Staff Power Electronics Engineer, Energy Storage
Redwood Materials · San Francisco, United States · 4h ago
About Redwood Materials
Redwood Materials was founded in 2017 by JB Straubel, co-founder and former CTO of Tesla, on a simple but radical idea: the critical minerals powering the energy transition already exist. They just need to come back. Today Redwood is the largest lithium-ion battery recycler in North America — recovering, refining, and redeploying critical minerals from end-of-life batteries back into the supply chain. On the energy side, Redwood has deployed the largest second-life battery project in the world, delivering power to AI data centers in months rather than years using proprietary energy architecture engineered entirely in-house. The company is profitable, the market it operates in is projected to grow 20 to 50 times over the next decade, and Redwood is the only company with the supply chain, the technology, and the operational scale to lead it.
Position Summary:
The Power Electronics Engineer, Energy Storage designs and develops power conversion systems for Redwood's next-generation Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), including converters that interface with battery packs, battery modules, photovoltaic systems, and the grid for utility-scale and data center applications. This is a fully on-site role at 100 Hooper, San Francisco. The engineer independently owns complex circuit- and system-level problems spanning converter topology selection, power-stage component selection, magnetics design, PCB/PCBA layout, thermal analysis, and validation, adapting existing approaches and precedent to new and unusual design challenges. The role partners extensively with Mechanical, Firmware/Controls, Systems, Compliance, Supply Chain, and Manufacturing teams to take designs from concept through production. Success depends on sound engineering judgment, hands-on lab validation skills, and the ability to resolve ambiguous technical trade-offs with limited direction.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
- Design high-voltage (800V – 25kVdc, 480–800Vac) and high-power (10kW–500kW) converters tailored for utility-scale BESS and industrial infrastructure.
- Conduct comprehensive topology comparison and trade-off analyses evaluating efficiency, power density, cost, and manufacturability.
- Perform power-stage component sizing and Si/SiC MOSFET selection based on loss modeling and thermal management.
- Design robust gate driver circuits and dedicated gate driver power supplies to ensure safe, high-frequency switching operations.
- Lead the design, modeling, and specification of custom magnetic components, including transformers and inductors utilizing Litz-wire or PCB-winding architectures.
- Architect the low-voltage (LV) subsystem, including auxiliary power supplies, sensing circuitry (voltage/current/temperature), and hardware-level protection.
- Design and optimize EMI filters, including differential-mode and common-mode inductors, X/Y-caps, and damping elements.
- Drive high-voltage, high-power PCB/PCBA layout design, ensuring clearance/creepage rules and signal integrity under high-noise environments.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams (Mechanical, Controls/Firmware, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Compliance) to define requirements, test specifications, and achieve industry certifications
Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities
- MS or PhD in Electrical Engineering, with a focus on power electronics.
- 5-7 years of experience in electrical engineering, with a strong focus on power conversion or energy storage products, ideally for mass production.
- Hands-on experience in high-voltage (up to 1.5kVdc and 800Vac) hardware design. Experience in high voltage (up to 25kVdc, 34.5kVac) for SST is a plus.
- Experience with power semiconductor selection, gate drive design, and hardware protection circuits.
- Deep understanding of power electronics topologies and fundamentals (AC/DC, DC/DC).
- Proficiency with circuit simulation, FEA simulation, and CAD tools (e.g., Simulink, LTspice, Ansys Maxwell/Q3D, Altium Designer).
- Demonstrated ability to perform detailed layout of high-power, noise-sensitive PCBs in Altium or equivalent CAD software.
- Proficiency with lab equipment, including oscilloscopes, impedance analyzers, network analyzers, and signal generators.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate across diverse cross-functional teams.
- Foundational knowledge of control theory and embedded systems.
- Strong analytical and systematic problem-solving skills.
- Proven track record of rapid prototyping and hardware iterations based on cross-functional and supplier feedback.
- Strong ability to select circuit components considering both electrical performance and manufacturability (DFM).
- Experience mentoring test technicians to execute design verification, interpret test data, and define component maturity criteria.
In accordance with California pay transparency laws, the salary range for this position is listed below. Actual compensation may vary based on a variety of factors, including experience, education, and skills.
The position is full-time. Compensation will be commensurate with experience.
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