Sr Staff System Engineer at Renesas Electronics in San Jose, CALIFORNIA, United States

Job description

• Applicants for this position must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. Renesas is unable to sponsor applicants for work visas for this position now or in the future.
• Hybrid - This role may sit in San Jose, CA; Phoenix, AZ; or Chandler, AZ (local candidates to these cities preferred - no relocation)
• This role sits within our Low-Voltage GaN Marketing & Systems Group, acting as a Sr Staff System Engineer to define the future of our power semiconductor portfolio. In this strategic role, you will not simply support existing products—you will be the technical authority responsible for driving next-generation IC product definition, silicon architectures, and long-term roadmap strategy.
• By leveraging deep expertise in low-voltage (<400V) BLDC and PMSM motor control, you will identify market gaps across high-growth applications (robotics, humanoids, e- mobility, power tools) and translate complex system-level challenges into actionable silicon-level requirements to deliver highly differentiated, system-optimized products.

Responsibilities

• • Product Definition & Specs: Translate system-level application requirements into detailed IC specifications (e.g., Rds-on targets, gate drive source/sink strength, dead-time control, protection features like OCP/OTP, packaging
• thermal constraints, and monolithically integrated features).
• • Architecture & Strategy: Develop and influence future chip architectures based on system-level understanding of GaN-based power stage and driver IP and sensing topologies. Drive the multi-year technology roadmap aligned with emerging market trends.
• • Silicon & Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate closely with IC Design, R&D, and Marketing teams to ensure silicon implementation matches application realities. Balance system performance, silicon die area, cost targets, and time-to- market.
• • Prototype & Reference Design Development: Design, schematic-capture, layout, and validate high-power-density system-level prototypes and evaluation
• boards (EVBs) to showcase GaN's superior switching performance under real- world operating conditions.
• • System Analysis: Perform rigorous technical trade-off analyses, worst-case circuit simulations, and competitive benchmarking to quantify GaN’s value proposition at the system level.
• • Customer & Ecosystem Engagement: Support key tier-1 customer engagements at the architecture level, co-designing and influencing their future system topologies rather than merely troubleshooting legacy designs.

Requirements

• · Experience designing integrated circuits with power drivers and related circuitry like slew rate control, current sensing, short circuit protection, high voltage level shifting, bootstrap, and charge pump supplies. Strong knowledge basic infrastructure and communications blocks like current/voltage references, level shifters, SPI, I2C, registers, e-fuse, amplifiers, and comparators.
• · Experience designing detailed schematics for motor driver circuits including gate drivers, discrete transistors, and power stages utilizing MOSFETs, IGBTs, or Wide-Bandgap SiC / GaN devices.
• · Experience designing motor control hardware protection and diagnostics that can withstand fault conditions like short circuit, ,over current, open circuit, over/under voltage, sudden loss of power, and over temperature.
• · Advanced knowledge of PCB layout optimization for high-power switching, including minimizing parasitic inductance, mitigating EMI/EMC, and managing thermal dissipation (via thermal vias, or heatsinks).
• · Proficiency with model-based design using Mathworks (Matlab, Simulink, Simscape), Saber, PLECS, or PSIM to simulate motor drive system. Alternatively experience with co-simulation of the mechanical and electrical system using a combination like Simplis for the power inverter and Simulink for the motor mechanics and control.
• · Proven track record of successful product definition and customer support in motor drive / control applications taking a product from conception through mass production.
• · Experience driving innovation by identifying and evaluating new concepts that will enable future products that lead the market.
• · Expertise translating system-level requirements and customer needs into an IC architecture with concrete electrical specifications documented in the device hardware requirements and the customer datasheet.
• · Experience creating and maintaining a specification compliance matrix that covers all product requirements and ensures the device meets the requirements by working with all relevant product groups design, test, validation, FuSa, and quality.
• · Hands-on experience characterizing motors and motor control systems utilizing
• motor control hardware and software together with standard lab equipment and a motor test stand.
• · Experience debugging and characterizing initial prototypes using standard lab equipment like power supplies, electronic load, oscilloscopes, digital multimeters, SMU, and other related test equipment.
• · Expertise identifying the root cause of complex issues, then identifying workarounds to allow users to evaluate and use products and finally identifying fixes for addressing issues long term.
• • Applicants for this position must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. Renesas is unable to sponsor applicants for work visas for this position now or in the future.
• • Experience: 5-7+ years of experience in power electronics, semiconductor systems, or motor drive design, with a proven track record of successfully defining and launching motor control ICs or discrete power solutions to market.
• • Semiconductor Knowledge: Solid understanding of power semiconductor physics, specifically comparing Wide Bandgap (WBG) materials like GaN against silicon MOSFETs, including gate charge (Qg), reverse recovery (Qrr), and parasitic inductances.
• • Education: BS in Electrical Engineering, Power Electronics, or a related field required; MS or PhD preferred.
• • Soft Skills: Exceptional cross-functional collaboration and communication skills, with the ability to confidently present complex architectural concepts to both internal executive stakeholders and external customer engineering team

Skills

Required

• Power electronics
• Semiconductor systems
• Motor drive design
• IC design
• PCB layout
• Wide Bandgap (WBG) materials: GaN, SiC
• MOSFETs, IGBTs
• Gate drivers, power stages
• SPI, I2C

Benefits

• Renesas offers a full range of elective benefits including medical, health savings account (with applicable medical plan), dental, vision, health and/or dependent care flexible spending accounts, pre-tax commuter benefits, life insurance, AD&D, and pet insurance. In addition to elective benefit options, benefited employees receive company-paid life insurance and AD&D, LTD, short term medical benefits as well as paid sick time, paid holidays, and accrued paid vacation. New employees will attend a detailed benefit orientation to learn more about our many benefits and resources.
• The expected annual pay range for this position is $160,000 - $235,000. This position is also eligible for bonus opportunities. Please note that the final offer amount will be dependent on geographic location, applicable experience, and skillset of the candidate.