Senior Power Electronics Engineer

Who Are We?

At Kea Aerospace, we're on a mission to create insights from the stratosphere that will improve life on our planet. We're developing the Kea Atmos Mk2, a solar-powered, remotely piloted aircraft designed to fly continuously in the stratosphere for months at a time. Operating at around 60,000 feet, the Atmos will deliver high-resolution aerial imagery for maritime surveillance, environmental monitoring and disaster management. We're a small R&D team in Christchurch, where the work comes with real autonomy and responsibility from day one.

What You'll Do

At the heart of our engineering team, you'll own the full power electronics lifecycle on a platform unlike anything else being built in this part of the world - from architecture and topology selection through to board bring-up, verification, and flight-testing support.

• Lead the design and optimisation of advanced DC-DC power conversion systems for high-altitude aircraft operating in harsh stratospheric environments.
• Develop high-efficiency, lightweight, and cost-effective power solutions, supported by detailed efficiency, mass, and cost modelling.
• Work with lithium battery powered systems and solar powered systems.
• Define and execute rigorous electrical power system verification and environmental testing campaigns to ensure performance, reliability, EMI/EMC challenges, and compliance with appliable standards.
• Perform advanced simulation, analysis, and validation of power electronics designs to de-risk development and refine performance.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with design, test, and manufacturing teams to deliver robust, flight-ready hardware.

What You'll Bring

• 7+ years’ experience in power electronics design, with deep expertise in DC-DC switch-mode power supplies, topology selection, and analogue control (voltage/current mode and compensation design).
• Strong foundation in analogue circuit design, electromagnetics, magnetic component design, and discrete logic.
• Proven ability to define power architectures at a system level, perform power budgeting and trade studies, and translate system requirements into robust designs.
• Extensive experience in modelling, simulation, validation, debugging, and structured power system verification.
• Demonstrated capability designing for harsh environments, including thermal management, EMI/EMC mitigation, packaging, and airworthiness-driven processes.
• Proficiency in schematic capture and PCB layout tools (e.g. Altium), with strong understanding of layout impacts on EMC, thermal performance, and manufacturability.
• Strong leadership capability, with the ability to mentor engineers and contribute to the technical growth of a small, high-performing team.
• Excellent problem-solving, time management, and prioritisation skills, with enthusiasm for working in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment.

Nice to Have

• Experience with high-speed digital interfaces (e.g. ADC/DAC, Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3, PCIe, MIPI).
• Familiarity with version control systems (e.g. Git) and structured engineering change processes.
• Experience with FMEA/FMECA methodologies and aerospace EMC standards.
• Experience with lithium-ion battery systems, solar array integration, and high-reliability aerospace or spacecraft electrical power systems.
• Experience transitioning designs from prototype to production, with strong understanding of Design For Manufacturability (DFM) & Design For Testability (DFT) principles.
• Experience with environmental testing (thermal vacuum, vibration, Highly Accelerated Life Testing, etc.) and qualification activities.
• Proficiency in high-level programming languages (e.g. Python) for modelling, automation, or test development.

Additional Requirements

Any offer will be conditional on satisfactory reference and background checks, and the legal right to work in New Zealand.

Some of our future work may require New Zealand Government security clearances. We will talk through what this could mean for the role during the interview process.