Sr. Power Electronics Hardware Engineer

Job description

ABOUT ODYS Our mission at Odys is simple - we build safe, sustainable aircraft to cut travel time in half on the world's busiest corridors. Our flagship aircraft Alta enables travelers to skip the big-airport hassle https://youtu.be/fyI4XMsF2rM by using city helipads and local airports to connect cities less than 1,000 miles apart (approx 40% of flights). And on average cut CO2 by 76% on tens of billions of flight miles globally. To get there, we start with our UAV called Laila for commercial logistics, medical transport, humanitarian aid, disaster relief, and defense missions. We’re deploying aircraft with launch partners (Fiji Airways https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/futureflight/2024-09-20/fiji-airways-plans-connect-pacific-islands-laila-vtol, Honeywell https://aerospace.honeywell.com/us/en/about-us/press-release/2024/07/honeywell-odys-aviation-to-collaborate-on-uncrewed-aircraft-operations-in-the-middle-east-and-pacific, Aramex https://evtolinsights.com/2024/01/odys-aviation-aramex-announce-collaboration-to-develop-cargo-operations-in-uae-and-oman/, US Navy) beginning in 2026 and already have firm orders for aircraft under contract. We’re a team of expert engineers from deep tech and aerospace that focus on fast iterations loops (completed transition flight https://youtu.be/AffdzQDUv2U faster than our peers) combined with mastery of the aircraft certification process. Previously, our team developed custom drones, brought multiple automotive platforms into production, and electrified transportation vehicles that magnetically levitate, that roll, that fly. Together, we’ve been learning, developing, building, testing, and preparing for this challenge our entire lives. Odys Aviation is at the forefront of developing hybrid-electric aircraft to enable sustainable regional air travel. As the Sr. Power Electronics Hardware Engineer, you will be responsible for the design and development of our SiC-based propulsion power electronics - motor drives, active rectifiers, and DC/DC converters - supporting both the Laila (UAV) and Alta (Hybrid-electric VTOL) programs. This role focuses on hardware design and physical realization. You will be tasked with architecting and delivering high-power-density SiC converter stages from concept through flight hardware, including schematic capture, PCB layout, magnetics, gate-drive and protection circuitry, thermal management, and EMI mitigation. Control algorithms, embedded firmware, and HIL infrastructure will remain with peer engineers; your responsibility is to deliver hardware that meets electrical, thermal, mechanical, and certification targets, and that enables the control system to extract full performance. The primary deliverable is a propulsion power electronics stack that achieves aerospace-grade reliability, hits aggressive power-density and efficiency targets, and is manufacturable, testable, and robust under the full envelope of flight conditions. Responsibilities - Architect and design SiC-MOSFET-based motor drives, active rectifiers, and DC/DC converters operating at switching frequencies greater than 20–40 kHz, with focus on power density, efficiency, and reliability for airborne applications. - Lead schematic capture and PCB layout (Altium, Cadence, or equivalent) for high-voltage, high-current power stages, including controlled-impedance routing, creepage and clearance per aerospace standards, and partitioning of power, signal, and gate-drive domains. - Design gate-drive circuits tailored to SiC device physics, including isolated drivers, dv/dt and di/dt management, desat and short-circuit protection, miller-clamp strategies, and dead-time selection in coordination with the controls engineer. - Design magnetic components - DC-link inductors, common-mode and differential-mode chokes, current sensors, and isolation transformers - including core selection, winding strategy, loss budgeting, and saturation analysis for high-frequency operation. - Develop DC-link architecture and capacitor banks, including ripple-current budgeting, ESR/ESL management, lifetime analysis, and pre-charge/discharge circuitry. - Lead thermal design of converter assemblies, including heatsink and cold-plate selection, junction-to-coolant thermal stack-up, transient thermal analysis, and coordination with mechanical engineering on cooling integration. - Design EMI/EMC mitigation at the hardware level - input/output filters, shielding strategy, grounding architecture, and layout-level techniques - to meet DO-160 conducted and radiated emissions requirements. - Define protection architecture including overvoltage, overcurrent, overtemperature, ground-fault, and arc-fault detection circuitry, and partition responsibilities between hardware interlocks and firmware-level FDIR with the controls team. - Specify and qualify power semiconductors, magnetics, capacitors, sensors, and connectors; drive component derating analyses, supplier evaluations, and second-source strategies appropriate for aerospace volumes. - Lead board bring-up, double-pulse testing, and converter characterization on bench and dyno; correlate measured switching behavior, losses, and thermal performance with simulation and iterate the design to close gaps. - Collaborate with the controls/software engineer to define sensor placement, current/voltage feedback signal conditioning, and ICD-level interfaces; ensure hardware exposes the observability needed for FOC, sensorless operation, and diagnostics. - Produce deliverables aligned with DO-254, DO-160, and ARP4754B standards, including hardware design specifications, schematic and layout review packages, derating and stress analyses, FMEA/FMECA, and verification evidence. Requirements - BS, MS, or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Power Electronics, or related discipline. - A minimum of 5 years of experience designing high-power motor drives or power converters from concept through hardware bring-up. - Demonstrated expertise in SiC MOSFET-based converter design, including switching behavior, gate-driver design, dead-time effects, parasitic management, and high-voltage protection. - Strong proficiency in schematic capture and PCB layout for high-power, high-voltage systems, with hands-on ownership of multilayer power boards through fabrication and assembly. - Solid magnetics design experience - inductors, transformers, common-mode chokes - including core/winding selection and loss analysis at high switching frequencies. - Working knowledge of thermal management for power electronics, including conduction, convection, and liquid-cooled architectures, and use of thermal simulation tools. - Experience with EMI/EMC design and mitigation, including filter design, layout best practices, and pre-compliance testing. - Hands-on lab proficiency with high-voltage bench work, including double-pulse testing, network analyzers, high-bandwidth oscilloscopes, current probes, and electronic loads, with disciplined high-voltage safety practices. - Working familiarity with PMSM drive topologies and the control-system requirements they impose on hardware (sensor bandwidth, isolation, latency), sufficient to design hardware that supports FOC, sensorless operation, and flux-weakening. - Familiarity with SPICE and converter-level simulation tools (PLECS, LTspice, or equivalent) for device-level and circuit-level analysis. Preferred Qualifications - Aerospace or eVTOL powertrain experience, with familiarity in FAA/EASA certification processes. - Experience with DO-254 compliance in a regulated hardware development environment, plus working familiarity with DO-160, ARP4754B, FMEA/FTA, and requirements traceability. - Experience designing converters for high-speed PMSMs, including multi-three-phase architectures, generator-mode operation, and active-rectifier topologies. - Hands-on experience with high-power-density liquid-cooled converter assemblies and integration with airframe cooling systems. - Familiarity with battery-pack interfaces, pre-charge architectures, and contactor/HVIL design for high-voltage DC distribution. - Experience taking power electronics hardware from prototype through DVT, qualification testing (DO-160 environmental, vibration, thermal), and into low-rate production. - Working knowledge of CAN, CAN-FD, and Ethernet hardware interfaces, including isolation and signal integrity for noisy power-electronics environments.