Senior / Staff Mechanical Engineer, Power Electronics

Heron Power•Scotts Valley, CA

22h•$120,000 - $220,000

About The Position

Heron Power is a startup company building cutting-edge power electronics for the 21st-century grid. We aim to debottleneck the growth of electricity generation and consumption with scalable, innovative, and less costly hardware solutions, accelerating the electrification of everything. Our first goal is to build better converters (inverters & rectifiers) to connect large-scale renewables, storage, and loads to the grid. Heron’s leadership team is made up of seasoned veterans who have designed and shipped gigawatts of power conversion products over the past decade. We understand that no one individual knows everything. We will all learn a lot together and from each other. We strive to build a collaborative, enriching environment conducive to personal, technical, and career growth. You can expect to work in a dynamic and collaborative environment, driven by first principles engineering, solving difficult problems. Job Overview As a Mechanical Engineer, you will design, develop, and validate cutting-edge medium-voltage power electronics systems. You will design a wide range of associated parts and assemblies using a first principles design approach. Your role will involve performing a variety of tasks, including CAD, analysis, prototyping, testing, and hands-on work. You will collaborate closely with electrical, test, and manufacturing engineering teams, as well as external suppliers. You will own your designs from concept through high-volume production.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, mechatronics, or similar
4+ years of full-time industry experience
Demonstrated exceptional ability designing mechanical parts or assemblies
Demonstrated exceptional ability working with 3D CAD (bonus if there is experience with CATIA V6/3DX)
Strong engineering fundamentals including a basic understanding of electronics
Experience designing electromechanical parts or assemblies
Experience with high volume manufacturing and processes such as fastening, sheet metal bending, stamping, injection molding, diecasting, extruding, and dispensing
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Ability to work independently and as part of a team
Strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail

Nice To Haves

Experience designing power electronics converters
Experience with PCBAs, connectors, fuses, and other electronic components
Experience with FEA, CFD, multi-physics modeling, or associated software (Ansys, MATLAB, Python, Simulink, StarCCM, etc.)
Experience with GD&T and tolerance analysis
Experience with reliability and validation testing, as well as DFMEAs
Experience with product lifecycle management (PLM) and controlled release processes
Experience with medium voltage (34.5kV) or grid-related products, such as converters, switchgear, circuit breakers, insulation, and shielding

Responsibilities

Design mass-manufacturable parts and assemblies for power converters, such as enclosures, plastics, heatsinks, insulators, transformers, connectors, PCBAs, bolted joints, and adhesive joints
Own parts and assemblies from initial concept to high volume production
Design with a first principles approach, optimizing parts through analysis (e.g. structural, thermal, tolerance)
Create 3D designs and 2D drawings using CATIA V6/3DX
Perform hands-on work such as prototyping and testing
Collaborate with different engineering disciplines, including mechanical, electrical, manufacturing, and reliability teams, as well as external partners and suppliers