Principal Applications Engineer - Somerville, United States
Originally posted 10 March 2026 by the employer.
Vertical gallium nitride (GaN) power devices (100 V - 2300 V).
About the role
The Principal Applications Engineer supports the commercialization of vertical gallium nitride (GaN) power devices (100 V - 2300 V) by translating device performance into system-level implementations for customers. This role covers customer technical engagement, simulation and modeling, bench characterization, and reference design hardware development.
What you'll do
- Serve as the technical interface for strategic accounts, translating customer specifications into power device requirements and supporting design-in through simulation, testing, troubleshooting, and optimization. - Develop and maintain SPICE and PLECS simulation workflows for vertical GaN in converter environments, covering switching behavior, parasitics, loss/thermal estimation, and gate-drive tradeoffs. - Lead the development of evaluation boards, demo boards, and reference designs, including schematics, layout, BOM, bring-up plans, test plans, and characterization reports. - Perform hands-on bench characterization of fast-switching wide bandgap devices, focusing on switching waveform integrity, parasitic-sensitive measurements, and robustness. - Author technical collateral such as application notes, design guidelines, technical notes, and training materials. - Provide structured customer feedback to Device Engineering and Product teams regarding performance requirements, feature requests, and failure modes.
What you'll need
- 5+ years of experience in applications engineering supporting power semiconductor customers, or 5+ years developing power systems and converters. - 5+ years of experience working with power converters, such as inverters, PFC, or isolated DC-DC topologies. - Hands-on bench characterization experience with high-voltage and high-current wide bandgap devices. - Working knowledge of high-frequency power converter design, including switching loss mechanisms, magnetics, layout parasitics, gate drive, and EMI-aware design practices. - Direct experience applying SiC and GaN devices in power converters. - Proficiency with SPICE or PLECS for model development and power circuit evaluation. - M.S. or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering focused on Power Electronics, or equivalent practical experience.
Skills: GaN, power converters, SPICE, PLECS, reference designs, wide bandgap
This role has been open 0 days — well below the 61-day median for Applications FAE roles.
Applications FAE · Power Conversion
|
Open roles in category
36
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Median days open
61 d
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Median salary
—
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See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Vertical Semiconductor | All employers we track in this specialty (36 roles · 12 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 1 | 36 |
| Median days open | 0 d | 61 d (−61 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | — |
Skills observed across this category: GaN, power converters, SPICE, PLECS, reference designs, wide bandgap
Who's hiring in this category
- Infineon Technologies · 10 open roles · median 42 d
- Monolithic Power Systems · 9 open roles · median 69 d
- onsemi · 3 open roles · median 156 d
- Analog Devices · 2 open roles · median 26 d
- Microchip Technology · 2 open roles · median 70 d
- Power Integrations · 2 open roles · median 96 d
How we counted: 36 open Applications FAE (Power Conversion) roles from 12 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 22 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there. Figures refresh nightly.