Sr. Electrical Engineer, Magnetic Bearings

Calnetix is a design and manufacturing company focused on high-speed permanent magnet synchronous machines, power electronics, magnetic bearings, and associated controls. Join the engineering team to develop innovative controller products for industrial, aerospace, and military applications, participating in the product development process from concept through high-volume production.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the architecture and technical direction of magnetic bearing control electronics, from position sensors through power amplifiers and actuator interfaces.
• Collaborate with controls, mechanical, and systems engineers to integrate control electronics with magnetic bearing dynamics, control algorithms, and mechanical constraints.
• Guide firmware-hardware interfaces, including ADC/DAC selection, timing, synchronization, interrupt handling, and data paths critical to closed-loop control.
• Design analog and digital control circuits using Altium Designer.
• Lead or support trade studies evaluating control electronics topologies, sensor architectures, redundancy strategies, and fault-handling approaches.
• Participate in designing new magnetic bearing systems for new applications/machines.
• Specify requirements for magnetic bearing control hardware components such as DSP controller, PWM amplifiers, and power supplies; create system-level wiring diagrams.
• Provide engineering guidance during design reviews and troubleshooting support.
• Interface directly with customers, suppliers, and partners on control electronics topics, including technical reviews, requirements clarification, and issue resolution.
• Ensure control electronics designs meet applicable standards and program requirements (e.g., reliability, safety, environmental, and quality).
• Monitor advancements in magnetic bearing control, power electronics, digital control platforms, and sensing technologies; translate developments into practical design improvements.
• Support hands-on system bring-up and integration, including board-level debugging, signal integrity verification, timing validation, and coordination with mechanical and control subsystems.
• Lead troubleshooting during integration and test activities, diagnosing control electronics, sensor behavior, and digital timing issues using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and system-level test data.
• Prepare invention disclosures to protect intellectual property.
• Architect, develop, and review digital control hardware utilizing CPLDs and FPGAs, including programming and verification using VHDL or equivalent hardware description languages, with attention to timing determinism, synchronization, and fault-handling behavior.

Requirements

• BSc + 5 years industry experience or MSc + 3 years industry experience in Electrical or Electronics Engineering with a focus on digital electronics.
• Background and experience with active magnetic bearings (AMB) and magnetic bearing controllers (MBC) preferred.
• Strong understanding of electronics and power electronics circuits operation and design.
• Proficient in debugging analog, digital, and power electronics circuits.
• Experience in PWA board design using Altium.
• Ability to debug, validate, and optimize control circuit designs from prototype through production.
• Experience with space vector, sinusoidal, and/or discontinuous PWM schemes.
• Strong knowledge of digital, analog, and power electronic circuits design, test, and debugging.
• Hands-on experience with power electronics test equipment such as oscilloscopes, DC/AC electronic loads, DC/AC power sources, current and voltage probes.
• Strong circuit simulation experience (Matlab Simulink/PLECS/LTSpice).
• Strong interpersonal, communication, presentation, and technical writing skills.
• Self-motivated, detail-oriented, and a strong team player.
• Strong problem-solving skills and creative thinking.
• Ability to drive projects to completion.
• Ability to prepare test reports, conclude outcomes, provide next steps, and present to management.
• Must be able to obtain a confidential security clearance within one year of start date.
• U.S. citizenship is required due to contractual obligations.

Skills

• Detail-oriented with excellent time management.
• Strong blend of analytical, decision-making, and creative problem-solving skills.
• Team player with a willingness to learn, teach, and help.
• Strong verbal and written communication.
• Excellent problem-solving and troubleshooting.

Schedule

• On-site only; this is not a remote/hybrid position.
• 10% travel may be required.

Pay

$110,000 - $170,000 per year