What are the responsibilities and job description for the Sr. Applications Engineer– Power Management (DC/DC Buck Converters) position at Kinetic Technologies?
Company Description
Kinetic Technologies designs, develops, and markets high-performance analog and mixed-signal power management and video/audio conversion semiconductors. Serving mobile, enterprise, industrial, and automotive markets, our solutions enable energy-efficient and integrated technologies for various devices, including smartphones and industrial computing systems. With over 3 billion components sold globally, our circuits efficiently transform, regulate, and protect power and signals. Headquartered in San Jose, CA, we operate globally with offices across Asia, North America, and EMEA.
We are seeking an experienced Senior Applications Engineer with deep, hands-on expertise in DC/DC buck converters and power management ICs. This role requires strong system-level design, validation, and device debug skills. The Senior Applications Engineer will act as a technical leader, supporting complex customer designs, driving root-cause analysis, and collaborating closely with R&D, validation, and marketing teams to ensure robust product adoption and successful customer deployments.
Key Responsibilities
- Serve as a technical expert for DC/DC buck converter products, supporting customers from initial architecture through production release
- Lead hands-on lab activities including schematic development, PCB bring-up, validation, and device debug of power management ICs
- Design, build, and debug evaluation modules (EVMs) and customer reference designs
- Perform detailed system-level validation including efficiency, transient response, stability, thermal, protection features, and reliability testing
- Drive root-cause analysis of device, system, and layout-related issues using bench measurements and failure analysis techniques
- Review and approve customer schematics and PCB layouts, providing expert guidance on power integrity, grounding, EMI/EMC, and thermal performance
- Partner closely with IC design, validation, and test teams to debug silicon issues and influence product improvements
- Support customer development schedules by providing timely, technically sound recommendations and solutions
- Develop and own high-quality technical collateral, including:
- EVM User’s Guides
- Application Notes and Design Notes
- White Papers and Reference Designs
- Mentor junior applications engineers and contribute to best practices for lab methodology and documentation
- Represent the applications team in technical reviews, customer meetings, and internal design discussions
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, ECE, or related field
- 6 years of experience in power electronics or semiconductor applications engineering
- Strong hands-on experience with DC/DC buck converter design and analysis
- Proven expertise in schematic capture and PCB design using industry-standard tools (e.g., Altium, Cadence, OrCAD, or equivalent)
- Extensive lab experience with power measurement, debugging, and validation using oscilloscopes, electronic loads, network analyzers, and power analyzers
- Demonstrated ability to debug complex hardware issues at the device and system level
- Strong technical writing skills with experience producing customer-facing technical documentation
- In-depth understanding of customer product development cycles and manufacturing requirements
Preferred Qualifications
- Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related field
- Experience with silicon validation and post-silicon debug of power management ICs
- Strong background in control loop stability, compensation design, and small-signal analysis
- Experience with EMI/EMC mitigation and compliance strategies
- Prior customer-facing or Field Applications Engineering (FAE) experience
- Experience mentoring or leading technical teams
Key Competencies
- Deep lab-centric problem solving and analytical skills
- Ability to independently drive complex debug and validation efforts
- Strong communication skills bridging customers, applications, and IC design teams
- Technical leadership and ownership mindset