Principal Engineer - Wireless Power Transfer

About Us

Dyson is a global technology enterprise. We solve the problems others choose to ignore, developing innovative products and technologies that are different, better and designed around real user needs. Our Research, Design and Development teams combine design, engineering and manufacturing expertise to take products from early concept through to production.

About the Role

Establish and lead Dyson's technical capability in wireless power transfer, providing hands-on architecture leadership from electromagnetic coupling and resonant power conversion through control, EMC, product integration, verification and industrialisation.

This is a senior individual-contributor role for an engineer who remains deeply engaged in analysis, simulation, laboratory work and design decisions. The Principal Engineer will solve the most difficult technical problems, create reusable architectures and methods, and provide independent technical judgement across multiple Dyson product categories and development partners.

The role will balance power-transfer performance, efficiency, charging time, thermal behaviour, electromagnetic compatibility, foreign-object detection, safety, reliability, manufacturability, cost, supply resilience and customer experience.

Key Responsibilities

Wireless power transfer is an increasingly important enabling technology for Dyson's cordless and battery-powered products. Success requires more than selecting a transmitter and receiver chipset. The complete system must be engineered across coils, ferrites, resonant networks, power stages, sensing, controls, communication, protection, battery charging, embedded software, mechanical packaging, thermal management, EMC and high-volume manufacturing.

The Principal Engineer will act as Dyson's senior technical authority for wireless power transfer. The role will work across internal engineering teams, product categories, compliance specialists, manufacturing operations, semiconductor partners, coil and ferrite suppliers, and JDM/ODM partners.

1. Wireless power architecture and technical authority

• Own the end-to-end technical architecture for wireless power transmitter and receiver systems, from input source to the battery or product load.
• Translate product needs into clear electrical, electromagnetic, thermal, mechanical, control, safety, compliance and manufacturing requirements.
• Lead architecture trade-offs across power, energy, efficiency, air gap, alignment tolerance, coil geometry, packaging, charging time, EMC, cost and user experience.
• Define system boundaries and interface requirements between the WPT system, battery/BMS, charger, product electronics, embedded software, mechanical design and product control.
• Chair critical architecture and design reviews and provide clear technical recommendations where evidence is incomplete or stakeholder views differ.

2. Electromagnetic and resonant-system design

• Lead transmitter and receiver coil design, magnetic coupling optimisation, mutual inductance analysis, ferrite and shielding architecture, and coil characterisation.
• Select and optimise resonant compensation networks and operating points for target efficiency, power, tolerance and stability.
• Analyse coil inductance, AC resistance, Q factor, coupling coefficient, parasitic effects, misalignment and air-gap sensitivity.
• Use analytical methods and electromagnetic/circuit simulation to predict performance, then correlate the models with component, subsystem and finished-product measurements.
• Establish design rules for coil geometry, ferrite selection, shielding, adjacent metals, plastics thickness and mechanical tolerances.

3. TX/RX power electronics and control

• Own technical decisions for inverter and transmitter power stages, resonant converters, synchronous rectification, receiver regulation, DC/DC conversion and battery-charging interfaces.
• Lead selection and application of MOSFET, GaN or integrated power devices where appropriate, including gate drive, sensing, protection and derating.
• Define closed-loop power regulation, operating-state control, start-up/shutdown behaviour, fault handling, calibration and diagnostic requirements.
• Define the required TX/RX communication and negotiation mechanisms, including ASK/FSK or equivalent methods, command/state handling and authentication where applicable.
• Provide strong technical oversight of embedded firmware and controls without requiring the role to be the primary software developer.

4. Efficiency, thermal performance and robustness

• Create and maintain end-to-end loss and efficiency budgets from power source through TX electronics, magnetic link and RX electronics to the load or battery.
• Optimise semiconductor, coil, ferrite, switching, rectification and regulation losses across operating conditions and product tolerances.
• Identify thermal hotspots and establish operating limits, protection thresholds, derating strategies and safe recovery behaviour.
• Design for robust operation under misalignment, intermittent coupling, abnormal loads, component variation, supply variation, ageing and environmental conditions.

5. EMC, EMI and product integration

• Lead prediction, measurement and resolution of conducted and radiated emissions and immunity issues associated with resonant power conversion.
• Establish practical EMC design rules for switching nodes, current loops, grounding, shielding, ferrite placement, coil construction, PCB layout and cabling.
• Diagnose the difference between subsystem and finished-product EMC behaviour and drive evidence-based root-cause investigations.
• Integrate WPT hardware into constrained product architectures while balancing industrial design, cleanability, ingress protection, thermal management, serviceability and manufacturability.
• Work closely with mechanical, battery, electronics, product, compliance and manufacturing teams to ensure the charging experience is reliable at product level.

6. Safety, protection and foreign-object detection

• Define robust strategies for foreign-object detection, over-voltage, over-current, over-temperature, abnormal coupling, misalignment, communication loss and unsafe operating states.
• Ensure faults lead to controlled and safe shutdown, recovery or lockout behaviour as appropriate.
• Lead technical risk assessments and ensure safety-related assumptions are verified through targeted analysis and test.
• Partner with product safety and compliance specialists to translate applicable requirements into architecture decisions and objective evidence.

7. Verification, compliance and engineering evidence

• Define verification strategies covering efficiency maps, power regulation, alignment and air-gap tolerance, EMC, thermal performance, communication, protection, FOD, abnormal operation, ageing and production variation.
• Ensure traceability from requirements and identified risks to test methods, results, findings and closure evidence.
• Lead difficult failure investigations using structured root-cause methods, measurement, simulation and controlled experiments.
• Support applicable wireless-power, electrical-safety and EMC compliance activities, including WPC Qi requirements where relevant to the selected architecture.
• Determine when third-party laboratories, specialist partners or advanced test equipment are required and ensure the generated evidence is technically defensible.

