Sr Reliability Engineer

Job Description:

Job Title: Reliability Engineer, Power Electronics

Location: Fremont, CA
Job Type: Full-Time (New-Hire)
Job Level: Senior Engineer

Job Description:

We are seeking a skilled and detail-oriented Reliability (DfR) Engineer to join our team. This role will focus on ensuring the long-term reliability, durability, and performance of Power Electronic products. In this role, you will be responsible for representing reliability during the design, development and deployment lifecycle of our products. You will work closely with the design and validation teams to optimize product life and performance under real-world conditions.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design for Reliability: Implement Design for Reliability (DFR) methodologies to proactively identify and mitigate potential failure modes in power electronic systems. Ensure designs meet industry standards for thermal, electrical, and mechanical performance.

• Product Requirements: Interpret product and system level requirements. Help define reliability requirements early in the design process and ensure that the product’s use case, operation and environment are sufficiently specified.

• Risk Analysis: Use first principles approach to identify risk and its impact. Organize brainstorming sessions with key stakeholders for quick risk discovery. Conduct and lead Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (DFMEA) during the concept & design phase to help identify failure modes specific to power electronics and prioritize mitigation strategies like redundancy or protective circuits.

• Reliability Test Planning: Assess key component reliability and associated failure modes like mechanical and electrical fatigue of capacitors, inductors, semiconductor devices by subjecting product to high-stress cycles to identify weak points in the design.

• Develop reliability testing strategies and protocols for power converters, focusing on product lifespan, failure modes, and performance under extreme conditions (e.g., temperature, humidity, mechanical stress).

• Accelerated Life Testing: Define accelerated life tests (ALT) to simulate long-term usage of power systems in varying environmental conditions and verify/quantify key reliability requirements.

• Failure Analysis: Coordinate investigation of failure modes with key stakeholders internally and externally through 3rd party labs and suppliers. Design tests needed to verify failure mode and see through implementation of corrective actions and solutions.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Power Electronics, or a related field.

• Proven experience (5+ years) working with high voltage systems, high power electronics, and DC-DC converters, preferably in renewable power electronics, electric vehicle, or industrial power systems.

• Experience with power electronics components such as IGBTs, MOSFETs, capacitors, inductors, and transformers.

• In-depth understanding of Design for Reliability (DFR) principles and methodologies, including component stress analysis , Fault Tree Analysis, MTBF and Reliability Block Diagrams.

• Background in Ansys Sherlock, Physics of failure principles and failure rate predictions based on stress factors like vibration, shock, temperature cycling and thermal gradients.

• Knowledge of industry standards and certifications for power electronics, including IEC, UL, JEDEC and IEEE.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with advanced packaging technologies, including power modules and PCB design for high-voltage systems.

• Expertise in thermal management, including the design of heat sinks, active cooling, and thermal vias.

• Familiarity with power quality issues (e.g., harmonics, voltage sags/surges) and their mitigation in power conversion systems.

Pay Range (Applicable to California)

$160,000.00 - $175,000.00 dependent on level of experience

Why Join Nextracker: 

🚀 Innovative Environment: Be part of a team that's at the forefront of revolutionizing solar energy technology. Collaborate with experts who are passionate about driving clean and sustainable solutions to power the world. 

📈 Professional Growth: At Nextracker, we encourage continuous learning and provide opportunities for your professional development. Take on challenges, expand your skill set, and advance your car