Lead Architect - Power Electronics and Controls

River; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 5,000,000 - 9,000,000; Full time

Job summary

River is a design company building personal transportation for livelihood, headquartered in Bengaluru, India. We are hiring a senior controls engineer to lead embedded control development for our power electronics portfolio, including chargers, DC-DC, inverters, and motor drives.

The role demands strong fundamentals in control theory, hands-on hardware experience, and collaboration with cross-functional teams to deliver production-ready solutions.

Qualifications

• 8–13 years in power electronics controls with at least two domains produced.
• Genuine control fundamentals: state-space averaging, small-signal modelling, loop shaping, discretisation, sampling delay, digital redesign.
• Proficient in MATLAB/Simulink MBSD and real HIL toolchains (DSPACE, Typhoon HIL, OPAL-RT, Speedgoat).
• Production embedded C on real-time MCU/DSP (TI C2000, AURIX/XMC, STM32G4/H7); fixed/float tradeoffs.

Responsibilities

• Own control architecture across power conversion: chargers, DC-DC, inverters, motor drives.
• Lead cross-product team to share control fundamentals across lines.
• End-to-end closed-loop control: plant models, loop shaping, digital compensators.
• Modeling in MATLAB/Simulink; MIL/SIL/PIL/HIL validation before hardware.
• Embed control loops in real-time C with proper PWM/ADC timing.
• Design grid-interface controls: PLL, synchronization, droop, grid-forming modes.
• Validation plan: stability margins, transient response, THD verification.
• Collaborate with magnetics, PCB, thermal, EMC engineers; account for parasitics.
• Set coding/testing standards; ensure traceability to tests.
• Mentor engineers; deepen team knowledge in control theory and hardware.

Skills

MATLAB/Simulink

Embedded C

Control theory

HIL experience

Education

M. Tech or PhD in Electrical, Power Electronics, Control Systems (Bachelor’s in Electrical)

Tools

dSPACE

Typhoon HIL

OPAL-RT

Speedgoat

Job description

River is a design company building personal transportation for livelihood. We focus on creating multi-utility products for those independently carving their own path. We’re building from the ground up, bringing together design, engineering and technology to solve real, everyday problems. Our signature two-wheeler, Indie – The SUV of Scooters, is built to be a dependable companion for getting things done.

About River

River is a design company building personal transportation for livelihood. We focus on creating multi-utility products for those independently carving their own path. We’re building from the ground up, bringing together design, engineering and technology to solve real, everyday problems. Our signature two-wheeler, Indie – The SUV of Scooters, is built to be a dependable companion for getting things done.

Today, we’re 1,500+ people strong, headquartered in Bengaluru, and have raised our Series C.

River is backed by leading global automotive OEMs, international tech investors, and top institutional asset managers, including Yamaha Motor, Al-Futtaim Automotive Group, Toyota Ventures, Mitsui & Co., Marubeni Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Maniv Mobility, Elev8 Venture Partners, Claypond Capital, Trucks Venture Capital, 360 ONE Asset, HDFC AMC, Singularity AMC, Anicut Capital, and JIF Capital.

Key Responsibilities

• You’ll own the control architecture across our power conversion portfolio — onboard chargers, HV/LV DC-DC converters, bidirectional stationary and traction motor drives. This is a hands‑on lead role: you’ll set the control strategy, architect and build the models with engineers, guide engineers on the firmware that ships, and sit in the lab when things don’t behave the way the model said it would.
• We’re deliberately hiring one person across all four product lines rather than siloing them, because the control fundamentals are shared and are scalable across different products.
• Own closed‑loop control design end to end — plant modelling, loop shaping, digital compensator design, and discrete‑time implementation — for PFC stages, isolated DC-DC, grid‑tied inverters, and FOC motor drives
• Build and maintain averaged and switching models in MATLAB/Simulink (plus PLECS or Simscape Electrical), and drive them through MIL, SIL, PIL and HIL validation before hardware exists
• Implement control loops in embedded C on real‑time targets, at ISR level, with correct PWM/ADC synchronisation, deadtime compensation, and fault handling
• Design grid‑interface control for bidirectional supply: PLL and synchronisation, resonant or repetitive current control, droop and grid‑forming modes, ride‑through and anti‑islanding
• Define and execute the controls validation plan — stability margins across operating envelope, transient response, weak‑grid and impedance‑based stability, efficiency and THD verification
• Work directly with magnetics, PCB layout, thermal and EMC engineers, because a control loop that ignores parasitics, sensing delay and switching noise is a simulation, not a product
• Set the standards the rest of the team works to: modelling conventions, autocode practice, code review, and how control requirements trace to test evidence
• Mentor group of engineers and raise the team’s depth in control theory and hardware design.

Ideal Candidate

• M. Tech or PhD in Electrical, Power Electronics, Control Systems (Bachelor’s in Electrical).
• 8 to 13 Years years in power electronics controls, with at least two of the four domains shipped to production.
• Genuine control systems fundamentals — state‑space averaging, small‑signal modelling, loop shaping, discretisation effects, sampling and computational delay, digital redesign. You should be able to derive a compensator, not only tune one.
• Strong MATLAB/Simulink, including model‑based design workflow and at least one real HIL toolchain (dSPACE, Typhoon HIL, OPAL‑RT, Speedgoat).
• Production embedded C on a real‑time control MCU or DSP — TI C2000, Infineon AURIX or XMC, STM32G4/H7, or equivalent. Comfortable with fixed‑point and floating‑point trade-offs and with what actually fits in a 50 kHz ISR.
• Lab competence: you can drive a scope, a power analyser and an electronic load, and you trust measurements over models when they disagree
• Working knowledge of the standards that constrain these products — IEC 61851, ISO 15118, CISPR 25 or CISPR 11, IEC 61000, and for grid‑tied work IEEE 1547 or the relevant regional grid code.
• Wide bandgap experience — GaN totem‑pole PFC or SiC traction inverters.
• Bidirectional topologies: CLLC, dual active bridge, four‑quadrant PCS, Sensor less motor control, observer design, MTPA and field weakening.
• Functional safety exposure — ISO 26262 or IEC 61508.
• Production auto code via Embedded Coder into a safety‑relevant build.