Senior Validation Engineer – Power Electronics

Acara Solutions, Inc.; Milwaukee (WI); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Acara Solutions, Inc. in Milwaukee seeks a hands-on Senior Validation Engineer to lead verification, validation, compliance, and certification activities for power electronics and related systems in Milwaukee.

The role blends laboratory work with engineering analysis and cross-functional collaboration with Product Development, Compliance, Manufacturing, Quality, and Operations. The ideal candidate will bring deep expertise and mentor technicians.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in EE or EET from ABET-accredited program.
• Minimum 5 years in product validation or power electronics testing.
• Hands-on lab experience with high-power electrical systems.
• Strong knowledge of verification, validation, and certification processes.

Responsibilities

• Develop verification and validation plans and reports.
• Design and execute electrical, thermal, environmental, and reliability tests.
• Collaborate with Product Development and Compliance teams.
• Support UL/ISO/IEC certifications and quality objectives.
• Mentor lab technicians and ensure test method consistency.
• Improve lab capabilities and test automation.

Skills

Power electronics

Electrical measurements

Data analysis

Test methodology

Education

B.S. in Electrical Engineering or Electrical Engineering Technology

Tools

Oscilloscopes

HV differential probes

Current probes

DMMs

Data acquisition systems

Spectrum analyzers

VNAs

Job description

Job Title: Senior Validation Engineer - Power Electronics

Employment Type: Salaried direct employee with comprehensive benefits

Compensation: Open

Shift: 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM, Monday-Friday

About the Opportunity:

We are looking for a hands‑on Senior Validation Engineer to lead verification, validation, compliance, and certification activities for advanced power conversion equipment, industrial drives, motor controls, renewable energy systems, and electrical test platforms. This position develops validation strategies, designs test methods, executes complex qualification programs, analyzes results, and provides technical leadership within the Engineering Validation Lab. The role combines hands‑on laboratory work with engineering analysis and cross‑functional collaboration with Product Development, Compliance Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, and Operations.

Ideal Candidate

A hands‑on senior engineer who combines strong analytical skills with practical laboratory experience. The successful candidate is recognized as a technical resource in power electronics testing, enjoys working directly with equipment and data, collaborates effectively across engineering and quality functions, and helps elevate the technical capability of the validation team through knowledge sharing and mentoring. While not a formal people‑management role, this position is expected to provide technical guidance and subject matter expertise to laboratory technicians and project teams.

What You'll Do:

• Develop verification and validation plans, test procedures, qualification reports, and engineering recommendations.
• Design, execute, and analyze electrical, thermal, environmental, reliability, and compliance test programs for new and existing products.
• Collaborate with Product Development engineers to define validation strategies and acceptance criteria throughout the product development lifecycle.
• Work with Compliance Engineering to support regulatory, certification and standards compliance activities.
• Partner with Quality and Manufacturing Engineering to ensure validation activities support product quality objectives and robust manufacturing processes.
• Develop production test requirements, acceptance criteria and manufacturing verification methods for new products.
• Analyze test results, identify performance issues and provide data‑driven recommendations to engineering teams.
• Conduct root cause investigations, failure analysis and corrective action verification.
• Support continuous improvement of laboratory capabilities, test methods, equipment utilisation and test automation.
• Support maintenance of laboratory compliance with UL DAP, ISO/IEC 17025 and ISO 9001 quality system requirements.
• Serve as a technical subject matter expert for power electronics testing, instrumentation and measurement techniques.
• Provide technical guidance, coaching and mentoring to Validation Lab Technicians to support skill development and consistent execution of test methods.
• Support laboratory planning and prioritisation activities in coordination with the VVR Engineering Lab Manager.

Job Requirements

What You'll Bring:

• B.S. in Electrical Engineering (EE) or Electrical Engineering Technology (EET) from an ABET‑accredited institution.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in product validation, test engineering, power electronics, or related engineering roles, that includes:
  • Strong understanding of power electronics, electrical measurements and engineering fundamentals.
  • Ability to independently plan, execute, analyse and document complex engineering test programs.
  • Hands‑on experience with:
    • Oscilloscopes, HV differential probes, current probes and DMMs
    • AC/DC power supplies, electronic loads and regenerative 4‑quadrant systems
    • Data acquisition systems, thermocouples, RTDs and automated switching systems
    • Logic analyzers and communication/protocol analyzers
    • Spectrum analyzers, dynamic signal analyzers and vector network analyzers (VNAs)
    • Statistical data analysis, reliability methods and root cause investigation techniques
• Min 2 years of experience working safely with high‑power electrical systems, including three‑phase AC systems through 690 Vac and DC systems through 2000 Vdc.

What Sets You Apart:

• M.S. in Electrical Engineering or related discipline.
• Experience with industrial drives, motor controls, renewable energy systems, battery systems, EV propulsion testing or industrial automation.
• Experience with product safety, EMC/EMI and certification testing.
• Experience developing manufacturing, qualification and end‑of‑line production test methods.
• Familiarity with LabVIEW, Python, MATLAB, NI test systems or automated test development.
• Experience working within accredited laboratory and regulated product development environments.

Aleron companies (Acara Solutions, Aleron Shared Resources, Broadleaf Results, Lume Strategies, TalentRise, Viaduct) are an Equal Opportunity Employer. Race/Color/Gender/Religion/National Origin/Disability/Veteran.

Applicants for this position must be legally authorized to work in the United States. This position does not meet the employment requirements for individuals with F‑1 OPT STEM work authorization status.