Senior Power Electronics Engineer, Energy Storage

Redwood Materials•San Francisco, CA

19h•Onsite

About The Position

The Power Electronics Engineer, Energy Storage designs and develops power conversion systems for Redwood Materials’ next-generation Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). These systems include converters interfacing with battery packs, battery modules, photovoltaic systems, and the grid for utility-scale and data center applications. The role independently owns complex circuit- and system-level challenges, spanning converter topology selection, power-stage component selection, magnetics design, PCB/PCBA layout, thermal analysis, and validation. It adapts existing approaches and precedent to new design challenges and works extensively with Mechanical, Firmware/Controls, Systems, Compliance, Supply Chain, and Manufacturing teams to take designs from concept through production. Success requires sound engineering judgment, hands-on lab validation skills, and the ability to resolve ambiguous technical trade-offs with limited direction. This is a fully on-site role at 100 Hooper, San Francisco. Redwood Materials recovers, refines, and redeploys critical minerals from end-of-life batteries and develops energy storage systems using second-life batteries.

Requirements

MS or PhD in Electrical Engineering, focused on power electronics.
2–4 years of electrical engineering experience, with a strong focus on power conversion or energy storage products; mass-production experience is ideal.
Hands-on experience designing high-voltage hardware up to 1.5kVdc and 800Vac.
Experience selecting power semiconductors and designing gate drives and hardware protection circuits.
Deep understanding of power electronics topologies and AC/DC and DC/DC fundamentals.
Proficiency with circuit simulation, FEA simulation, and CAD tools such as Simulink, LTspice, Ansys Maxwell/Q3D, and Altium Designer.
Demonstrated ability to lay out high-power, noise-sensitive PCBs using Altium or equivalent CAD software.
Proficiency with lab equipment, including oscilloscopes, impedance analyzers, network analyzers, and signal generators.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills and ability to collaborate across diverse cross-functional teams.
Foundational knowledge of control theory and embedded systems.
Strong analytical and systematic problem-solving skills.
Experience selecting circuit components based on electrical performance and design for manufacturability (DFM).

Nice To Haves

Experience designing for very high voltages up to 25kVdc and 34.5kVac for solid-state transformer (SST) applications.

Responsibilities

Design high-voltage (800V–25kVdc, 480–800Vac) and high-power (10kW–500kW) converters for utility-scale BESS and industrial infrastructure.
Conduct topology comparisons and trade-off analyses evaluating efficiency, power density, cost, and manufacturability.
Size power-stage components and select Si/SiC MOSFETs based on loss modeling and thermal management.
Design gate-driver circuits and dedicated gate-driver power supplies for safe, high-frequency switching.
Design, model, and specify custom magnetic components, including transformers and inductors using Litz-wire or PCB-winding architectures.
Architect the low-voltage subsystem, including auxiliary power supplies, voltage/current/temperature sensing, and hardware-level protection.
Design and optimize EMI filters, including differential-mode and common-mode inductors, X/Y capacitors, and damping elements.
Drive high-voltage, high-power PCB/PCBA layout design, ensuring clearance and creepage rules and signal integrity in high-noise environments.
Collaborate with Mechanical, Controls/Firmware, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, and Compliance teams to define requirements and test specifications and achieve industry certifications.
Support test technicians in executing design verification, interpreting test data, and defining component maturity criteria.
Rapidly prototype and iterate hardware based on cross-functional and supplier feedback.