Job Title: Test Lab Manager – Power Electronics Validation, Verification & Reliability Engineer

Job Description

This role leads the validation, verification, and reliability strategy for advanced power electronics products, with full ownership of the validation lifecycle for industrial drives and new energy platforms such as bidirectional DC/DC converters, solar MPPT optimizers, and next-generation variable frequency drives. You will combine deep technical engineering expertise with hands-on laboratory leadership, defining validation strategy from DFMEA through acceptance testing, building and managing a dedicated product validation lab, and partnering closely with design, compliance, manufacturing, and quality teams to deliver robust, field-proven products.

Responsibilities

• Own the Design Validation Plan (DVP) for new power electronics products and define comprehensive test coverage from subsystem bench testing through full system integration and environmental qualification.
• Lead and facilitate Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (DFMEA) workshops with cross-functional teams, translating risk rankings into targeted validation test cases and mitigation plans.
• Establish verification traceability matrices that link design requirements, test cases, and acceptance criteria throughout the product development lifecycle.
• Define acceptance criteria, measurement uncertainty budgets, and statistical confidence levels appropriate for industrial power electronics applications.
• Design, set up, and execute qualification test programs covering electrical performance, including efficiency curves, power quality (harmonics, power factor, THD), switching waveform characterization, and thermal derating.
• Perform thermal validation activities such as junction temperature measurement, heat sink characterization, thermal imaging, and derating verification.
• Coordinate and execute environmental testing programs, including vibration, thermal cycling, humidity exposure, and ingress protection (IP rating), working with third-party laboratories as needed.
• Plan and perform reliability testing such as HALT/HASS, accelerated life testing, and component-level stress analysis to qualify products for long-term field performance.
• Conduct dielectric and safety testing, including hi-pot, insulation resistance, and ground bond, in alignment with UL and IEC requirements.
• Validate communication and control functions by verifying fieldbus protocols such as EtherNet/IP, Modbus, and CANopen, and performing firmware regression validation.
• Analyze test data, document failures, and drive root-cause analysis using structured methodologies such as 8D, Ishikawa diagrams, and fault tree analysis (FTA).
• Author detailed validation reports suitable for regulatory submissions, customer technical reviews, and internal design history files, ensuring clear documentation of test plans, procedures, and results.
• Develop, organize, and manage the product validation laboratory, including equipment procurement justification, lab layout, safety procedures, calibration programs, and equipment maintenance schedules.
• Define capital equipment roadmaps to support current and future product lines, including power analyzers, high-voltage DC sources, programmable loads, thermal cameras, oscilloscopes, data acquisition systems, and environmental chambers.
• Supervise, schedule, and mentor test technicians, establishing standard operating procedures, workload priorities, and skill development plans.
• Maintain lab safety compliance with NFPA 70E, OSHA electrical safety standards, and internal environmental health and safety policies, serving as the lab safety leader.
• Track lab utilization, project test schedules, and resource capacity to align validation activities with product development timelines and delivery commitments.
• Partner with power electronics and controls design engineers to provide Design for Testability (DFT) and Design for Reliability (DFR) feedback early in development, championing best practices for component derating, thermal management, and robust gate drive design.
• Collaborate with compliance engineers to align validation activities with applicable UL, IEC, CE marking, NEC, NFPA, and other regulatory requirements, and support third-party agency submissions.
• Work closely with manufacturing engineering and production teams to define end-of-line (EOL) test strategies, test fixture requirements, go/no-go limits, and tester calibration protocols, and support transfer of validation methods into production.
• Interface with quality assurance to integrate validation data into the product quality management system and support corrective action processes for field issues.