---
title: 'Senior Power Electronics Engineer at Salient Motion'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-power-electronics-engineer-salient-motion-hawthorne-4yn1dr63rg99'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-13'
---

# Senior Power Electronics Engineer at Salient Motion

- **Company:** Salient Motion
- **Location:** Hawthorne, CA
- **Posted:** 2026-10-12
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-13
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/salientmotion/jobs/5449874008

## Job description

**Applicants must be U.S. Citizens or U.S. Permanent Residents (Green Card holders) to meet customer and regulatory requirements**

## Who We Are

We are pioneering modular motion technologies to power the next generation of innovation for Industrial, Aerospace and Defense. If you're excited about disrupting legacy industries, and passionate about building next generation technology, let's chat!

We are at the forefront of innovation, crafting exclusive motion control components that propel the industrial, aerospace, and defense sectors into the future.

A couple other things:

- We are open to relocating you
- We have great benefits
- We are well funded, and generating revenue
- We are located in beautiful Hawthorne, CA and just moved into a new large hangar facility

## Role Summary

We are hiring a Senior Power Electronics Engineer to lead the design and integration of high-power (>10 kW) power conversion hardware for aerospace motion and electrical systems. You will own key power-stage architecture decisions, drive prototype bring-up and verification, and partner with controls, firmware, mechanical, and manufacturing teams to deliver flight- and mission-ready hardware.

What you'll do:

- Architect and design high-power converters/inverters (>10 kW) for aerospace electrical and motion control products, balancing efficiency, power density, and reliability
- Select and apply Si, SiC, and/or GaN power devices (as appropriate) and design gate-drive, controller, feedback stability, magnetic components including power inductors and transformers, sensing, and protection (short-circuit, overcurrent, over/undervoltage, thermal, desaturation)
- Design topologies and the power stage (DC bus, precharge/discharge, snubbers/clamps, current sensing, filtering) and define safe operating envelopes and derating at given environments
- Drive thermal design with mechanical engineering (heatsinks, cold plates, airflow/liquid cooling) and validate junction-to-ambient performance including loss breakdown, thermal analysis
- Own EMI/EMC strategy for aerospace environments: grounding, shielding, layout constraints, conducted/radiated mitigation, filter design, and test readiness
- Lead schematic capture and review PCB layout for low-inductance, high-current/high-voltage design; ensure creepage/clearance, isolation, and safety best practices
- Plan and execute prototype bring-up and high-power lab testing with safe procedures; debug failures and perform root-cause analysis
- Define verification plans and acceptance criteria and produce clear, review-ready test reports and evidence packages; support supplier/parts selection and DFM/DFT as designs transition to manufacturing

What you need:

- 7+ years (or equivalent depth) in power electronics design and product development
- Strong experience with power converter/inverter topologies, architecture, device selection, gate-drive design, controller selection, feedback gain, stability margin, protection, and high-voltage, high-current PCB/layout practices
- Hands-on bring-up and debug experience with high-power hardware (safe lab practices, oscilloscopes, HV differential probes, current probes, power analyzers, network/stability analyzers)
- Ability to take designs from concept through prototype, verification, and production readiness with clear documentation to meet special and mission-oriented applications’ requirement

Nice to haves:

- Demonstrated work on high-power systems (>10 kW) Aerospace experience: qualification mindset, configuration control, and familiarity with relevant test practices and EMI/EMC test workflows
- Motor drive experience: three-phase inverters for BLDC/PMSM, sensing, DC bus design, regen handling, and protection timing considerations
- High-voltage design experience (e.g., 200-800 VDC class) including isolation strategy and creepage/clearance design
- Power factor, total harmonic current distortion and EMI/EMC success in shipped products (e.g., MIL-STD-461/DO-160 standard specs) and ability to design for compliance early
- Safety qualification experience such as leakage current, ESD, lightning and surge test
- Circuit Simulation familiarity (LTspice/PLECS/Simetrix/Simplis/Simulink or similar) for validation and trade-off
- PCB CAD and layout tool experience and familiarity

Export Control This role supports aerospace programs and may involve export-controlled information or hardware. Candidates must be able to comply with applicable export control laws and access requirements.

What we have to offer:

We are not just building components. We are reshaping the future of the Aerospace and Defense component industry, which is a $300B+ market! Come join us and help build next generation systems that will make a massive impact at global scale.

- We offer competitive compensation: $175,000 to $200,000 base salary + equity
- Exceptional healthcare benefits, Medical is 100% covered by the company
- Flexible PTO
- 401K
- More to come!

## About Salient Motion

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Salient Motion designs and manufactures critical electromechanical actuation systems for commercial aviation and defense, replacing legacy supply chains with modular, software-defined motion control.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage)
- **Headquarters**: Torrance, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2022
- **Founders**: Vishaal Mali (CEO)

## Core Business
- **Primary Industry**: Aviation and Aerospace Component Manufacturing, Defense
- **Target Customers**: OEMs (e.g., Boeing), MROs, and defense contractors for commercial airliners and military platforms (B2B, Enterprise)
- **Mission**: To change the paradigm of legacy aerospace and defense supply chains, unlocking a new era of speed, innovation, and possibility.

