Power Electronics Validation, Verification & Reliability Engineer

About the role

This role leads the full validation, verification, and reliability lifecycle for advanced industrial power electronics products, including bidirectional DC/DC converters, solar MPPT optimizers, and next-generation variable frequency drives. You will define and execute validation strategies from DFMEA through acceptance testing, build and manage a dedicated product test laboratory, and collaborate closely with design, compliance, manufacturing, and quality teams to deliver robust, field-proven solutions.

Responsibilities

• Own the Design Validation Plan (DVP) for all new power electronics products and define test coverage from subsystem bench testing through full system integration and environmental qualification.

• Lead and facilitate Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (DFMEA) workshops with cross-functional teams and translate risk rankings into targeted validation test cases.

• Establish verification traceability matrices that link design requirements, test cases, and acceptance criteria throughout the product development lifecycle.

• Define acceptance criteria, measurement uncertainty budgets, and statistical confidence levels appropriate for industrial power electronics applications.

• Design, set up, and execute comprehensive qualification test programs covering electrical performance, including efficiency curves, power quality parameters such as harmonics, power factor, and total harmonic distortion, switching waveform characterization, and thermal derating behavior.

• Plan and perform thermal validation activities, including junction temperature measurement, heat sink characterization, thermal imaging, and verification of thermal derating strategies.

• Collaborate with third-party laboratories to coordinate and execute environmental testing such as vibration, thermal cycling, humidity, and ingress protection (IP) evaluations.

• Conduct reliability testing programs including HALT and HASS, accelerated life testing, and component-level stress analysis to assess long-term durability.

• Validate communication and control functions, including fieldbus protocol verification for EtherNet/IP, Modbus, and CANopen, and support firmware regression testing.

• Analyze test data, document failures, and drive structured root-cause investigations using methodologies such as 8D, Ishikawa diagrams, and fault tree analysis (FTA).

• Author detailed validation reports suitable for regulatory submissions, customer technical reviews, and internal design history files.

• Develop and manage the product validation laboratory, including equipment selection and justification, lab layout, safety procedures, calibration programs, and equipment maintenance schedules.

• Define capital equipment roadmaps to support current and future product lines, including power analyzers, high-voltage DC sources, programmable loads, thermal cameras, oscilloscopes, data acquisition systems, and environmental chambers.

• Supervise, schedule, and develop test technicians by establishing standard operating procedures, defining workload priorities, and creating skill development plans.

• Maintain lab safety compliance with NFPA 70E, OSHA electrical safety standards, and internal EHS policies, and serve as the lab safety officer.

• Track lab utilization, manage project test schedules, and monitor resource capacity to support product development timelines.

• Partner with power electronics and controls design engineers to provide Design for Testability (DFT) and Design for Reliability (DFR) feedback early in the development cycle, and champion best practices for component derating, thermal management, and robust gate drive design.

• Collaborate with compliance engineers to align validation activities with relevant standards such as UL 508A, UL 508C, UL 61800-5-1, IEC 61800-3, IEC 61000-series, IEEE 519, NFPA 70E, and UL1741 SA/SB, and support third-party agency submissions.

• Interface with quality assurance to integrate validation data into the product quality management system (QMS) and support corrective and preventive action (CAPA) processes for field issues.

• Engage with supply chain and component engineering teams on reliability assessments of critical components, last-time-buy (LTB) qualification, and validation of alternate sourcing options.

• Develop and maintain reliability models, including MTBF and MTTF, for power electronics platforms using MIL-HDBK-217, Telcordia, or physics-of-failure approaches.

• Analyze field return data and warranty claims to identify systemic failure modes and recommend design or process improvements.

• Establish product reliability targets and derating standards in coordination with product management and engineering leadership.

• Maintain a lessons-learned database and ensure that reliability improvements are incorporated into new product development activities.

• Lead the definition and execution of design validation and testing on power converters, including misuse and boundary condition testing to understand how far products can be safely and reliably operated.

• Define and refine end-of-line testing requirements and procedures to ensure consistent product quality and reliability.

• Collaborate with external laboratories on tests that cannot be performed in-house and ensure proper documentation and interpretation of external test results.

Requirements

Deep understanding of power electronics circuit operation with the ability to diagnose failure modes at both component and system levels.
Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a closely related field; a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering (MSEE) is preferred.
At least 5 years of hands-on experience in power electronics design validation, test engineering, or reliability engineering.
Demonstrated experience leading DFMEA activities and developing Design Validation Plans (DVP) for power conversion products such as AC drives, DC/DC converters, inverters, or similar systems.
Proficiency with power electronics test equipment, including power analyzers, high-voltage probes, isolation amplifiers, thermal cameras, and programmable AC/DC sources and electronic loads.
Working knowledge of relevant standards such as UL 508A, UL 508C, UL 61800-5-1, IEC 61800-3, IEC 61000-series, IEEE 519, NFPA 70E, and UL1741 SA/SB.
Strong data analysis skills with proficiency in tools such as Excel, MATLAB, or Python for test data reduction, statistical analysis, and reporting.
Experience supervising technicians or junior engineers in a laboratory environment, including task delegation and performance oversight.
Excellent technical writing skills with a proven ability to produce clear and comprehensive test plans, procedures, and validation reports.
Comfort working around high-power AC systems and high-voltage DC equipment up to 1500 VDC, with a strong commitment to electrical safety.
Demonstrated ability to define and execute test programs and documentation required to evaluate designs from a reliability, verification, and validation perspective and to qualify products for release.

Qualifications

Experience with HALT and HASS testing methodologies and accelerated life test design.
Familiarity with solar photovoltaic inverter or battery energy storage system (BESS) product validation.
Experience defining, commissioning, and improving end-of-line production test systems.
Knowledge of SiC MOSFET and IGBT characterization techniques and their application in power conversion systems.
Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE) or Certified Quality Engineer (CQE) credentials.
Experience using LabVIEW, Python, or similar tools for developing automated test systems.
Exposure to ISO 9001 quality management systems or AS9100 environments and associated documentation practices.
Experience running or managing a test laboratory for lifecycle and durability testing of power electronics products.
Ability to determine and implement activities that prevent failures in the field, including robust test planning and preventive reliability measures.
Experience coordinating with external laboratories for specialized testing that cannot be performed in-house.

Skills

Deep understanding of power electronics circuit operation with the ability to diagnose failure modes at both component and system levels.
Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a closely related field; a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering (MSEE) is preferred.
At least 5 years of hands-on experience in power electronics design validation, test engineering, or reliability engineering.
Demonstrated experience leading DFMEA activities and developing Design Validation Plans (DVP) for power conversion products such as AC drives, DC/DC converters, inverters, or similar systems.
Proficiency with power electronics test equipment, including power analyzers, high-voltage probes, isolation amplifiers, thermal cameras, and programmable AC/DC sources and electronic loads.
Working knowledge of relevant standards such as UL 508A, UL 508C, UL 61800-5-1, IEC 61800-3, IEC 61000-series, IEEE 519, NFPA 70E, and UL1741 SA/SB.
Strong data analysis skills with proficiency in tools such as Excel, MATLAB, or Python for test data reduction, statistical analysis, and reporting.
Experience supervising technicians or junior engineers in a laboratory environment, including task delegation and performance oversight.
Excellent technical writing skills with a proven ability to produce clear and comprehensive test plans, procedures, and validation reports.
Comfort working around high-power AC systems and high-voltage DC equipment up to 1500 VDC, with a strong commitment to electrical safety.
Demonstrated ability to define and execute test programs and documentation required to evaluate designs from a reliability, verification, and validation perspective and to qualify products for release.