Principal Electrical Engineer - Power Electronics

Verterra Energy • New Brighton, MN

4d

About The Position

Verterra Energy is seeking a Senior to Principal level Electrical Engineer with deep, hands-on expertise in power electronics. This is a builder role for someone who can own real power hardware end-to-end, make practical design decisions, and take robust power electronics from requirements through manufacturing. The engineer will work closely with mechanical and controls engineers to develop generator-adjacent power conversion, power management, and internal test platforms. The role emphasizes technical leadership, execution, and sound engineering judgment.

The role focuses on power electronics for low-to-mid power systems in the 0.5 kW to 5.0 kW range, including architecture, requirements, PCB design, converter integration, magnetics, semiconductor selection, protection, MCU/DSP integration, laboratory prototyping and validation, and design-for-manufacturing. It also includes designing for environmental conditions, evaluating third-party designs, and improving the electrical lab environment.

Verterra Energy is commercializing VOLTURNUS, a water-power technology designed to capture baseline, zero-emission electricity from rivers, canals, and oceans. The company is backed by investors and government contracts and works with organizations including the DoD, DoE, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Air Force.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a closely related field.
• At least 8 years of hands-on power electronics experience; Principal level typically requires 12 or more years.
• Demonstrated experience designing PCB-based power electronics in the 0.5 kW to 5.0 kW power range.
• Strong understanding of magnetics, core and resistive losses, and thermal management in power designs.
• Experience selecting and testing power semiconductor devices such as MOSFET, IGBT, SiC, and GaN devices.
• Familiarity with multiple power converter architectures and their integration with MCU/DSP-based control systems.
• Experience designing for environmental constraints, including IP-rated enclosures, sealing, encapsulation/potting, and vibration or handling considerations.
• Proven track record bringing power electronics to market, from requirements and design through validation and manufacturing handoff.
• Strong technical judgment, ability to troubleshoot in a lab, and comfort making tradeoffs under real constraints.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating closely with a small engineering team.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a closely related field.
• Experience with generator-adjacent systems, including rectification, load management, protection, or sensing.
• Familiarity with EMI/EMC pre-compliance approaches and practical filtering and layout techniques.
• Experience building production test methods or fixtures and defining acceptance tests.
• Hands-on embedded familiarity for collaboration, including basic bring-up, test scripting, or instrumentation integration.
• Startup or small-team engineering experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead power electronics design for low-to-mid power systems in the 0.5 kW to 5.0 kW range.
• Define architecture and requirements for power conversion solutions connected to small generators and internal test platforms.
• Design and develop high-power PCBA solutions, including schematics and layout; Altium is preferred.
• Design, integrate, and validate converter topologies, including buck/boost, isolated and non-isolated DC-DC, and inverter/rectifier stages as applicable.
• Own magnetics-related design decisions, including inductor or transformer selection or design, core and copper loss considerations, and thermal tradeoffs.
• Select, characterize, and validate power semiconductor devices, including MOSFET, IGBT, SiC, GaN, and BJT devices as applicable, and address gate drive and switching loss tradeoffs.
• Develop practical protection and reliability approaches, including EMI/EMC basics, inrush, transient protection, fault handling, and thermal protection.
• Integrate power electronics with MCU/DSP controllers, including sensing, system-level feedback loops, interfaces, and bring-up support; collaborate with firmware engineers.
• Build, assemble, and bring up prototypes in the lab, and debug issues methodically.
• Plan and execute validation testing using oscilloscopes, power analyzers, supplies, loads, thermal tools, and instrumentation.
• Drive design-for-manufacturing through vendor engagement, fabrication and assembly coordination, component sourcing risk management, test strategy, and production readiness.
• Design for real-world environmental conditions, including enclosure integration, thermal management, IP-rated constraints, and potting or encapsulation considerations.
• Evaluate third-party or consultant designs for simplicity, robustness, safety margin, and manufacturability.
• Help maintain and improve the electrical lab environment, including tooling, organization, safety, and practical process improvements.
• Own and improve internal power and instrumentation platforms, such as test stands, dynamometer/torque testers, flume instrumentation, and custom rigs.
• Provide technical leadership on adjacent platforms, including marine systems, coastal energy harvesting, drones, and other generator/power platforms.
• Help build practical lab processes that reduce iteration cycles and increase hardware reliability.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Company-paid life, disability, and basic protection.
• 401(k) with employer match.
• Unlimited paid time off and two weeks of sick and safe leave.
• Seven company-paid holidays: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, the Friday after Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.
• Stocked kitchen.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior