Research and Development Engineer - Power Electronics

About the Role

Join ABB's Critical Power Business in Napier, New Zealand as an R&D Engineer within a laboratory team that supports product designers by applying power electronics building blocks for Power Electronics Products development. You will provide high-quality testing services and share expertise on testing, reliability, and compliance with international standards. This position reports to the R&D Lab Team Lead and works closely with Agile teams on development projects to recommend optimal testing methods. This is an onsite role.

Key Responsibilities

• Define testing requirements for products to ensure quality and compliance.
• Conduct electrical and electronic tests, including high power testing, utilizing various test equipment and documenting results through detailed reports.
• Engage in component engineering by identifying alternative parts and creating qualification plans.
• Support reliability engineering initiatives and uphold product safety standards per CE and UL regulations.
• Design and prototype hardware test rigs to facilitate testing processes.
• Automate testing procedures to improve efficiency and accuracy.
• Apply strong problem-solving and debugging skills to troubleshoot technical issues.

Candidate Qualifications

• Possess a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical or Electronic Engineering.
• Familiarity with software tools such as Opal-RT, MATLAB, and Python.
• A keen interest and foundational knowledge in electronics.
• Experience or exposure to three-phase electrical systems.
• Previous work or experience with products such as UPS, energy storage systems, variable speed drives, or programmable logic controllers (PLC).

About ABB Smart Power

ABB Smart Power offers energy distribution solutions tailored for data centers, industrial and manufacturing plants, critical infrastructure, and commercial buildings. Its technical teams collaborate with industry partners to develop advanced technologies that facilitate rapid growth and promote energy transition and sustainability goals. The product range encompasses industrial circuit breakers, low-voltage systems, motor starters, safety devices, and the Power Protection unit, which supports major data center clients with energy-efficient UPS solutions. The ABB Ability Energy Manager platform assists organizations in energy savings and CO2 reduction.

The Napier power conditioning business is a global frontrunner in designing next-generation UPS and power conditioning solutions for critical environments, delivering dependable, high-quality power for data centers and essential infrastructure worldwide.

Diversity and Inclusion

ABB values diverse perspectives, encouraging applicants from all backgrounds with curious, courageous, and creative mindsets.