About Redwood Materials
Redwood Materials was founded in 2017 by JB Straubel, co-founder and former CTO of Tesla, on a simple but radical idea: the critical minerals powering the energy transition already exist. They just need to come back. Today Redwood is the largest lithium-ion battery recycler in North America — recovering, refining, and redeploying critical minerals from end-of-life batteries back into the supply chain. On the energy side, Redwood has deployed the largest second-life battery project in the world, delivering power to AI data centers in months rather than years using proprietary energy architecture engineered entirely in-house. The company is profitable, the market it operates in is projected to grow 20 to 50 times over the next decade, and Redwood is the only company with the supply chain, the technology, and the operational scale to lead it.
Position Summary:
The Power Electronics Engineer, Energy Storage designs and develops power conversion systems for Redwood's next-generation Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), including converters that interface with battery packs, battery modules, photovoltaic systems, and the grid for utility-scale and data center applications. This is a fully on-site role at 100 Hooper, San Francisco. The engineer independently owns complex circuit- and system-level problems spanning converter topology selection, power-stage component selection, magnetics design, PCB/PCBA layout, thermal analysis, and validation, adapting existing approaches and precedent to new and unusual design challenges. The role partners extensively with Mechanical, Firmware/Controls, Systems, Compliance, Supply Chain, and Manufacturing teams to take designs from concept through production. Success depends on sound engineering judgment, hands-on lab validation skills, and the ability to resolve ambiguous technical trade-offs with limited direction.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
- Design high-voltage (800V – 25kVdc, 480–800Vac) and high-power (10kW–500kW) converters tailored for utility-scale BESS and industrial infrastructure.
- Conduct comprehensive topology comparison and trade-off analyses evaluating efficiency, power density, cost, and manufacturability.
- Perform power-stage component sizing and Si/SiC MOSFET selection based on loss modeling and thermal management.
- Design robust gate driver circuits and dedicated gate driver power supplies to ensure safe, high-frequency switching operations.
- Lead the design, modeling, and specification of custom magnetic components, including transformers and inductors utilizing Litz-wire or PCB-winding architectures.
- Architect the low-voltage (LV) subsystem, including auxiliary power supplies, sensing circuitry (voltage/current/temperature), and hardware-level protection.
- Design and optimize EMI filters, including differential-mode and common-mode inductors, X/Y-caps, and damping elements.
- Drive high-voltage, high-power PCB/PCBA layout design, ensuring clearance/creepage rules and signal integrity under high-noise environments.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams (Mechanical, Controls/Firmware, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Compliance) to define requirements, test specifications, and achieve industry certifications
Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities
- MS or PhD in Electrical Engineering, with a focus on power electronics.
- 2-4 years of experience in electrical engineering, with a strong focus on power conversion or energy storage products, ideally for mass production.
- Hands-on experience in high-voltage (up to 1.5kVdc and 800Vac) hardware design. Experience in high voltage (up to 25kVdc, 34.5kVac) for SST is a plus.
- Experience with power semiconductor selection, gate drive design, and hardware protection circuits.
- Deep understanding of power electronics topologies and fundamentals (AC/DC, DC/DC).
- Proficiency with circuit simulation, FEA simulation, and CAD tools (e.g., Simulink, LTspice, Ansys Maxwell/Q3D, Altium Designer).
- Demonstrated ability to perform detailed layout of high-power, noise-sensitive PCBs in Altium or equivalent CAD software.
- Proficiency with lab equipment, including oscilloscopes, impedance analyzers, network analyzers, and signal generators.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate across diverse cross-functional teams.
- Foundational knowledge of control theory and embedded systems.
- Strong analytical and systematic problem-solving skills.
- Proficiency with rapid prototyping and hardware iterations based on cross-functional and supplier feedback.
- Proven experince selecting circuit components considering both electrical performance and manufacturability (DFM).
- Experience supporting test technicians to execute design verification, interpret test data, and define component maturity criteria.
In accordance with California pay transparency laws, the salary range for this position is listed below. Actual compensation may vary based on a variety of factors, including experience, education, and skills.
The position is full-time. Compensation will be commensurate with experience.
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Skills Required
- MS or PhD in Electrical Engineering with a focus on power electronics
- 2-4 years of electrical engineering experience focused on power conversion or energy storage products
- Hands-on high-voltage hardware design experience up to 1.5kV DC and 800V AC
- Experience with power semiconductor selection, gate-drive design, and hardware protection circuits
- Deep understanding of AC/DC and DC/DC power electronics topologies and fundamentals
- Proficiency with circuit simulation, FEA simulation, and CAD tools such as Simulink, LTspice, Ansys Maxwell, Ansys Q3D, and Altium Designer
- Experience designing high-power, noise-sensitive PCB layouts in Altium or equivalent CAD software
- Proficiency with oscilloscopes, impedance analyzers, network analyzers, and signal generators
- Foundational knowledge of control theory and embedded systems
- Experience with rapid prototyping and hardware iterations
- Experience selecting circuit components for electrical performance and design for manufacturability
- Experience supporting design verification, interpreting test data, and defining component maturity criteria
- Experience with high voltage up to 25kV DC and 34.5kV AC for solid-state transformers
- Experience developing products for mass production
Redwood Materials Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Redwood Materials and has not been reviewed or approved by Redwood Materials.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Pay is considered okay to good overall, often competitive for engineering and corporate roles while closer to local norms in hourly operations.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Stock options or equity are included in many offers, providing additional upside beyond base pay.
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Parental & Family Support — Parental leave is viewed positively, with maternity and paternity leave standing out within the package.
Redwood Materials Insights
What We Do
Redwood is developing a fully closed-loop, domestic supply chain for lithium-ion batteries. Our team manufactures critical battery components using as many recycled batteries as possible — localizing a 50,000-mile global supply battery chain on a single site.
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