Job Description
Trystar’s team members are our most important asset. We are looking for a Staff Embedded Firmware Engineer – Power Electronics – to write, integrate, and verify the embedded real-time firmware of our power conversion products, including DC/DC converters, three-phase grid-tied inverters, and energy storage systems, from architecture through validation, certification, and production release. You will turn the control strategies that our controls engineers define and simulate into production-quality code on microcontroller- and FPGA-based control boards, and you will own the drivers, communications, memory, diagnostics, and update functions around that code. You will lead the firmware workstream of new product programs as a senior individual contributor, set the technical direction of the firmware code base, and mentor the engineers who build it with you.
Location
Merrimack, NH, or Pointe-Claire, QC, is preferred. Travel within North America up to 20%.
In this role you will:
- Develop, implement, test, and maintain embedded real-time firmware in C and C++ for power conversion systems, including DC/DC converters, three-phase grid-tied inverters, and energy storage systems.
- Implement in real-time code the control algorithms that controls engineers define and simulate, including current, voltage, and power regulation, pulse-width modulation, Clarke and Park transformations, phase-locked loops, protection, and grid-support functions, within sampling, timing, and computational-delay budgets.
- Integrate and verify code generated from MATLAB and Simulink models, and keep firmware behavior traceable to the control specification.
- Design the real-time software architecture of control boards, including task scheduling, interrupt service routines, bootloaders, board-support packages, and hardware abstraction layers.
- Develop low-level peripheral drivers and interface software for ADC, PWM, timers, GPIO, I2C, SPI, UART, CAN, and other microcontroller peripherals.
- Design and develop embedded communication software, including TCP/IP stack integration, Ethernet-based communication, CAN, Modbus, and protocol-level diagnostics for connected power electronics products.
- Implement and debug external memory interfaces, including EEPROM, Flash, MRAM, and SD card, for data logging, configuration storage, field firmware updates, and fault-record handling.
- Test and debug firmware in-system and on processor-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop platforms, using debuggers, emulators, oscilloscopes, and embedded instrumentation, and confirm with controls engineers that the code reproduces the simulated control performance.
- Support IEEE 1547 and UL 1741 grid-support inverter certification testing with firmware builds, parameter configuration, diagnostics, and defect resolution.
- Apply disciplined software practices, including version control, code reviews, static code analysis, automated unit testing, and release management.
- Write firmware requirements, software design specifications, and user documentation for embedded control software.
- Collaborate with controls, hardware, systems, tests, compliance, and manufacturing engineers on new system architectures, from concept through validation and commercial-scale manufacturing.
- Develop and manage detailed schedules for the firmware workstream of your projects.
- Mentor junior firmware and software engineers.
REQUIRED
- Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or a related technical field, with 10+ years of relevant industrial experience in embedded firmware for power conversion or other real-time control products.
- Expert proficiency in C, and working proficiency in C++, for real-time, microcontroller-based control systems.
- Demonstrated experience implementing power electronics control algorithms in production firmware, including regulators, pulse-width and space vector modulation, Clarke and Park transformations, and phase-locked loops, with attention to fixed-point scaling, sampling, timing, and computational delay.
- Working knowledge of power electronics control theory sufficient to read control specifications and MATLAB and Simulink models, and to diagnose differences between simulated and measured behavior.
- Extensive experience in digital design engineering for power and instrumentation systems.
- Experience with electrical hardware for power conversion and instrumentation, and the ability to read and understand mixed-signal electrical schematics.
- Experience in bootloaders, device drivers, interrupt service routines, real-time operating systems or bare-metal schedulers, and hardware abstraction layers for embedded control boards.
- Hands-on experience with embedded communication interfaces and protocols, including TCP/IP, Ethernet, I2C, SPI, UART, CAN, Modbus, or similar industrial protocols.
- Experience with external memory devices and data storage mechanisms, including Flash, EEPROM, FRAM, SD card, wear-leveling, memory partitioning, and field firmware update support.
- Strong background in microcontroller- and FPGA-based architectures.
- Proficiency with firmware debugging and verification tools, including JTAG debuggers, emulators, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and hardware-in-the-loop platforms.
- Demonstrated ability to mentor and develop junior engineers.
- Excellent documentation skills for firmware requirements, software design specifications, and user manuals.
