Principal Electrical Engineer – Fuel Cell Systems

Principal Electrical Engineer – Fuel Cell Systems Status:
Exempt (salaried) Department:
Fuel Cell Platforms – Electrical Engineering Position Summary Plug is building the global hydrogen ecosystem. We are the only company delivering a complete hydrogen platform, from production and liquefaction to storage, delivery, and power generation. They are integrated, end-to-end solutions designed to make hydrogen work at industrial scale across regions, industries, and applications. Plug is seeking a Principal Electrical Engineer to serve as the electrical technical authority for our hydrogen fuel cell power systems.

This role sits at the intersection of power electronics, embedded controls, system architecture, and structured product development — spanning the full design lifecycle from concept through production release. As a Principal Engineer, you will set the technical direction for electrical design, mentor and elevate the broader engineering team, and bring the business acumen to balance rigorous engineering standards with cost, schedule, and commercial objectives.

You will lead electrical design decisions, drive verification and validation programs, partner with Supply Chain and Operations on design-for-manufacture readiness and serve as a trusted technical voice in customer-facing and executive settings. This position reports to the Manager of Electrical Engineering – Fuel Cell Platforms and is located at our facility in Slingerlands, NY.

• Architect, design, and validate DC/DC power converters (LLC, phase-shift full bridge, interleaved boost, buck-boost) for fuel cell stack and BOP interfaces
• Define electrical specifications covering voltage and current profiles, efficiency, ripple, and EMI/EMC across all operating conditions Drive EMI/EMC mitigation from schematic through PCB layout and full system validation
• Design high-frequency magnetics for efficiency and manufacturability
• Own protection architecture, and SiC/GaN device selection
• Oversee schematic capture and PCB layout review (Altium preferred), component selection, and DFM
• Lead hardware design reviews (PDR, CDR) and resolve design issues through structured root cause and corrective action
• Lead architecture, design, and validation of embedded control systems on DSP/MCU/FPGA platforms, define hardware-software interface requirements
• Own the top-level electrical architecture for the fuel cell power system: power distribution, harness design, sensor integration, grounding strategy, and isolation/protection schemes
• Define balance-of-plant (BOP) electrical requirements for pumps, fans, valves, heaters, and auxiliary loads
• Specify thermal subsystem electrical requirements
• Partner with Mechanical and Thermal teams on integrated packaging and thermal management
• Lead compliance and certification activities for UL, CE, NFPA 2, SAE, and applicable ISO hydrogen and fuel cell standards
• Support regulatory approvals
• Establish and own electrical FMEA and functional safety analyses
• Define and own the electrical DVP&R
• Lead DV and PV test execution including environmental and safety qualification (shock, vibration, thermal cycling, freeze-thaw, cold-start) and accelerated stress and durability testing to identify failure modes and predict system lifespan
• Drive structured root cause and corrective action processes (8D, DMAIC) to resolve verification failures and field reliability issues
• Maintain and update DFMEA throughout the product development lifecycle to ensure risks are mitigated before production release
• Partner with Supply Chain during component selection and sourcing to address preferred suppliers, lead time, cost targets, and second-source availability early in design
• Support supplier qualification and supplier technical…