Power Electronics Engineer for UAV Autonomy

Powerus; Rock Hill (SC); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Powerus is seeking a Power Electronics Engineer to design the circuit-level power hardware inside unmanned platforms. On-site in Charlotte, this role focuses on DC-DC conversion, motor drive electronics, battery management, and robust layout choices to meet efficiency targets.

You will collaborate with propulsion and power teams, turning system requirements into manufacturable boards while validating performance on the bench with instruments like scopes and thermal cameras.

Qualifications

• Degree in electrical engineering or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience designing switching power circuits at schematic level across converters, motor drives, or battery circuitry.
• Working understanding of switching topologies, magnetics behavior, control loop stability, and derating of semiconductors.
• Hands-on bench skills for measuring power circuits safely, including efficiency and thermal behavior.
• US Person status required due to access to ITAR- and EAR-controlled data.

Responsibilities

• Design DC-DC converters and regulators with topology selection, control loop compensation, and protection.
• Design motor drive and ESC electronics including power stage, gate drive, current sensing, and dead-time.
• Design board-level battery management circuitry: cell monitoring, balancing, protection, and fault response.
• Specify and select magnetics, capacitors, and semiconductors against ripple, saturation, and derating requirements.
• Own the power-stage layout with PCB team: traces, loops, current sense placement, and creepage/clearance.
• Analyze and manage thermal performance from loss budgets to junction temperatures under load.
• Bench-up, characterize, and stress power boards: efficiency mapping and margin testing.
• Apply EMI-aware design practices and support EMC testing of assemblies.
• Document designs, derating, test results, and transitions to production.

Skills

Power electronics design

Schematic & PCB layout

Thermal analysis

EMI/EMC knowledge

Bench testing

US Person status

Education

Electrical engineering degree

Tools

SPICE

PLECS

PCB design software

Job description

Powerus is seeking a Power Electronics Engineer to design the circuit-level power hardware inside unmanned platforms. On-site in Charlotte, this role focuses on DC-DC conversion, motor drive electronics, battery management, and robust layout choices to meet efficiency targets.

You will collaborate with propulsion and power teams, turning system requirements into manufacturable boards while validating performance on the bench with instruments like scopes and thermal cameras.