Power Electronics Reliability Engineer

Job Title : Power Electronics Reliability Engineer

Location : Franksville, WI (Hybrid)

Pay rate : $70–75/hr (C2C)

Experience : 5-9 years

Job Description:

Our client is seeking a Power Electronics Reliability Engineer with strong hands-on experience in DFMEA (Design Failure Mode & Effects Analysis) and MTBF/MTTF reliability analysis for power electronics products. This is a reliability engineering role rather than a traditional validation or test engineering position. Candidates should have 5+ years of relevant experience working specifically with power electronics hardware. Experience limited to HIL or software testing will not be considered.

Key Responsibilities & Requirements:

• Perform and lead DFMEA (Design Failure Mode & Effects Analysis) for power electronics products.
• Develop MTBF/MTTF reliability calculations, predictions, and models.
• Review power electronics designs to identify potential failure modes and assess their downstream impact.
• Analyze component-level reliability and recommend design improvements before product release.
• Evaluate component stress, derating, and reliability risks by reviewing schematics, component datasheets, and electrical designs.
• Identify and assess failure mechanisms such as shorts, open circuits, over-current, over-voltage, thermal events, and electrical noise susceptibility.

Required Technical Experience:

Strong understanding of power electronic components, including:

• Silicon Carbide (SiC) MOSFETs
• IGBTs
• Capacitors
• Resistors
• Gate drive circuits

Candidates should be able to evaluate component failures and understand their impact on the overall system.

Examples of Relevant Experience:

• Determining the impact of a shorted SiC MOSFET or IGBT on downstream circuitry.
• Identifying thermal or fire risks caused by excessive current through resistors.
• Evaluating capacitor voltage stress, electrical noise susceptibility, and other reliability concerns.
• Using DFMEA findings to drive design improvements and validation strategies.

Preferred Experience:

• Power conversion products such as drives, inverters, DC/DC converters, motor controls, or similar power electronics systems.
• Reliability testing, validation, root cause analysis, and field failure investigations.
• Experience with standards-based reliability methodologies such as MIL-HDBK-217 , Telcordia , or Physics-of-Failure (PoF) .

Ideal Candidate:

The ideal candidate has several years of experience performing DFMEA and MTBF analysis on power electronics hardware and can quickly identify failure mechanisms, component stress issues, and reliability risks within a design.