Lead Engineer - Solid-State Circuit Breakers

US Citizenship Required

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineers, specialists, and technicians engaged in the development of solid-state power switching and protection technologies.
• Serve as the technical authority for solid-state circuit breaker architecture, power electronics design, system protection strategies, and product integration.
• Lead the research, innovation, and development of next-generation solid-state protection technologies, including semiconductor switching systems, gate drive circuits, sensing technologies, and protection algorithms.
• Lead cross-functional development efforts involving hardware, firmware, controls, reliability, mechanical, manufacturing, and test engineering teams to ensure successful product delivery.
• Establish technical requirements, development plans, and risk mitigation strategies for SSCB development programs.
• Direct design reviews and provide technical oversight for schematic design, PCB development, simulations, thermal analysis, EMI/EMC compliance, reliability assessments, and system validation activities.
• Lead laboratory testing, prototype evaluation, fault-current testing, environmental qualification, and product validation efforts to ensure compliance with applicable industry standards.
• Collaborate with customers, utilities, research organizations, and industry partners to identify emerging requirements and guide future SSCB product development.
• Support manufacturing readiness, design-for-manufacturing initiatives, product launches, and continuous improvement activities.
• Responsible for environmental, health, and safety leadership, maintaining a safe workplace, promoting safety awareness, conducting investigations, and implementing safe work practices.
• Model, teach, and apply SEL Values, Principles of Operations, and World Class Manufacturing Principles.
• Understand. Create. Simplify.
• Other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• BS degree in Electrical Engineering or a related engineering discipline.
• 7+ years of experience in power electronics, protection systems, power conversion, solid-state switching technologies, or closely related fields.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex product development programs from concept through production.
• Strong understanding of power system protection principles and fault interruption methods.
• Experience with electrical system modeling, circuit simulation, and design tools such as SPICE, MATLAB/Simulink, PLECS, PSCAD, or equivalent.
• Strong technical leadership, communication, and decision-making skills.
• Strong writing, documentation, and presentation abilities.
• Ability to effectively lead multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Ability to learn new skills and assume new responsibilities.
• Ability to work cooperatively in a team environment.
• Background check results satisfactory to SEL.
• Negative drug test result(s).

Preferred Qualifications

• MS degree in Electrical Engineering with emphasis in Power Electronics, Power Systems, or Controls.
• Experience developing medium-voltage or high-power switching equipment.
• Experience with solid-state circuit breakers, hybrid circuit breakers, grid protection devices, or advanced power conversion systems.
• Experience with requirements-based development and Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE).
• Experience with functional safety, reliability engineering, FMEA, and fault-tree analysis.
• Familiarity with utility, industrial, aerospace, defense, microgrid, or transportation power systems.
• Supervisory or technical leadership experience in product development organizations.

Competitive pay. Superior benefits. Inspiring work.

People are at the core of our company and we hire employee-owners. We welcome you to learn more about how we support employees.

• We’re 100% employee owned. Retirement benefits include an employer funded stock ownership plan (ESOP) and personal 401(k) options.
• We offer top tier medical, prescription, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance.
• We recognize the importance of a healthy life balance and offer: 10 paid holidays, annual vacation accrual starting at 12 days, 9 paid sick days, and paid family and medical leave that covers 90% of your pay.
• We foster growth and development of our employees through avenues such as STEM courses, apprenticeships, tuition assistance, and engineering development programs.  
• Ask our team about other benefits including wellness, fertility, adoption, and flexible spending benefits.

Competitive pay. Superior benefits. Inspiring work.

People are at the core of our company and we hire employee-owners. We welcome you to learn more about how we support employees.

• We’re 100% employee owned. Retirement benefits include an employer funded stock ownership plan (ESOP) and personal 401K options.
• We offer top tier medical, prescription, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance.
• We recognize the importance of a healthy life balance and offer: 10 paid holidays, annual vacation accrual starting at 12 days, 9 paid sick days, and paid family and medical leave that covers 90% of your pay.
• We foster growth and development of our employees through avenues such as STEM courses, apprenticeships, tuition assistance, and engineering development programs.  
• Ask our team about other benefits including wellness, fertility, adoption, and flexible spending benefits.

Pay Range: $107,600 - $161,500 annually

We set starting pay based on job-related factors such as your experience, training, knowledge, and skills. We are looking to fill this position at the Lead Hardware Engineer level, and we welcome applicants with a range of experience. Depending on your background, we may consider you for a different level, with compensation aligned accordingly.

Hardware Engineer: $89,400 - $134,100 annually

Lead Hardware Engineer: $107,600 - $161,500 annually 

Communication with Applicants 

We communicate with all applicants. If you do not receive a response about your application, please check your SPAM filter or reach out to us at [email protected].

SEL is an Equal Opportunity Employer: Vets/Disabled.