Power Electronics Engineer

Aurelius Systems, Inc; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Immediate impact on field testing

Rapid career progression

Work on critical defense technology

Job summary

A defense technology startup in San Francisco is seeking a Power Electronics Engineer to own the power chain for directed energy weapon systems. This role involves architecting battery management systems and designing high-voltage power delivery electronics with immediate impact on field testing. The ideal candidate has 3-8 years in power electronics, experience with high-voltage systems, and a hands-on testing mindset. If you desire rapid execution and visible results, this position offers an opportunity to build more in 12 months than most engineers do in 5 years.

Qualifications

• 3-8 years in power electronics with direct hardware experience.
• Experience with 48V+ power systems and their safety.
• Hands-on experience in building and testing hardware.

Responsibilities

• Architect, build, and validate battery management systems.
• Design high-voltage converters and driver electronics.
• Integrate power systems with mechanical and optical subsystems.

Skills

Deep experience with battery management systems

High-voltage power systems

Hands-on wire harness design

Proficient in Altium Designer

Thermal management expertise

Education

BS or MS in Electrical Engineering

Tools

SPICE

MATLAB/Simulink

Job description

Power Electronics Engineer

San Francisco · Full-time · In Office

Who We Are

Aurelius Systems builds laser weapons that shoot down drones. Not simulations. Not proposals. Real directed energy systems that go downrange.

We're ~20 engineers executing against a $151B MDA SHIELD IDIQ contract, field testing monthly on our own 400+ acre range. We shipped more hardware last quarter than most defense startups ship in a year.

Our namesake isn't an accident. Marcus Aurelius wrote about doing the work in front of you, every day, without excuses. Henry Ford didn't wait for permission to reinvent manufacturing. That's how we operate — small team, unreasonable output, no hiding behind PowerPoints.

If you've spent the last few years designing power systems that sit in review cycles for months before anyone builds them, this is the opposite of that. You'll see your work fire a laser within weeks.

The Role & Your Impact

You'll own the entire power chain for a directed energy weapon system — from battery pack to laser diode output.

This is a senior hands-on role. You're not handing off designs to a technician. You're architecting battery management systems, building high-voltage converters, pulling wire harnesses, and standing on the range watching your power system deliver kilowatts to a target. When something faults, you're the one who diagnoses it, fixes it, and hardens the design so it doesn't happen again.

At ~20 people, there's no power electronics team to hide in. You are the power electronics team. That means your decisions ship fast, your mistakes teach fast, and your impact is visible from day one.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect, build, and validate battery management systems for high-voltage packs — safe charge/discharge, cell balancing, thermal management, and fault protection
• Design high-voltage DC/DC converters, rectifiers, inverters, and diode driver electronics for laser power delivery
• Step power up and down safely and reliably across the full path from battery to laser diode
• Design and fabricate ruggedized wire harnesses for high-power laser and motor systems — connector selection, routing, shielding, environmental protection
• Drive hands-on prototyping, assembly, and field testing on our 400+ acre range
• Execute electrical, environmental, vibration, shock, and robustness testing to validate system reliability
• Perform electrical simulations (SPICE, MATLAB/Simulink) to optimize designs before you build them
• Conduct DFM reviews and work directly with fabricators to move designs into production
• Integrate power systems with mechanical, optical, and robotics subsystems
• Generate schematics, BOMs, wiring diagrams, and documentation to MIL-STD and ITAR standards

Qualifications

• 3-8 years in power electronics with direct hardware experience — you've physically built and tested what you've designed
• Deep experience with battery management systems — pack architecture, BMS design, high-voltage battery integration, thermal and fault management
• Proven work with 48V+ power systems — high-voltage conversion, regulation, and safe power delivery
• Hands-on wire harness design and fabrication for real deployed systems
• Proficient in Altium Designer, SPICE, and MATLAB/Simulink
• Strong background in thermal management, EMI/EMC, and ruggedized system design

Where you probably come from: EV powertrain teams (Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, Canoo), eVTOL power systems (Joby, Archer, Lilium), aerospace power electronics (SpaceX, Relativity, Rocket Lab), robotics hardware labs, or defense programs where you actually built and tested hardware. If you cut your teeth on a Formula SAE Electric or solar car team and then went pro in high-voltage systems — we definitely want to talk.

Not a fit if: Your background is semiconductor process engineering, fab NPI, or primarily low-voltage microcontroller and PCB work. We need people who live at 48V and above, with hands on power hardware, wire, and batteries.

Education

BS or MS in Electrical Engineering, Power Electronics, or related field. What you've built matters more than where you went to school.

Soft Skills

• Extreme bias for action — you'd rather build and test a prototype this week than perfect a design for a month
• Rigorous testing mindset — you break your own systems before the field does
• Clear communicator who works fluidly across mechanical, optical, and software teams
• Comfortable owning ambiguity and making calls without a 50-page spec to lean on

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience with laser diode driving or directed energy power systems
• Long-duration system deployment in harsh field environments
• Familiarity with MIL-STD standards and ITAR compliance
• Background in EMI/EMC design and shielding
• Active security clearance or ability to obtain one

Why Join Aurelius Systems

Build more in 12 months than most engineers build in 5 years. We field test monthly. Your work goes downrange, not into a filing cabinet.

Career velocity is real. Erick Brito went from Founding Robotics Engineer to Lead in 12 months. At 17 people, there are no layers between you and impact — or between you and your next title.

Work on a problem that actually matters. Small, cheap drones are changing warfare. Our laser systems are the asymmetric answer — infinite magazine, cost-per-shot near zero, scalable to every base and border.

Join the densest defense startup ecosystem in the country. SF is where Anduril, Shield AI, and the next generation of defense companies are being built. You'll be in the room with the people reshaping how America builds weapons.

How we work: Core hours are Monday–Friday, 9 to 6. When we're sprinting toward a demo or field test, the team ramps up — nights, weekends, whatever it takes to ship. When the sprint lands, we ramp down. We don't manufacture intensity for show. We go hard when the mission demands it, and we recover when it doesn't. If you've worked at SpaceX or on a racing team, you already know the rhythm.