Principal Application Engineer

Renesas is a global semiconductor leader shaping the backbone of next-generation automotive, industrial, cloud, and IoT innovation. With over $9.3 billion in annual revenue (2024) and a world-class team of 22,700+ employees, Renesas operates at scale while retaining the agility to drive category-defining breakthroughs. The company’s footprint spans more than 30 countries, enabling deep customer proximity and a uniquely global innovative engine. As Japan’s semiconductor powerhouse and a top global player in microcontrollers, analog, and power technologies, Renesas delivers real-world impact across EVs, smart factories, renewable energy infrastructure, and edge intelligence. For ambitious problem-solvers who want to work on meaningful, systems-level challenges with huge industry leverage, Renesas offers the scale, stability, and strategic clarity of a market leader-paired with the transformative momentum of a company reinventing how the world computes, connects, and electrifies.

Renesas has a growing presence in India with HC approaching 1000+ and significant presence with active government and university collaboration as well as OSAT footprint (JV with CG India). With the growing importance of India as a market (Growing semiconductor market and government goals / mandates of localization needs) and talent hub, our division’s (India for India) mission is to grow India market. We aspire to create products (SoCs, Software, Power and Analog chips etc) which serve needs for local market. Renesas is a leading electronics supplier globally, and this is a unique opportunity to directly influence the future products which will be offered to our customers in a new, fast growing and large Indian market with specific needs and applications.

We are seeking a Principal Applications Engineer with deep expertise in power electronics and power management systems to support Renesas’ India-focused growth initiatives. This role is hands-on, customer-facing, and technically authoritative.

The successful candidate will act as the technical backbone between customers, field teams, and internal design groups, owning application architecture, reference designs, competitive analysis, validation methodology, and critical customer debug. This role strongly influences product P&L or roadmap decisions through real system insight.

You will be expected to operate autonomously, mentor other applications engineers, and represent Renesas as a trusted technical authority at key customer engagements

Responsibilities :

• Customer-Facing Applications Leadership
• Serve as the primary technical interface for key customers in power-related applications (industrial, automotive light EV, inverter/UPS, consumer power, energy storage).
• Lead design-in, bring-up, and debug activities at customer sites or Renesas labs.
• Diagnose complex system-level issues across power stage, control loop, sensing, firmware interaction, EMI/thermal behaviour.
• Provide structured technical feedback to product and design teams based on real customer usage.
• Reference Designs & Application Enablement
• Architect and develop reference designs, evaluation platforms, and application demonstrators using Renesas power products (e.g., MOSFETs, DC/DC, PMICs, gate drivers, BMS ICs).
• Own schematic review, component selection, PCB guidance, and layout best-practice recommendations.
• Generate application notes, design guides, and technical collateral that materially improve customer adoption.
• Define validation plans that reflect real-world corner cases, not just datasheet conditions.
• System-Level Technical Expertise
• Understand and analyse full power system behaviour, including: Control loop stability and transient response ,Thermal and efficiency trade-offs, Protection mechanisms and fault behaviour, Interaction with MCUs/SoCs and firmware
• Perform and guide system modelling and simulation (SIMPLIS, PLECS, SPICE).
• Evaluate design trade-offs and clearly articulate why one solution works better than another keeping BOM cost in mind
• Lab Ownership & Technical Depth
• Hands-on operation of lab equipment: oscilloscopes, Bode/network analysers, electronic loads, power supplies, thermal setups.
• Develop automation scripts (Python/C) to accelerate validation and characterization.
• Support failure analysis and root cause investigation for field issues and RMA trends.
• Technical Leadership & Mentorship
• Act as a technical mentor for junior and mid-level applications engineers.
• Help define best practices, review standards, and debug methodologies across the power applications team.
• Influence hiring by helping assess deep technical capability (not surface-level)

Required skills & Qualifications:

• Comfort and ability to collaborate and be effective in an entrepreneurial (fast-paced and ambiguous) environment
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and presentation skills and comfort in presenting to a wide range of audiences. Capable to communicate issues in a concise and effective way.
• Desire and drive to interact with, as well as ability to build and maintain excellent relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Product ownership mentality
• 12+ years of experience in power management space, ideally including customer facing technical problem solving with semiconductor companies
• Travel will be required
• Bachelor or Masters of Electronics Engineering related discipline
• Ability to build a strong team and motivate individuals to work out of their comfort zone
• Self-driven, strongly motivated individual capable to take full ownership of their activities, and to involve other functions in the company or management when needed to bring them to a successful outcome.
• Understanding of power management applications and products.

Technical proficiency :

• Deep understanding of Power topologies (e.g., buck, boost, buck boost, isolated where relevant), Control loop theory and compensation, Thermal design and power loss modelling (using FEA tools), and EMI/EMC considerations at board and system level
• Hands-on experience and ability in lab debugging, probing and characterizing circuit and silicon using a mixture of custom-made and standard equipment such as power supplies, e-load, digital oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, etc.
• SIMPLIS or similar ckt simulator
• Programming proficiency Python or C for automation and data analysis
• Expertise in board level analog and digital circuit design expertise and PCB schematic design using PCB CAD tools
• Proficiency with a full complement of lab equipment including network analysers, oscilloscopes and waveform generators. Experience with automation of lab testing.
• Data analysis using Excel or JMP
• Understanding of AECQ / IATF /ISO26262 (FuSa) (At least basic level)

Renesas is an embedded semiconductor solution provider driven by its Purpose, To Make Our Lives Easier. With a global team of over 21,000 engineers and problem solvers in more than 30 countries, we offer the opportunity to work on world-leading technology for Automotive, Industrial, Infrastructure, and IoT, shaping a safer, healthier, greener, and smarter future.

At Renesas, TAGIE is our culture, grounded in being Transparent, Agile, Global, Innovative, and Entrepreneurial. It shapes how we work, grow and deliver on our purpose together. This collaborative spirit and mindset drive our semiconductor technology to transform industries and impact millions of lives.

We believe in rewarding our employees with a competitive benefits package alongside their salary. More information will be provided during the hiring process.

Are you ready to join our team and shape the future with us?

Renesas Electronics is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer, committed to supporting diversity and fostering a work environment free of discrimination on the basis of sex, race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, military status, veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. For more information, please read our Diversity & Inclusion Statement.