Sr. Power Electronics Controls Engineer

Our Mission  

SPAN develops products that accelerate the rapid adoption of renewable energy in the home. The flagship SPAN Smart Panel is the first true evolution for the traditional home electric panel, harnessing enhanced technology for metering, monitoring, and control. An expanded product suite of intelligent, integrated solutions radically lowers the cost and complexity of energy upgrades–including solar, batteries and EVs–empowering homeowners to be active, resilient and informed players in the energy market. 

The Role 

We are seeking an experienced and driven power electronics controls engineer to lead the development of new technologies for home electrification. As the power electronics controls engineer, you will rely on your past experience to lead research and to optimize controls in the application to maximize overall system performance. You will lead the development of a power electronics controls platform, implement controls for future products and create building blocks and packages to bring them to market pairing them with Span’s Panel. Further, you will be tasked with guiding and mentoring team members to support the development of this exciting product.

In this role, you will:

• Create a control strategy for power electronic systems and sub-systems.

• Define system architecture and create engineering requirements for components and systems.

• Conduct circuit and power system modeling and use the results to optimize performance and guide design decisions.

• Collaborate with electronics design and firmware engineering teams to successfully design, validate and manufacture power converters.

• Collaborate with internal and external teams.

• Build prototype components and assemblies, optimizing components to meet system requirements.

About You

Required Qualifications

We are seeking a seasoned electrical engineer who has:

• Ph.D. or Master in Electrical Engineering

• Proficient in developing linear and nonlinear control strategies for Power converters.

• Solid knowledge of controls theory.

• Create models of the power electronic controls for use by power systems engineers for system performance evaluation and analysis, including power quality and system stability studies.

• Solid understanding of the theory and application of magnetics (inductors, transformers) and capacitors (Electrolytic, film, and Ceramic).

• Proficient in Matlab/Simulink and circuit simulation tools.

• Experience with high voltage power semiconductor characteristics (Si/SiC/GaN MOSFET’s, diodes), gate drive, and protection circuit design.

• Hands-on approach, whether it be building a prototype or performing testing.

• Experience with embedded programming or code generation, including working with / guiding firmware developers.

Bonus Qualifications

We would love to hire someone who has:

• Ph.D. with 1 year of Industry Experience

• Master with 2-3 Years of Industry Experience

• Experience in Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) and Software in the Loop (SIL) simulation platforms.

• Experience specifying embedded controllers for power electronics – i.e. choosing between FPGA, microcontroller, hardware accelerated gate drive, etc.

• Experience of implementing a model-based design.

• Demonstrated implementing power electronics controls in large systems, optimizing for load and source interaction in a single and three-phase systems.

• Knowledge of national and international safety and EMC requirements relevant to the design of power converters such as UL, IEEE, National Electric Code(NEC), IEC, and ISO.

• Demonstrated success working in a cross-disciplinary, multi-cultural environment.

• Experience developing performance validation, environmental testing, and reliability testing.

Life at SPAN

SPAN embraces diversity and equal opportunity in a serious way. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. 

Headquartered in San Francisco’s vibrant SoMa neighborhood, we are an eclectic group of creative thinkers who value open communication, teamwork, and a ‘make it happen’ approach to addressing complex challenges. 

Our CEO, Arch Rao⁠—former head of the Tesla Powerwall team⁠—fosters an energetic and collaborative environment, with a strong emphasis on maintaining work-life-balance across the organization.

We’re hiring talented individuals who are driven by success and are passionate about shaping the future of renewable energy. If that sounds like you, we’d love for you to consider joining the rapidly growing team at SPAN.

The Perks:

⚡ Competitive compensation + equity grants at a well-funded, venture-backed company

⚡ Comprehensive benefits (including medical; dental, vision, life and disability insurance)

⚡ Comfortable, sunny office space located near BART and Caltrain public transit

⚡ Strong focus on team building and company culture (events, meet-ups, clubs)

⚡ Flexible hours and unlimited PTO

Our Mission & Values:

At SPAN, we believe that powering your home with clean energy should be a simple and delightful experience that is at its essence human-centered and technology-forward.

Our core values include:

• Making home energy more accessible, intuitive, and convenient.
• Enabling homes and vehicles to be powered by the sun.
• Building resilient homes with reliable power.
• All-electric everything.
• A more flexible & distributed grid.

Interested in joining our team? Submit an application today and we’ll be in touch with the next steps!