eVTOL Powertrain Engineer

About the role

You will join an eVTOL aircraft company to own the high-voltage distribution chain that moves energy from the battery packs to every propulsor on the aircraft. This team designs the bus architecture, power distribution units, contactors, cabling, and connectors, and proves the whole chain is safe under faults. Your work sits between the battery team and the propulsion team, and the aircraft cannot fly until your distribution system is qualified and its safety case is accepted. You will coordinate across the battery, propulsion, and avionics teams, because the distribution system touches all of them, and your interface definitions will prevent the integration surprises that kill schedules.

What you will achieve

• Architect the high-voltage distribution system, sizing bus voltage, conductor gauges, and protection devices for efficiency, weight, and fault tolerance together.
• Design power distribution units that survive short-circuit and arc fault events, validated by destructive testing rather than by assumption.
• Cut HV harness weight and complexity through bus topology trades and connector standardization applied consistently across the vehicle.
• Prove electromagnetic compatibility of the HV system with avionics and flight controls, closing EMI findings before aircraft-level testing begins.
• Deliver the HV safety case, including interlock strategy and maintenance procedures, that the certification team defends to the authorities. Fault testing demonstrates safe behavior under every credible failure, turning the safety case from argument into evidence.

What you will bring

Must-haves

• 2 to 5 years designing high-voltage power distribution for electric aircraft, EVs, or industrial power systems with hardware you qualified.
• Deep understanding of HV protection: fusing, contactor sequencing, pre-charge circuits, and isolation monitoring under fault conditions.
• Experience selecting HV connectors, cable, and shielding for weight, ampacity, and EMI performance in constrained installations.
• Knowledge of arc fault physics and mitigation techniques in high-voltage DC systems.
• Familiarity with EMI/EMC design practice and testing for power electronics installations near sensitive avionics.
• Rigorous high-voltage lab safety discipline, modeled for the technicians and engineers around you.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with 800V-class architectures and their insulation coordination challenges.
• Background in wire harness design tools and aircraft installation standards.
• Prior work on an HV system that completed aircraft or automotive certification.
• Knowledge of partial discharge phenomena and high-altitude derating effects.