Senior Power Electronics Reliability Engineer

ACTalent; Wauwatosa (WI); On-site; USD 100,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Actalent in Wisconsin seeks a hands-on Reliability Engineer to establish and execute reliability strategies for high‑power electronics, industrial drives, and EV powertrain test systems. You will design accelerated life tests, monitor in-house and lab testing, and translate data into design improvements.

Based in Wauwatosa/Franksville, the role is onsite with travel minimal, first shift, and close collaboration with Product Development, Validation, Quality, and Manufacturing teams.

Qualifications

• B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Reliability Engineering, Applied Statistics, or a closely related discipline.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in reliability engineering of electronics or semiconductors, preferably power electronics.
• Experience developing reliability test plans and applying statistical methods to electronic or power electronic products.
• Strong knowledge of power semiconductor, capacitor, magnetics, PCB, connector, cooling-system, sheet-metal fatigue and corrosion, and electromechanical failure mechanisms.
• Advanced competency in statistical analysis, life-data modeling, reliability prediction, and technical data interpretation.
• Experience coordinating structured failure analysis and root-cause investigations.
• Ability to work safely around high-power electrical equipment, including systems operating at up to 690 Vac three-phase and 2000 Vdc.
• Strong technical writing, project coordination, and cross-functional communication skills.
• Ability for minimal travel to outside contracted test labs.

Responsibilities

• Develop product and component reliability requirements, plans, test strategies, and acceptance criteria.
• Select and specify appropriate reliability tests based on product architecture, component technologies, use conditions, failure mechanisms, and business risk.
• Design accelerated life, endurance, environmental, thermal cycling, power cycling, highly accelerated life testing, and reliability demonstration programs.
• Provide hands-on setup, monitoring, data review, and technical oversight of testing performed in the laboratory.
• Define statements of work and provide technical oversight for testing conducted by third-party laboratories.
• Develop mission profiles, reliability block diagrams, component stress analyses, life predictions, and system-level reliability models.
• Perform detailed reliability predictions using Telcordia SR-332 and other recognized industry methods to estimate electronic equipment failure rates and support system availability and downtime modeling.
• Apply statistical methods including Weibull analysis, life-data analysis, accelerated life-test modeling, confidence bounds, probability distributions, and reliability demonstration planning.
• Analyze laboratory, manufacturing, warranty, and field-return data to estimate useful life, failure rates, MTBF, confidence levels, and reliability growth.
• Coordinate failure analysis, including investigation planning, evidence preservation, external laboratory support, root‑cause determination, and corrective‑action verification.
• Facilitate FMEA activities and identify critical components, design weaknesses, dominant failure mechanisms, and reliability risks.
• Collaborate with Product Development, Validation, Compliance, Quality, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain teams to improve product robustness.
• Support component qualification, supplier evaluation, derating guidelines, design reviews, and prototype-to-production transitions.
• Prepare clear technical reports and communicate reliability risks, assumptions, results, and recommendations to engineering and business stakeholders.

Skills

Reliability engineering

Power electronics

Statistical analysis

Lifecycle modeling

Failure analyses coordination

Technical writing

Education

B.S. in Electrical Engineering

M.S. in Electrical Engineering

Tools

ReliaSoft

JMP

Minitab

MATLAB

Python

R

Job description

Actalent in Wisconsin seeks a hands-on Reliability Engineer to establish and execute reliability strategies for high‑power electronics, industrial drives, and EV powertrain test systems. You will design accelerated life tests, monitor in-house and lab testing, and translate data into design improvements.

Based in Wauwatosa/Franksville, the role is onsite with travel minimal, first shift, and close collaboration with Product Development, Validation, Quality, and Manufacturing teams.