## Products & Services
- **Critical Actuation Systems**: Advanced electromechanical actuators (linear and rotary) for flight control, landing gear, and other mission-critical functions on commercial and military aircraft.
- **Software-First Architecture**: A modular, software-defined actuation platform that decouples control logic from hardware. Core motor control software is certified to DO-178C standards as a reusable library, enabling rapid configuration and validation across platforms.
- **Certification Services**: Certification-centric engineering built from day one, aiming for up to 10x reductions in cost and lead time for certifiable products.
- **Support & Sustainment**: Direct, fast, and personal support for integration, troubleshooting, and sustainment of actuation systems.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding of **$4.0M** (Seed round led by Cantos VC in October 2024, with participation from AE Ventures and Ian Rountree; a Pre-Seed round occurred in November 2022)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Cantos (Lead), AE Ventures, Ian Rountree. Key customer/partner: **Boeing** (collaborating on certifying modular actuators for commercial airliners).
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount of ~30 employees with +15.2% monthly growth; talent sourced from Anduril Industries, Boeing, Virgin Galactic, and other top aerospace/defense firms; active job postings increasing +200% month-over-month; expansion to a second office in Irvine, CA.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Software-First Modularity**: Their core differentiator is a software-defined architecture that is certified as a reusable library (DO-178C). This allows for rapid, low-cost configuration for different aircraft platforms, offering a 10x improvement in lead time and cost over legacy suppliers.
- **Vertically Integrated Supply Chain**: Streamlined engineering workflows and vertically integrated partnerships enable delivery of actuator systems in weeks, not quarters.
- **Certification-First Approach**: All systems are designed with certification in mind from day one, drastically reducing the time and cost to achieve airworthiness.
- **Legacy Disruption**: They offer a direct alternative to high-cost, slow-moving legacy OEM suppliers, providing certified solutions without overhead markup.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale Production**: Moving from design and prototyping to manufacturing and delivery at scale, as evidenced by hiring for Senior Manufacturing Engineer and Quality Manager roles.
- **Expand Customer Base**: Deepening the partnership with Boeing while expanding to other commercial and defense OEMs.
- **Domestic Supply Chain**: Developing motors and inverters using domestic resources to meet national security imperatives.
- **Platform Development**: Refining their core "electric motion operating system," including standalone inverters, web-based configuration platforms, and performant motors.

## Why Work Here
- **High-Impact Work**: Employees solve some of the hardest motion control challenges in aerospace and defense, with work that directly impacts millions of daily passengers.
- **Culture**: Described as a high-velocity environment emphasizing "Extreme Entrepreneurship," "Execution Over Excuses," and "Mastery Over Ego." The culture values ownership, creativity, and a relentless focus on execution.
- **Strong Talent Pool**: Team includes veterans from Anduril, Boeing, Virgin Galactic, and SpaceX, providing a steep learning curve and high-performance peer group.
- **Work Policy**: **In-Office** (Torrance, CA and Irvine, CA). The company explicitly values in-person collaboration.
- **Growth Trajectory**: Early-stage (Seed) with rapid headcount growth, offering significant upside and career acceleration for early employees.

## Sources
1. [salientmotion.com](https://salientmotion.com/)
2. [salientmotion.com](https://salientmotion.com/careers)
3. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/salient-motion)
4. [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/salient-motion)

## Other roles at Salient Motion

- [CMM Operator - Quality Inspection](https://feeny.ai/job/cmm-operator-quality-inspection-salient-motion-saginaw-3zqnv0237amp) — Saginaw, MI
- [Engineering Co-op](https://feeny.ai/job/engineering-co-op-salient-motion-hawthorne-5rzzp0jrk03p) — Hawthorne, CA
- [Senior Mechanical Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-mechanical-engineer-salient-motion-hawthorne-knkd3cv93mx2) — Hawthorne, CA
- [Mechanical Test Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/mechanical-test-engineer-salient-motion-hawthorne-vkjdcwzj525z) — Hawthorne, CA
- [Electrical Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/electrical-engineer-salient-motion-hawthorne-05jbnk1ckz9w) — Hawthorne, CA
- [People Operations Generalist](https://feeny.ai/job/people-operations-generalist-salient-motion-hawthorne-21ejkdqd2ggd) — Hawthorne, CA
- [Controls Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/controls-engineer-salient-motion-hawthorne-ne6rfv91cwrf) — Hawthorne, CA
- [Global Supply Chain Manager- Electronics](https://feeny.ai/job/global-supply-chain-manager-electronics-salient-motion-hawthorne-gcm3vx04a36d) — Hawthorne, CA
- [Global Supply Chain Manager, Mechanical](https://feeny.ai/job/global-supply-chain-manager-mechanical-salient-motion-hawthorne-62aw33agrcak) — Hawthorne, CA
- [Mechanical Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/mechanical-engineer-salient-motion-saginaw-xes3gtct2jz4) — Saginaw, MI