The power grid was built for a world that no longer exists. Centralized generation, hundred-mile transmission lines, decade-long permitting cycles. Meanwhile, demand is exploding: AI data centers, industrial electrification, remote operations that need megawatts yesterday and can't wait for utilities to catch up.
American Turbines is designing small modular gas turbines, purpose-built for distributed power generation. Machines designed from a blank sheet to be manufactured at scale, clustered in arrays. Hundreds of units operating in parallel, dynamically matching load like a compute cluster matches demand. We are a seed-stage company backed by the investors behind SpaceX, Boom Supersonic, and Hadrian.
About the RoleThe Head of Power Electronics will own everything between the generator shaft and the customer's bus. The machine is designed from a blank sheet around a high-voltage DC architecture, that architecture is one of our core bets.
You will define the power conversion system end to end: conversion, protection, controls interfaces, and the schemes that let hundreds of units run as one plant. You will make the build-versus-buy call for every block and defend it with numbers.
Much of this system will be developed with partners and suppliers, the EV and industrial supply chain has spent a decade maturing the hardware we need. You will lead that work: select the partners, write the specs, qualify the hardware, integrate it, and stand behind it on the test stand. As in-house scope grows, you will hire and lead the power electronics team.
What We're Looking ForDeep hands-on experience in high-voltage DC power conversion. The EV industry is the natural home for this role: traction inverters, 800 V platforms, onboard chargers, DC fast charging. Design experience with wide-bandgap semiconductors, SiC and GaN, at real power levels. You've taken converters from schematic through layout, magnetics, thermal, and EMC into production, and you know what kills them in the field.
You know when a converter is a commodity to buy and when it's a differentiator to build. You're comfortable owning supplier relationships, writing source-control specs, and running qualification testing.
Nice to have: experience with electric machine design and with control systems, from converter control loops to embedded platforms.
You move fast between architecture and detail without losing rigor. You've seen hardware run and you know what simulation gets right and what it gets wrong.
Skills Required
- Deep hands-on experience with high-voltage DC power conversion
- Experience with traction inverters, 800 V platforms, onboard chargers, or DC fast charging
- Design experience with wide-bandgap semiconductors, including SiC and GaN, at real power levels
- Experience taking converters from schematic through layout, magnetics, thermal management, and EMC into production
- Understanding of power converter field failures and hardware reliability
- Ability to own supplier relationships, write source-control specifications, and run qualification testing
- Experience with electric machine design
- Experience with control systems, including converter control loops and embedded platforms
What We Do
American Turbines develops mass-manufacturable compact gas turbines for rapid, distributed power generation. Its modular systems are designed to ship and install quickly, operate in parallel, and scale into clustered arrays as demand grows. The company is addressing rising electricity needs from data centers, industrial electrification, and remote operations with small turbines built for deployment without lengthy utility buildouts or permitting cycles.
