Senior/Staff Power Electronics Engineer, Power Conversion

Tau•Redwood City, CA

1d•$120,000 - $210,000•Onsite

About The Position

We seek an experienced and highly accomplished Senior/Staff Power Electronics Engineer to join our innovative team at Tau Motors. In this crucial role, you will spearhead the design, development, and implementation of cutting-edge power electronics systems for next-generation electric vehicles and energy storage solutions. As a critical member of our power electronics team, you will drive the modeling, architecture, and validation of advanced power converter topologies, contributing significantly to Tau's technology roadmap and product offerings. Because our success depends on collaboration, we expect new employees to work onsite five days a week to build strong working relationships with the team.

Requirements

5 + years relevant industry experience in power electronics, preferably automotive or EV charging systems.
Hands-on experience designing Onboard Chargers (OBC), bidirectional chargers, or high-voltage power conversion, including isolation topologies, PFC stages, and DC/DC conversion stages.
Familiarity with AC/DC, DC/DC, and DC/AC applications and control of variable frequency converters.
Strong understanding of power electronics topologies.
Experience with high voltage power semiconductor selection (Si/SiC/GaN MOSFETs,Diodes), gate drive, and protection circuit design.
Strong understanding of switching waveforms, semiconductor losses, and experience with loss modeling.
System understanding of device characteristics, gate driving circuit design, thermal design, topologies, modulation schemes, and control strategies in high- and low-voltage power converters.
Familiar with tools such as PLECS, PSCAD/EMTDC, MATLAB/Simulink, dSPACE.
Experience with advanced modulation approaches for achieving highly efficient power electronic converter designs.
Experience designing large state machines for complex power converter implementations.
Familiar with analog design, digital design, mixed-signal design (ADCs/DACs), and their use in control design.
Solid understanding of the theory and application of magnetics (inductors, transformers) and capacitors (electrolytic, film, and ceramic) used for power conversion.
Good experience with designing analog/digital circuits and microprocessors.

Nice To Haves

Masters or PhD degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, mechatronic engineering, or equivalent degree with a focus on power electronics.
Awareness of UL and CE electrical safety requirements and EMC requirements relevant to the design of power converters.
Knowledge of environmental, reliability, and safety requirements for Automotive, Industrial, & Residential applications.
Proven ability to design systems that are resilient to faults and error.

Responsibilities

Extensive knowledge and hands-on experience in power electronics topologies, semiconductor devices (Si/SiC/GaN), gate driving circuits, and protection circuit design.
Deep understanding of switching waveforms, semiconductor losses, and proven experience in loss modeling and optimization techniques.
Comprehensive expertise in device characteristics, gate driving circuit design, thermal design, topologies, modulation schemes, and control strategies for high- and low-voltage power converters.
Strong proficiency in analog design, digital design, mixed-signal design (ADCs/DACs), and their integration into control system design.
Solid theoretical and practical understanding of the design and application of magnetics (inductors, transformers) and capacitors (electrolytic, film, ceramic) used in power conversion systems.
Proven experience in schematic capture and power converter circuit simulation tools, with the ability to analyze and optimize complex designs.
Expertise in designing analog/digital circuits and microprocessor implementations tailored for power converter control applications.
Comprehensive knowledge of PCB layout techniques for minimizing stray inductance and capacitance, optimizing component placement for manufacturability, defining power/signal planes, and ensuring EMC compliance.
Proficiency in hands-on EE tools such as oscilloscopes, network analyzers, signal generators, and other diagnostic equipment for testing and validation.
Lead the end-to-end design and development of power electronics converters for automotive and energy storage applications, from specification to prototyping, validation, and high-volume manufacturing.
Collaborate with and mentor cross-functional teams, including mechanical, PCB layout, and firmware engineers, to ensure successful design, validation, and manufacturing of power converters.
Architect and model new power converter topologies to achieve superior performance, advancing Tau's intellectual property in power electronic systems.
Conduct in-depth analysis, simulation, and benchmarking of power electronics designs, leveraging tools such as PLECS, PSCAD/EMTDC, MATLAB/Simulink, and dSPACE.
Drive the implementation of advanced modulation techniques and control strategies for highly efficient and robust power converter designs.