Power Electronics Engineer - Senior

This is a senior individual contributor role owning the analog power chain end-to-end across Harmattan AI's UXV platforms. You will lead motor-controller and DC-DC topology design, MOSFET commutation and gate-drive design, multi-fidelity simulation, and high-power-density PCBA layout. The role involves lab validation, EMI/EMC engineering, and taking designs from prototype through production. You will also mentor junior engineers and serve as the technical reference for power electronics within the Lausanne engineering hub.

Responsibilities

• Power Stage Architecture: Lead motor-controller and DC-DC topology across fixed-wing, multicopter, and hybrid UXV platforms. Translate mission constraints into power-chain specification.
• MOSFET Commutation & Gate-Drive Design: Own the analog switching design: dead-time tuning, gate shaping, switching-loss vs EMI vs thermal trade-offs.
• Multi-fidelity Simulation: Deploy the full stack: analytical loss budgeting, transient SPICE (LTspice), system-level modelling in PLECS or Simulink.
• BLDC Drive Stages: Design three-phase inverters with integrated current sensing, protection, Trapezoidal and FOC-aware hardware interfaces.
• High-Power-Density PCBA: Lead schematic and layout in Altium or KiCad with thermal, parasitics, and EMC engineered in from the first revision.
• EMI / EMC Engineering: Drive pre-compliance, filter design, and root-cause debug under flight-representative loads.
• Prototype-to-Production: Take motor-controller PCBAs through revision discipline, DFM, and qualification - closing the loop on field returns.
• Lab Validation: Execute bench characterization (power analysers, oscilloscopes, thermal imaging, double-pulse testing) and reconcile against simulation.
• Firmware & Controls Interface: Partner with embedded and propulsion on FOC tuning, current-sense calibration, and the hardware/firmware compensation boundary.
• Design Authority & Mentorship: Set the bar via design-decision records and reference designs. Mentor 1–2 junior engineers.

Requirements

• MSc or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Power Electronics, or equivalent.
• 5+ years of hands-on R&D experience on motor drives, BLDC/PMSM controllers, or high-power-density power electronics.
• Deep working mastery of MOSFET commutation design: gate-driver selection, dead-time tuning, switching transitions, loss budgets.
• Proven ownership of at least one motor-controller PCBA shipped from prototype through production (or pre-production qualification): ideally on drone, robotics, eVTOL, or automotive platforms.
• Fluency in simulation (LTspice, PLECS, or Simulink) and PCB design (Altium).
• Strong, hard-earned intuition for EMI / EMC design and debug.
• Lab-bench discipline: you've personally debugged what simulation missed.
• Comfort with scale-up iteration speed and end-to-end ownership.
• English fluent (working language); French is a nice-to-have, not a requirement.

Nice to have

• Bonus points for: GaN / SiC experience, safety-critical design exposure , applied control theory implemented in hardware, exposure to defense, aerospace, or UAS programmes.