters, MOSFETs, IGBTs or SiC devices; gate drives; magnetics; snubbers; current regulation; thermal design; and high-current magnet supplies.
Experience with single-line diagrams, load calculations, distribution panels, switchgear, breakers and fuses, contactors, disconnects, grounding and bonding, cable and connector selection, enclosure layout, and equipment labeling.
Experience with shunts, Hall-effect and fluxgate sensors, current transformers, Rogowski coils, voltage dividers, isolated amplifiers and transducers, signal conditioning, calibration, bandwidth, accuracy, and common-mode behavior.
Experience with Altium Designer, schematic capture, multilayer PCB review or layout, creepage and clearance, grounding and return paths, component derating, design for manufacture and test, bring-up, rework, and failure analysis.
Experience with analog and digital I/O, isolated signals, hardware trips and permissives, embedded or industrial communications, command and feedback scaling, grounding, timing, and control-system checkout.
Experience using oscilloscopes, differential and high-voltage probes, current probes, power analyzers, electronic and resistive loads, hipot and insulation testers, thermal imaging, data acquisition, and safe staged-power testing.
Experience with HTS or other magnet test stands, fusion devices, accelerators, advanced energy systems, aerospace test systems, or research facilities combining high power, instrumentation, controls, and rapidly changing experimental hardware.

Responsibilities

Turn test objectives and preliminary requirements into working electrical hardware on short development cycles; build proof-of-concept circuits, bench setups, temporary test equipment, and durable test-stand assemblies, using measurements and test results to guide design iterations.
Design and build electrical distribution for new and modified test stands, including load definitions, single-line diagrams, panels and enclosures, conductors, connectors, grounding and bonding, circuit protection, emergency isolation, interlocks, and equipment interfaces.
Support electrical infrastructure for HTS magnet testing and other high-current experiments.
Evaluate, select, configure, and integrate commercial laboratory and industrial power supplies; verify their electrical and operational characteristics against actual loads and test sequences.
Design, assemble, and validate custom power supplies and power-conversion hardware when commercial equipment cannot meet program needs.
Select and apply suitable current and voltage measurement technologies, including shunts, Hall-effect and fluxgate sensors, current transformers, Rogowski coils, voltage dividers, isolated amplifiers, and industrial transducers.
Work with controls engineers to connect commands, setpoints, status signals, feedback, trips, permissives, and interlocks to power-supply control systems; define signal ranges, scaling, isolation, grounding, connector pinouts, failure states, timing, and acceptance tests.
Diagnose power-supply trips, unstable regulation, unexpected heating, damaged components, wiring faults, control-interface problems, sensor errors, and intermittent failures; identify root causes, implement corrective actions, and verify repairs.
Investigate conducted and radiated noise, switching transients, common-mode and differential-mode coupling, ground loops, and measurement contamination; apply appropriate grounding, shielding, filtering, cable routing, segregation, snubbers, and layout changes.
Maintain calculations, schematics, single-line diagrams, PCB files, bills of material, wiring and cable information, assembly instructions, test procedures, configuration records, commissioning results, troubleshooting findings, and as-built documentation.
Coordinate with technicians, machine and electronics shops, component suppliers, and equipment vendors to source parts, resolve build issues, review substitutions, and keep prototype work moving.
Support installation, operations, urgent troubleshooting, repairs, and hardware changes during active test campaigns; coordinate electrical work with controls, mechanical, magnet, cryogenic, safety, facilities, and program teams.