Power Electronics Engineer

American Turbines•San Francisco, CA

About The Position

American Turbines is designing small modular gas turbines for distributed power generation. The Power Electronics Engineer owns the power-conversion systems between the generator shaft and the customer’s 800 VDC bus, both on the company’s turbine and on machines installed at customer sites. For the prototype, the engineer will design the power stage that converts variable-speed generator output into 800 VDC, select and procure components, and bring the system up alongside a live turbine on the test rig. The work involves practical constraints such as thermal limits, fast load transients, and reliability over hundreds of hours of testing. The engineer will work with the Controls Engineer on telemetry and sensing interfaces between the power stage and embedded controls. For customer deployments, the engineer will design, procure, and install power electronics that convert microturbine output to the DC required by the site, connecting the equipment to the site’s DC bus bar. The role is based in San Francisco and includes stretches of weeks on-site for installation and commissioning. The engineer may design components from schematic through layout, including magnetics, thermal, and EMC considerations, or work with partners and suppliers by specifying and qualifying hardware for integration. This is a hands-on role with responsibility for testing, commissioning, end-to-end interfaces, and iteration based on real-world results.

Requirements

Experience designing and deploying power conversion at real power levels, such as DC-DC converters, inverters, rectifiers, motor drives, grid-tie systems, or AC-to-DC conversion.
Hands-on experience with wide-bandgap semiconductors, including SiC and GaN.
Experience taking at least one converter from schematic through layout, magnetics, thermal, and EMC to working hardware.
Comfort working when the electrical architecture is not fully specified and reasoning from first principles about design tradeoffs.
Ability to balance efficiency, thermal margin, and component cost and make decisions under time pressure.
Hands-on capability with bench and field bring-up, debugging, and instrumentation, including finding root causes.
Consideration of installation and serviceability as part of design.
Willingness to spend stretches of weeks on-site during installation and commissioning.

Nice To Haves

Experience taking a converter through a commissioned installation.
Exposure to electric machines.
Control systems experience, from converter control loops to embedded platforms.
Experience in the EV industry, including traction inverters, 800 V platforms, or DC fast charging.

Responsibilities

Design the prototype power stage to convert variable-speed generator output into 800 VDC.
Select and procure power-conversion components.
Bring up and test the power stage alongside a live turbine on the test rig.
Address thermal limits, fast load transients, and reliability over extended testing.
Coordinate with the Controls Engineer on telemetry and sensing handoff to embedded controls.
Design, procure, and install power electronics for customer-site microturbine deployments, connecting turbine output to the required DC bus bar.
Design blocks from schematic through layout, including magnetics, thermal, and EMC considerations, where applicable.
Write specifications for supplier- or partner-provided hardware, qualify it, and integrate it into the system.
Attend testing and on-site installation and commissioning; ensure interfaces work end to end and iterate based on observed results.