Company Overview:

Second Order Effects (SOE) is an engineering consultancy that transforms uncertainty into fully functional hardware and software. We work on projects at various stages of development and scope; we perform analysis, build prototypes, and take products to market. Our cross-disciplinary team solves critical problems across numerous industries, including automotive, aerospace, consumer electronics, industrial automation, biomedical, green energy, and marine. Our designs control rocket engines, manage satellite communications, generate safety-overrides for self-driving cars, and are enjoyed by consumers around the world.

Founded in 2016, Second Order Effects has 90+ employees (and counting!) in offices in El Segundo, California and Redmond, Washington. We've worked with 90+ clients on 250+ projects as a partner, on a retainer, or on demand, all of which have no involvement with weapons.

How do we do this? We prioritize others, build the right thing, welcome difficulty, and play the long game. Learn more at soeffects.com!

Team Overview:

The Electrical Engineering (EE) functional team, which represents SOE’s deepest functional proficiency, is composed of highly skilled and experienced professionals dedicated to delivering innovative and reliable electrical solutions for our customers. With a passion for cutting-edge technology and a commitment to excellence, we strive to exceed client expectations and contribute to the success of every endeavor.

Our team has expertise in analog circuits, mixed-signal designs, embedded programming, RF, power electronics, and optical systems development. This allows us to support a wide variety of customers in different industries and gives our engineers a chance to grow and learn from leaders across different specializations and disciplines. From building consumer gaming electronics to space-rated motor control systems, SOE provides the opportunity to experience every part of the engineering and product development process.

Job Overview:

As a Senior Electrical Engineer (Power Electronics), you will find the best solutions and implementations for the problems at hand by considering both hardware- and software-based approaches. You are an enthusiastic problem solver who can learn, invent, and execute creative solutions to drive forward difficult projects to ensure success.

Ideally, as a senior engineer, you will have a proven track record of delivering successful work and should be able to operate with a high degree of autonomy, acting as project technical lead for projects of any size, and able to drive smaller projects through to completion on your own. Beyond executing your own work, we expect our senior engineers to provide mentorship and guidance to the team, both in their areas of technical specialization and in engineering best practices in general.

What You Will Do:

  • Drive design efforts for high-power electronic systems, including architecture and implementation details
  • Take ownership of technical projects from schematic capture and PCB layout through hardware bring-up and troubleshooting with clients
  • Provide mentorship and guidance to the team on technical topics and engineering practice
  • Perform component selection and trade studies of different implementation options to best generate and satisfy design requirements
  • Design load drivers (including motor and solenoid valve drivers)
  • Design power supplies and converters (including DC/DC switching regulators, isolated supplies, stability, noise, and characterization)
  • Circuit simulation and thermal analysis of designs, including sizing of thermal management systems
  • Create documentation for electronic hardware and systems
  • Drive interface definition, connector selection, and harness drawing reviews
  • Support business development efforts, estimating project effort and assessing the scope of new work
  • Interface with internal teams and external clients to conduct design reviews for high-power systems and subsystems
  • Write and execute test plans for device validation and performance characterization
  • Provide design, testing, and manufacturing technical support for existing projects

What You Will Need:

  • Bachelor's Degree (Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Math, related field)
  • 5+ years of experience in power electronics with a demonstrated passion for engineering and technology development
  • End-to-end electronics design experience: taking designs from requirements generation through schematic, layout, fabrication, and hardware bringup
  • Excellent written and verbal technical communication skills, able to explain technical concepts and their implications to non-technical audiences
  • Experience mentoring other engineers in technical topics
  • Expertise with any common ECAD tool, such as Altium Designer, KiCad, Cadence, PADS, EAGLE, etc.
  • Knowledge of PCB fabrication and assembly process, design for manufacture and design for assembly (DFM / DFA), familiarity with IPC and/or JEDEC standards
  • Experience interfacing with PCB and assembly vendors to have designs fabricated
  • Experience in designing, modeling, simulation, and testing of power electronics
  • Experience with thermal analysis of electronic circuits, thermal management solutions, and environmental testing to validate assumptions and characterize performance
  • Excellent grasp of DC-DC/AC-DC circuit topologies and the ability to select optimal architectures and components
  • Familiarity with analog small-signal circuit design (filters, op-amp circuits, signal conditioning) 

What Would Be Useful:

  • Master’s degree (Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Math, related field) or graduate research experience
  • Experience in a team-based design and build project (e.g., Formula SAE, Solar Car, CubeSat, etc.)
  • Experience managing projects, mentoring other engineers, and interfacing with technical customers
  • Working experience with power distribution networks for high frequency applications and kW level power electronics (e.g., DC-DC, AC-DC conversion, etc.)
  • Experience in voltage and current mode control, as well as compensation design, and power factor correction (PFC)
  • Familiarity with analog control and discrete logic design, power supply testing, and packaging for aerospace, automotive, and/or consumer electronics products
  • Large-format or high-density or high-layer-count PCB design experience, preferably for aerospace, automotive, medical, or other high-reliability applications
  • Expertise with Altium Designer or KiCad
  • Familiarity with lithium-ion battery handling, safety, and usage
  • Familiarity with Python and/or MATLAB for data parsing and signal analysis
  • Familiarity with LTSpice for circuit simulation

Additional Requirements:

  • Applicant must be willing to work 40 hours a week on-site in El Segundo, California, USA
  • Applicant must be eligible to work on ITAR projects
  • Job Type: Full-time (Salary)

ITAR Requirements:

  • To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide sponsorship at this time.

Benefits:

  • Compensation range of $145,140-$186,610 + equity incentive plan
  • 100% employer-paid health insurance (Medical, Dental, Vision) for employees + 50% dependent coverage
  • Flexible paid time off policy + 11 paid holidays + 12 paid sick days
  • 401(k) retirement account and employer matching (Safe Harbor 4%)
  • Flexible work from home policy 
  • Paid parental leave
  • Relocation assistance available if 50+ miles away from the office
  • Electric Vehicle (EV) charging ports
  • Daily catered lunches, snacks, and accessible kitchen
  • & more!

If you don’t meet 100% of the preferred skills and experience, we encourage you to still apply!

Second Order Effects is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with SOE is governed on the basis of excellence and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status.

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