Principal Application Engineer – Low-Voltage GaN Discrete & GaN ICs

Renesas is one of the top global semiconductor companies in the world delivering worldleading MCUs SoCs analog and power products and integrated Winning Combination solutions across automotive industrial infrastructure and IoT markets. With 21000 employees across 30 countries we are committed to innovation transparency and building a smarter greener future.

We are seeking an experienced and visionary Principal Application Engineer specializing in low-voltage GaN discrete devices GaN power stages and GaN driver ICs. This senior role emphasizes deep technical leadership in application development reference designs customer enablement and system-level performance optimization for low-voltage GaN power systems.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Application Ownership

• Serve as the technical authority for low-voltage GaN discretes and GaN ICs.
• Establish best practices for GaN switching PCB layout EMI optimization thermal management and reliability.
• Provide system-level guidance across motor drives robotics high-current DC-DC converters and battery-powered platforms.

Reference Design & Evaluation Board Development

• Architect and develop low-voltage GaN-based reference designs including motor drives inverter stages and DC-DC systems.
• Lead board bring-up waveform tuning thermal optimization EMI validation and performance benchmarking.

Product Validation

• Collaborate closely with product engineering teams to define and execute validation test plans for low-voltage GaN discretes GaN power stages and driver ICs.
• Validate device performance across switching behavior safe operating limits thermal characteristics layout sensitivity and reliability conditions.
• Identify corner cases system-level interactions and application-dependent behaviors to ensure robust performance in customer use-cases.
• Provide data-driven insights to improve device specifications packaging protection schemes and future-generation design requirements.

Customer Engagement & Technical Advocacy

• Act as a trusted advisor to customers by reviewing schematics layouts and system architectures.
• Troubleshoot field issues and guide customers on optimizing GaN devices for high-frequency switching and high-power density operation.
• Deliver trainings workshops and technical presentations.

Mentorship & Team Development

• Mentor junior engineers and foster a culture of technical excellence in GaN-based power system design.

Technical Documentation & Thought Leadership

• Develop high-quality collateral including application notes white papers design guides and GaN best-practice documentation.
• Represent Renesas in technical events customer engagements and industry forums.

Feedback Integration

• Collect and relay customer insights on performance integration challenges and new feature requirements to influence internal improvements.

Qualifications :

• Masters or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering or related field preferred (Bachelors required)
• 12 years of experience in power electronics with strong experience in low-voltage GaN inverter stages BLDC/PMSM motor drives robotics power systems or high-current DC-DC designs.
• Proven ability to lead complex application development and enable customer adoption of advanced power technologies.
• Hands-on expertise with:
  • Low-voltage GaN FETs and integrated GaN power stages
  • High-frequency switching and GaN gate-driving techniques
  • Motor drives or advanced DC-DC powertrain design
  • PCB layout optimized for GaN high-speed switching
• Strong fundamentals in power electronics magnetics protection circuits and system optimization.
• Excellent communication and customer-facing skills.
• Nice to have: experience with motor control or DC-DC control firmware.
•  

Skills

• Proficient with schematic capture and PCB layout tools (Altium preferred).
• Experience using PLECS LTSpice Simplis or Simetrix for system simulation.
• Knowledge of magnetic component design (inductors transformers).

Additional Information :

Renesas is an embedded semiconductor solution provider driven by its Purpose To Make Our Lives Easier. As the industrys leading expert in embedded processing with unmatched quality and system-level know-how we have evolved to provide scalable and comprehensive semiconductor solutions for automotive industrial infrastructure and IoT industries based on the broadest product portfolio including High Performance Computing Embedded Processing Analog & Connectivity and Power.
 
With a diverse team of over 21000 professionals in more than 30 countries we continue to expand our boundaries to offer enhanced user experiences through digitalization and usher into a new era of innovation. We design and develop sustainable power-efficient solutions today that help people and communities thrive tomorrow To Make Our Lives Easier.     
 
At Renesas you can: 

• Launch and advance your career in technical and business roles across four Product Groups and various corporate functions. You will have the opportunities to explore our hardware and software capabilities and try new things.  

• Make a real impact by developing innovative products and solutions to meet our global customers evolving needs and help make peoples lives easier safe and secure. 

• Maximize your performance and wellbeing in our flexible and inclusive work environment. Our people-first culture and global support system including the remote work option and Employee Resource Groups will help you excel from the first day.    

Are you ready to own your success and make your mark  

Join Renesas. Lets Shape the Future together.  

Renesas Electronics is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer committed to supporting diversity and fostering a work environment free of discrimination on the basis of sex race religion national origin gender gender identity gender expression age sexual orientation military status veteran status or any other basis protected by law. For more information please read our Diversity & Inclusion Statement.

We have adopted a hybrid model that gives employees the ability to work remotely two days a week while ensuring that we come together as a team in the office the rest of the time. The designated in-office days are Tuesday through Thursday for innovation collaboration and continuous learning.

Remote Work :

No

Employment Type :

Full-time