PREFERRED
- Master’s degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or a related technical field.
- Experience with Texas Instruments C2000 or ARM microcontrollers.
- Proficiency in Verilog-based logic design.
- Experience integrating code generated automatically from MATLAB and Simulink, such as Embedded Coder output, and verifying it through model-, software-, processor-, and hardware-in-the-loop testing.
- Experience supporting IEEE 1547 and UL 1741 grid-support inverter certification testing with firmware.
- Experience creating reusable driver libraries, middleware, and communication stacks for microcontroller peripherals.
- Experience with secure boot, firmware update mechanisms, embedded diagnostics, device provisioning, or cybersecurity practices for connected embedded products.
- Experience with functional safety firmware practices, such as IEC 61508 or UL 1998, and coding standards such as MISRA C.
- NFPA 70E certification.
Skills
- Highly motivated, fast learner with exceptional attention to detail.
- Thrives in a team environment and builds strong working relationships across engineering disciplines.
- Works hand in hand with controls engineers, turning control specifications into code and test evidence.
- Clear written and verbal communication, including documentation of designs and decisions.
- Ability to plan and lead a firmware workstream against a detailed schedule.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or a related technical field
- 10+ years of relevant industrial experience in embedded firmware for power conversion or other real-time control products
- Expert proficiency in C and working proficiency in C++ for real-time microcontroller-based control systems
- Experience implementing power electronics control algorithms in production firmware, including regulators, PWM or space vector modulation, Clarke and Park transformations, and phase-locked loops
- Working knowledge of power electronics control theory and MATLAB and Simulink models
- Extensive experience in digital design engineering for power and instrumentation systems
- Experience with electrical hardware for power conversion and instrumentation and mixed-signal electrical schematics
- Experience with bootloaders, device drivers, interrupt service routines, RTOS or bare-metal schedulers, and hardware abstraction layers
- Experience with embedded communication interfaces and protocols such as TCP/IP, Ethernet, I2C, SPI, UART, CAN, or Modbus
- Experience with external memory devices and data storage, including Flash, EEPROM, FRAM, SD cards, wear-leveling, memory partitioning, and field firmware updates
- Strong background in microcontroller- and FPGA-based architectures
- Proficiency with JTAG debuggers, emulators, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and hardware-in-the-loop platforms
- Ability to mentor and develop junior engineers
- Excellent documentation skills for firmware requirements, software design specifications, and user manuals
- Master's degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or a related technical field
- Experience with Texas Instruments C2000 or ARM microcontrollers
- Proficiency in Verilog-based logic design
- Experience integrating automatically generated MATLAB and Simulink code, including Embedded Coder output
- Experience supporting IEEE 1547 and UL 1741 grid-support inverter certification testing
- Experience creating reusable driver libraries, middleware, and communication stacks
- Experience with secure boot, firmware updates, embedded diagnostics, device provisioning, or cybersecurity practices
- Experience with functional safety firmware practices and standards such as IEC 61508, UL 1998, or MISRA C
- NFPA 70E certification
What We Do
Trystar is at the forefront of advancing power solutions, charged and driven by a committed, dynamic team, tackling complex challenges, and creating innovative solutions. Safety and integrity aren’t just buzzwords. They are the north star guiding us as we aspire to wow our customers every day. We’ve created power solutions that are not only durable and unique but are also the result of serious teamwork from every corner of our organization. Individually and collectively, every team member at Trystar plays for each other and strives to deliver unmatched value and 100% accuracy to our customers every single day. As a big name and pioneer in power solutions, we’re not just part of the power conversation – we’re shaping its future, and we’re doing so across diverse industry sectors including utilities, data centers, healthcare, entertainment, education, government, and commercial construction – just to name a few! We’re committed to growing and evolving our product lineup to stay on top of the game and that includes leaning into sustainable, resilient, and renewable energy solutions. Our cutting-edge headquarters in Faribault, MN is partially solar- and wind-powered by our own microgrid! You’ll find that we’re also pushing boundaries across the country at our additional facilities in Troy, MI; Houston, TX; Merrimack, NH; Burnsville, MN; and Murfreesboro, TN. Together, we are Trystar, where we power the future and nurture innovation for a brighter tomorrow.