8. Technology platform and capability strategy

• Develop a multi-generation WPT technology roadmap aligned with Dyson product opportunities and power requirements.
• Create reusable TX/RX reference architectures, coil/ferrite families, design guidelines, simulation methods, test methodologies and preferred-component strategies.
• Identify opportunities for common platforms while preserving the engineering judgement needed for category-specific constraints.
• Develop demonstrators that resolve the highest-risk technical questions before project commitment.
• Build organisational capability through mentoring, technical training, design reviews and clear engineering standards.

9. Supplier, JDM and technology-partner leadership

• Provide senior technical leadership with semiconductor suppliers, coil/ferrite manufacturers, JDM/ODM partners and specialist engineering organisations.
• Define technical work packages and evidence expectations for external partners.
• Assess supplier architectures, simulations, test results, component alternatives, manufacturing controls and second-source proposals.
• Challenge unsupported claims constructively and ensure key decisions remain controlled by Dyson requirements and evidence.
• Partner with Procurement and Supply Chain to balance performance, cost, availability, quality, intellectual property and long-term resilience.

10. Technical leadership and influence

• Operate as an individual contributor with enterprise-level technical influence rather than relying on formal line authority.
• Mentor engineers and raise the technical standard of architecture, design, analysis, verification and problem solving.
• Communicate complex technical issues concisely to engineering leadership, product teams and senior stakeholders.
• Make uncertainty visible, distinguish facts from assumptions, and recommend proportionate actions based on risk and evidence.
• Promote disciplined knowledge capture so Dyson capability is reusable and not dependent on one individual, supplier or programme.

About You

You are a highly accomplished, hands-on engineer who can move fluently between electromagnetic theory, power-electronics design, simulation, laboratory measurement and product-level decision making. You combine deep technical credibility with the judgement and communication needed to influence senior stakeholders and multidisciplinary teams.

Essential Experience and Capabilities

• Degree or equivalent professional experience in Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Power Electronics, Electromagnetics, Control Engineering or a closely related discipline.
• Substantial industrial product-development experience in wireless power transfer, wireless charging, resonant power conversion or a closely related power-electronics field.
• Demonstrable ownership of real TX/RX hardware from concept and architecture through detailed design, verification, compliance and production.
• Deep practical understanding of inductive or resonant coupling, coil and magnetic design, resonant compensation networks, power stages, synchronous rectification, sensing and control.
• Strong capability in electromagnetic and circuit simulation, supported by practical laboratory measurement and model correlation.
• Proven experience resolving EMC/EMI, efficiency, thermal, FOD, communication, protection, alignment and mechanical-integration challenges.
• Experience defining verification methods and interpreting test evidence across component, subsystem and finished-product levels.
• Experience working with semiconductor suppliers, magnetic-component suppliers, manufacturing teams and external development partners.
• Ability to explain complex trade-offs clearly, challenge weak evidence respectfully and make balanced decisions under programme pressure.

Desirable Experience

• Experience with WPC Qi or other appropriate wireless-power standards and conformance testing.
• Experience in consumer electronics, battery-powered products, robotics, automotive, medical devices, industrial WPT or semiconductor applications engineering.
• Experience with high-volume manufacturing, production test, component qualification, second sourcing and supplier change control.
• Working knowledge of battery charging, BMS interfaces, USB-PD or other relevant power-source architectures.
• Experience with cryptographic authentication or secure power negotiation where applicable to wireless-power systems.
• A Master's degree, PhD, Chartered Engineer status or equivalent professional recognition.

Evidence Expected from candidates

Strong candidates should be able to explain, using examples from products they personally influenced:

• A WPT system personally architected or substantially designed, including the role they individually played.
• TX and RX topology selection, resonant compensation and the reasons behind the architecture.
• Coil geometry, inductance, Q factor, coupling coefficient, ferrite/shielding approach and mechanical constraints.
• An end-to-end efficiency and loss budget and how it correlated with laboratory results.
• How air gap, X/Y/Z misalignment, metallic objects and production tolerances were handled.
• An EMC or thermal issue personally root-caused and resolved.
• FOD, communication, protection and abnormal-condition behaviour and how these were verified.
• How the design moved from prototype into compliant, manufacturable and cost-competitive hardware.
• A difficult technical decision where evidence was incomplete and how risk was managed.

What Success Looks Like

• Dyson has a recognised technical authority and a clear technology roadmap for wireless power transfer.
• WPT architectures are selected early using evidence-based trade-offs and clear system boundaries.
• Efficiency, EMC, thermal, alignment, FOD, protection and charging performance are predictable and verified at product level.
• Reusable architectures, modelling methods, design rules and test methodologies improve speed and quality across programmes.
• Suppliers and JDMs work to clear Dyson requirements and evidence expectations rather than driving architecture through unsupported claims.
• Critical risks are identified before commitment and closed through analysis, demonstrators and objective test evidence.
• Dyson's internal capability grows through mentoring, technical standards and knowledge reuse, reducing dependency on individuals and external partners.

Dyson is an equal opportunity employer. We know that great minds don’t think alike, and it takes all kinds of minds to make our technology so unique. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and employment decisions are made without regard to race, colour, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, protected veteran status or other any other dimension of diversity.