Hardware Engineer, Battery Systems

QuantumScape Corporation•San Jose, CA

4d•$136,700 - $208,500•Onsite

About The Position

QuantumScape is on a mission to transform energy storage with solid-state lithium-metal battery technology. The company’s next-generation batteries are designed to enable greater energy density, faster charging and enhanced safety to support the transition away from legacy energy sources toward a lower carbon future. As a hardware engineer, you own the electrical design of the battery management system. From AFE architecture to temperature monitoring, to selecting fuses and FETs for protection, you ensure the battery pack can work reliably under all conditions without compromising safety. As the hardware engineer for battery systems, you are responsible for all design aspects of the battery management system. You will collaborate closely with the mechanical engineering team to create state-of-the-art designs with high power and energy density, while meeting all regulatory safety requirements. You will also work with the firmware team closely to ensure all functions are implemented properly and validated thoroughly.

Requirements

a relevant Bachelor’s degree and 9+ years’ experience or a relevant Master’s degree and 8+ years’ experience or relevant Ph.D. and 5+ years’ experience
5+ years in battery pack or BMS design with at least two products through prototype validation or production
Familiar with schematic and PCB design tools like Altium or Cadence
In depth understanding of Li-Ion battery technology and protections
Expertise in designing analog, digital and generic power circuits, especially on low power design for battery applications
Familiar with simulation tools such as PSPICE, LTSpice, Simulink and PSIM
Good PCB layout knowledge including high-speed design, thermal design, design for manufacturing and EMI mitigation techniques.
Understand component management and BOM structures, capable of identifying agency critical components and verifying safety specifications
Experienced in designing, bringing up, testing and troubleshooting brand new platforms
Analysis of circuit components, including their thermal and magnetic properties
Good understanding of grounding, isolation, creepage/clearance and hi-pot testing
Capable of creating thorough DVT plans to validate product specifications
Design for reliability using tools such as design margin analysis, DFMEA and HALT
Experience with battery safety standards, such as UL1973, UL9540A and IEC62619
Comfortable of collaborating with mechanical, firmware and marketing teams.
Good at generating engineering documentation such as specifications, block diagrams, design review presentations, assembly drawings, and test reports

Nice To Haves

Previous experience in Data center power and energy products (CBU/BBU/EBM, etc)
Hands-on PCB layout experience
Direct experience supporting PCBA manufacturing
High-voltage battery pack design up to 800V+
High-current design of >100A
Experience in scalable modular systems with hot-swap capabilities
Experience in a customer facing application engineering role
Knowledge of power electronic circuits (AC/DC, DC/DC, Inverter, etc)

Responsibilities

Design BMS system with pack voltages up to 600V and power >20kW
Create schematics and design PCB for the BMS
Define connection for voltage sensing, balancing and temperature monitoring
Select protection devices based on worst case operating conditions
Collaborate with mechanical engineers to design heat sinks and wiring harnesses
Implement inrush current limiting features
Ensure hardware redundancy on critical protection functions
Closely work with marketing team to generate detailed engineering specifications
Perform design margin analysis and DFMEA
Specify design verification tests to ensure functional performance and regulatory compliance of the battery pack
Support UL 1973 and UL 9540A safety certification activities
Work with external design teams to ensure the battery pack integrates well in its application