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Power Systems Engineer

Motive Companies

Torrance, CA

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JOB DETAILS
SKILLS
Acceptance Testing, Communications Protocols, Computer Firmware, Cost Control, Data Collection, Debugging Skills, Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (DFMEA), Electrical Design, Electrical Engineering, Electrical Wiring, Electricity, Electromagnetic Compatibility, Electromagnetic Interference (EMI), Electronics, Establish Priorities, Field Trials, High Voltage (HV), Identify Issues, Integration Testing, International Electro-Technical Commission (IEC), Linux Operating System, Low Voltage (LV), MATLAB, Oscilloscope, Power Engineering, Presentation/Verbal Skills, Production Systems, Propulsion, Requirements Management, System Integration (SI), System Validation, Test Bench, Test Data, Test Plan/Schedule, Time Management, Unit Test, United States Coast Guard (USCG), Value Engineering, Vendor/Supplier Relations
LOCATION
Torrance, CA
POSTED
30+ days ago
Overview
 A growing marine technology team is developing the next generation of electric and hybrid propulsion systems for commercial harborcraft. The goal is simple, build cleaner, quieter, more reliable vessels using modern engineering techniques and integrated design across hulls, batteries, cooling systems, firmware, and software.

Recreational and commercial boaters have long been limited by outdated gas platforms that are loud, high-maintenance, and costly to operate. Advancements in electric propulsion now offer a path to faster, quieter, and lower-emission vessels, and this team is expanding to meet the demand.

 

Role
 The Power Systems Engineer will join the Commercial Systems group and contribute to the design of new electric and hybrid propulsion architectures that reduce operating costs and emissions in port operations. This role reports to the head of commercial architecture and works on site full time in Torrance.

 
Core responsibilities
  • Owning the design and integration of high voltage systems, including protection and control schemes
  • Getting hands-on with wiring, testing, and debugging both high and low voltage systems
  • Owning the development and use of bench test systems, ensuring feature parity between bench systems and production vessels
  • Contributing to functional spec development, reviews and the proceeding SW/controls feature testing
  • Supporting sea trials to validate and certify systems
  • Interfacing with component suppliers, partner shipyards, and vessel operators, with occasional travel (5-10% of the time)


Basic qualifications 
  • Solid electrical fundamentals and electrical engineering knowledge
  • Experience with power electronics and high voltage energy storage systems 
  • Experience with power distribution, power flow and AC-DC and DC-DC conversion
  • Experience with automotive and industrial communication protocols (CAN, LIN, Modbus, etc)
  • Familiar with MATLAB/Simulink, oscilloscopes, and other specialized tools
  • Practical experience designing, building, and troubleshooting hardware in production environments
  • Clear written and verbal communication
  • Strong time management skills
  • Comfortable pushing at a fast but sustainable pace
  • Comfortable spending time on boats in the field to collect test data
  • We value engineers who take full ownership, apply first-principles thinking, and prioritize technical problems effectively for the most business value
 
Strongly preferred experience:
  • Experience with Inverters, or power modules

Bonus qualifications 
  • Firsthand experience working on commercial vessels
  • Understanding of ABS, USCG, and IEC standards for high-voltage and energy storage systems on commercial vessels
  • Experience with functional safety (DFMEA, redundancy strategies) for mission-critical systems
  • Experience with EMI/EMC and grounding in high-power marine or automotive environments, including filtering and shielding practices
  • Familiar with firmware development for unit testing and integration
  • Familiar with Linux, LTSpice, Zuken, and Altium

Annual Salary: Level 2: $135k
                         Level 3: $170k

About the Company

M

Motive Companies