Power Electronics Technical Program Manager

Calnetix is an engineering and manufacturing company located in Southern California, committed to making a positive contribution to society and the environment by changing the way the world harvests and utilizes energy. We are focused on developing, manufacturing, and delivering advanced energy solutions for commercial applications throughout the world and for mission-critical applications for the United States Government and its Prime Contractors. Calnetix thrives on innovation and meeting new challenges. In partnership with OEMs, we utilize innovative, proprietary high-speed electric motor-generator technologies to develop next-generation, power-dense and energy-efficient products that reduce energy consumption, harmful emissions and enhance energy security.

We are seeking an experienced Technical Program Manager (TPM) to lead the planning, execution, and delivery of complex programs in e-motor inverter and electrical power conversion systems. This role requires a strong technical foundation combined with exceptional program management skills. You will own programs from concept through production, ensuring alignment across engineering, operations, and customer stakeholders. The job will require travel, meeting with customers, and understanding their businesses, applications, and products. With a particular work ethic and dynamism, there are huge opportunities for growth within the company.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Program Leadership: Manage a portfolio of R&D and production programs for e-motor inverters and power converters, from Business Development through New Product Introduction (NPI).
Lifecycle Ownership: Drive all phases of program execution—proposal, requirements, design, development, integration, validation, and delivery.
Engineering Delivery: Design and manage the Electrical, Mechanical, Controls, Software, and Validation engineering workstreams needed to complete the product program.
Team player with a desire to learn and exhibits leadership with the ability to motivate.
Risk & Issue Management: Identify program risks, dependencies, and bottlenecks; develop mitigation plans, FMEA and communicate status to stakeholders.
Cross-Functional Coordination: Collaborate with engineering, supply chain, and manufacturing teams to ensure timely execution and risk mitigation.
Customer Engagement: Serve as the primary point of contact for customers, managing proposals, requirements, design reviews (PDR/CDR), reporting, and contractual deliverables.
Financial Management: Develop and manage program budgets, track costs for labor and materials, and provide regular financial reporting to leadership.
Process & Tools: Advocate for best practices in Waterfall, Agile, and hybrid development methodologies; utilize planning tools such as MS Project, GitLab, MS Teams, and Excel for planning and tracking..

Education, Skills and Experience:

Required

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or related field.
Master’s degree, MBA or PMP preferred.
5+ years in technical program management within aerospace, automotive, industrial, or defense sectors.
5+ years of design and validation experience in power electronics systems for e-motor control or power conversion applications.
Proven ability managing multiple full lifecycle programs in: EV propulsion, aerospace/industrial power systems and high-reliability electronics.
Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities that enable you to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment with competing priorities.
Excellent written and oral communication; engaging technical presenter that runs effective internal/external meetings.
Must have the bias and dynamism to execute and take ownership of internal progress and stakeholder management.

Technical Experience

Knowledge of power electronics inverter development and control systems using Matlab Simulink, Simscape and PLECS.
Embedded software development and system architecture on DSP and FPGA.
Multi-layer PCB design with Altium, fabrication, and validation.
Mechanical and thermal system design for Power Electronics using Solidworks, PDM, and 2D Drafting Draftsight
Environmental and electrical validation standards for commercial, industrial, aerospace, and military.
Experience with MATLAB, Python, MathCad, Excel, similar data analysis tools.
Familiarity with MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-704, MIL-STD-461, GD&T ASME Y14.5
MSEE having 10 years of industrial experience with a minimum of 5 years in power electronic and motion control field required; PhD preferred
Experience managing a highly skilled electrical engineering team is required
Power electronics, switch mode conversion and controls design experience essential
In-depth understanding of digital, analog and power electronic circuits and components and their functionality. Recent experience in SiC power devices and EMI/filtering considerations is a plus.
In-depth understanding and implementation of motion control hardware and software.
Experience with motion control algorithms for PM motors. Ability to conduct Matlab Simulink analyses is a plus but not required.
Solid understanding of Permanent Magnet Synchronous machine control and operation.
Experience with multi-level (3+) topologies is a plus.
Familiarity with safety and regulatory requirements for high power electrical systems (UL, CE, NEMA, IEC, IEEE, MIL)
Excellent problem solving and troubleshooting skills
Strong background of power electronics system assembly/packaging techniques

Intangibles Sought:

Bias towards “Technical” (performance, quality), rather than “Program Manager” (schedule, budget)
A driving personality; likes to “get their hands dirty.”
Team player with a desire to learn and exhibits leadership with the ability to motivate.
Strong understanding of Continuous Integration, Continuous Delivery and multi-discipline system integration processes.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

No direct supervisory responsibilities
Individual must be capable of leading 2-3 simultaneous project teams.

Work Environment / Physical Demands:

Depending on the phase of the project, the incumbent’s time will be split between office/desk, shop floor and off-site activities. Up to 20% travel may be required, domestic and international.
On-site only; this is not a remote/hybrid position.

Salary Range:

$125,000 - $175,000

Disclaimer: The above job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Incumbents will follow any other instructions, and perform any other related duties, as assigned, by their supervisor. Management reserves the right to change, rescind, add or delete the duties and responsibilities of positions within this job classification at any time.

Other: Calnetix is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive considerations for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability or status as a protected veteran. U.S. citizenship is a precondition of employment for this position due to contractual requirements.