Senior Electrical Test and Failure Investigation Engineer, Medium Voltage

Remote, United States

Why Work at SMA America

Power the future. Build your career at SMA America.

As the U.S. subsidiary of SMA Solar Technology AG, we have been at the forefront of solar inverter technology since 1981, developing solutions that make photovoltaic power plants simpler, more reliable, safer, and more cost effective. Headquartered in Rocklin, California, SMA America has spent more than two decades helping homes, businesses, and utilities across the country generate clean, reliable power. We are the only inverter manufacturer in the world offering solutions for every system size, from residential rooftops to large scale utility plants, backed by more than 1,500 patents and a presence in over 190 countries.

Innovation is only part of the story. We invest in our people, create room to grow, challenge conventional thinking, and protect a culture where teammates genuinely care about each other and the work. We hire capable people and give them the space to do the job, with clear expectations, open door leadership, and real autonomy.

If you are passionate about driving positive change and want a career where you can take ownership of your work, we would love to meet you. Together, we are not just part of the energy transition, we are helping drive it forward.

Senior Electrical Test and Failure Investigation Engineer, Medium Voltage

Purpose of the Position

The Senior Electrical Test and Failure Investigation Engineer protects SMA’s customers and brand quality by personally testing, troubleshooting and investigating field failures on SMA’s medium voltage solutions, including transformers, switch gear and converters, and driving each one to an evidence based root cause. This is a hands on field engineering role focused on electrical testing and failure investigation at the equipment level.

It is not a quality process or supplier quality position. Working with cross functional and international teams, including SMA’s global headquarters in Germany, the role drives sustainable corrective and preventive actions across the product lifecycle.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead hands on field investigations of failed medium voltage transformers, switch gear and converters, including site inspection, electrical testing, teardown and evidence collection.
• Perform and interpret medium voltage electrical tests, and use the results with physical damage analysis to determine the failure mechanism and specific root cause.
• Document each investigation using SMA’s 8D process, supported by tools such as 5 Why, Ishikawa diagramming and Pareto analysis.
• Ensure analyses are evidence based, documented in compliance with standards and global processes, and aligned with the requirements of internal and external stakeholders.
• Conduct initial site analyses and on site technical evaluations, and provide technical consultation to customers and service teams.
• Create detailed failure descriptions and collaborate with headquarters to advise and support other functions.
• Recognize and document known failure patterns and provide technical expertise to resolve them.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary and international teams to implement sustainable corrective and preventive actions.
• Execute, monitor and evaluate corrective actions implemented by service teams and suppliers, and confirm their effectiveness.
• Collaborate closely with Customer Quality, Supplier Quality and regional functions.
• Maintain close collaboration with the analysis unit at SMA headquarters and the application engineering team in the U.S.
• Travel approximately 20 to 30% to customer sites for failure investigation and fact gathering, and to the Rocklin, CA office and trade shows as needed.
• O…