Senior Control Systems Engineer - Simulink

Senior Control Systems Engineer (Simulink/MATLAB)
Wilmslow, Cheshire - Hybrid working, three days on site a week

Up to £80,000

Our client is a genuinely innovative, IP led engineering business working at the sharp end of electrification, developing novel high power conversion technology that is about to leave the lab and head out into live field trials. If you are the sort of engineer who would rather design the control strategy than be handed one, this is well worth your time

The role

Reporting to the Head of Engineering, you will own the control side of the product. The core intellectual property of the system lives in the control algorithms, and those algorithms are designed, simulated and proven in MATLAB and Simulink using a model based design approach. You will develop the control theory, build the models, prove in simulation that the control and the power electronics behave as they should together, and then generate production C code directly from Simulink. That generated code is wrapped by an in house embedded team who look after the low level drivers and the C framework around it, so your focus is squarely where it should be: the maths, the control theory and making a complex power electronic system behave itself.

In practical terms you will be taking measurements from sensors, deciding in real time what to do with significant amounts of electrical power, and making sure the system does exactly that, reliably, around the clock. If you have done this for an EV traction inverter, an industrial motor drive, a drivetrain or a power conversion system, you will recognise the problem immediately. It is the same technology and the same thinking, just pointed at something rather more novel.

Key responsibilities

• Design, model and tune closed loop control algorithms for high power converter systems in MATLAB and Simulink
• Build plant and system models to validate control strategies in simulation before they ever meet hardware
• Generate production quality C code from Simulink and integrate with the embedded team's hand written wrapper and drivers
• Support lab testing, hardware in the loop work and commissioning of systems designed for continuous 24/7 operation
• Work closely with the hardware lead on power electronics, potentially around a 70/30 split between control and power electronics for the right person
• Analyse performance data from fielded units to refine the control, add new features and functions, and contribute to future data driven services

What we are looking for

• Expert level MATLAB and Simulink for control system design. This is the non negotiable.
• Strong control theory and the mathematics that goes with it, applied to motors, drives or electrical power systems
• A detailed understanding of how power electronics actually works (topologies, switching, modulation) because you cannot control what you do not understand
• Experience of auto code generation from Simulink, Embedded Coder or similar, is highly desirable
• Hands on power electronics hardware design experience would be the cherry on top, though it is not essential
• C or C++ is a welcome bonus, not a requirement, as the embedded side is already well covered
• Senior, been there and done it experience, and the temperament to thrive in a small, close knit engineering team where your work matters and is seen

Typical backgrounds would include Control Systems Engineers, Drivetrain or Powertrain Control Engineers, Motor Control Engineers or Power Systems Control Engineers from automotive, EV, industrial drives, aerospace electrification or energy.

What is on offer

• Salary of £80,000
• 25 days holiday and a contributory pension
• Hybrid working, typically three days on site and two from home, with the obvious caveat that when a problem needs sorting, everybody mucks in
• A lovely facility in Cheshire with plenty of green space to step outside, clear your head and relax, which is no small thing when you are three hours deep in a stubborn control loop
• An exceptional team who are bright, approachable and refreshingly free of corporate nonsense
• Real influence over a product that is on the cusp of scaling globally, with plenty of development still ahead rather than a finished product to babysit
• The opportunity for extensive international travel to some genuinely attractive destinations as systems are deployed overseas, should that appeal. If you would rather keep your feet firmly on home soil, that is entirely fine too

Interested?

If you are a Simulink control specialist who fancies seeing your algorithms running in the real world on technology that will genuinely make a difference, I would be delighted to have a proper chat in confidence.

Send your CV to KO2 Recruitment, and we will happily talk you through the finer details.