Test Lab Manager
About the role
Led the validation, verification, and reliability strategy for advanced power electronics products, with full ownership of the validation lifecycle for industrial drives and new energy platforms such as bidirectional DC/DC converters, solar MPPT optimizers, and next-generation variable frequency drives.
Responsibilities
Own the Design Validation Plan (DVP) for new power electronics products and define comprehensive 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, translating risk rankings into targeted validation test cases and mitigation plans.
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 qualification test programs covering electrical performance, including efficiency curves, power quality (harmonics, power factor, THD), switching waveform characterization, and thermal derating.
Coordinate and execute environmental testing programs, including vibration, thermal cycling, humidity exposure, and ingress protection (IP rating), working with third-party laboratories as needed.
Plan and perform reliability testing such as HALT/HASS, accelerated life testing, and component-level stress analysis to qualify products for long-term field performance.
Conduct dielectric and safety testing, including hi-pot, insulation resistance, and ground bond, in alignment with UL and IEC requirements.
Validate communication and control functions by verifying fieldbus protocols such as EtherNet/IP, Modbus, and CANopen, and performing firmware regression validation.
Analyze test data, document failures, and drive root-cause analysis using structured 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, ensuring clear documentation of test plans, procedures, and results.
Develop, organize, and manage the product validation laboratory, including equipment procurement 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 mentor test technicians, establishing standard operating procedures, workload priorities, and skill development plans.
Maintain lab safety compliance with NFPA 70E, OSHA electrical safety standards, and internal environmental health and safety policies, serving as the lab safety leader.
Track lab utilization, project test schedules, and resource capacity to align validation activities with product development timelines and delivery commitments.
Partner with power electronics and controls design engineers to provide Design for Testability (DFT) and Design for Reliability (DFR) feedback early in development, championing best practices for component derating, thermal management, and robust gate drive design.
Collaborate with compliance engineers to align validation activities with applicable UL, IEC, CE marking, NEC, NFPA, and other regulatory requirements, and support third-party agency submissions.
Work closely with manufacturing engineering and production teams to define end-of-line (EOL) test strategies, test fixture requirements, go/no-go limits, and tester calibration protocols, and support transfer of validation methods into production.
Interface with quality assurance to integrate validation data into the product quality management system and support corrective action processes for field issues.
Engage with supply chain and component engineering to assess reliability of critical components, support last-time-buy (LTB) qualification, and validate alternate sourcing options.
Develop and maintain reliability models such as 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 that enhance product reliability.
Establish product reliability targets and derating standards in coordination with product management and engineering leadership, and ensure these targets are reflected in validation plans.
Maintain a lessons-learned database and drive incorporation of reliability improvements into new product development efforts.
Run and oversee the test lab for lifecycle and durability testing of power electronics products, ensuring that appropriate test programs and documentation are in place to evaluate designs from a reliability, verification, and validation standpoint.
Determine and define the test activities needed to prevent failures in the field, including misuse scenarios such as incorrect user inputs and boundary-condition testing to understand product limits.
Cook up with external laboratories for tests that cannot be performed in-house, particularly for high-voltage and specialized environmental or compliance testing.
Define end-of-line testing requirements for converters, inverters, drives, and related products to ensure consistent production quality and proper qualification of finished units.
Qualifications
Deep understanding of power electronics circuit operation, with the ability to diagnose failure modes at both the component and system levels.
Hands-on experience working directly with power electronics products such as variable frequency drives (VFDs), inverters, DC/DC converters, power supplies, UPS systems, battery storage systems, solar inverters, EV charging equipment, or industrial drives.
Proven ownership or significant contribution to design validation and verification activities for power conversion products.
Strong knowledge of DFMEA and DVP processes, including leading DFMEA activities and developing comprehensive Design Validation Plans.
Experience performing reliability, qualification, and environmental testing, including HALT/HASS or similar methodologies.
Extensive lab experience using power electronics test equipment such as oscilloscopes, power analyzers, thermal cameras, programmable power supplies, and electronic loads.
Ability to discuss and analyze inverters, drives, converters, battery systems, motor controls, and related products at a detailed technical level.
Leadership presence and experience sufficient to oversee technicians and manage a test lab environment.
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 facilitating DFMEA and developing DVPs specifically for power conversion products such as AC drives, DC/DC converters, and inverters.
Proficiency with power electronics test equipment, including power analyzers (e.g., Yokogawa, Hioki), high-voltage probes, isolation amplifiers, thermal cameras (e.g., FLIR), and programmable AC/DC sources and electronic loads.
Working knowledge of relevant standards such as UL 508A, UL 1741 SA/SB, IEC standards, IEEE 519, and NFPA 70E.
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 setting.
Excellent technical writing skills, with demonstrated ability to produce clear test plans, procedures, and validation reports.
Comfort working around high-power AC systems and high-voltage DC equipment up to approximately 1500 VDC.