Senior Validation and Verification Engineer in Newcastle upon Tyne

Catalyst is delighted to be once more supporting a key client in the electrification technology sector in their recruitment of a Senior Validation Engineer to be based from their Tyneside HQ. My client is a global leader in their field and is undergoing an exciting period of change.

Reporting to the Electrical Engineering Lead, the Senior Validation Engineer will be responsible for the offering of engineering support to the NPD process and team. The Senior Validation Engineer will be responsible for the specification, test, validation and qualification of newly developed power electronic devices against their regulatory requirements and ultimately gain their accredited certification.

This role will involve working closely with the hardware, software, mechanical and system engineering teams, as well as project management and product/quality management. You will be responsible for creating and following a New Product Integration Validation and Verification test plan, helping create validation test criteria/procedures, identifying, specifying and creating any necessary test environment, test and troubleshoot electronic assemblies, components and circuits.

Identifying and managing risks, making sound judgments about quality and feeding into the team's decision to the release of product or a change to an existing product. Read, understand, keep updated on all regulatory standards relevant to our product ranges and desired applications: EMC standards, Electrical safety and Functional safety standards and UL/CSA.

Understand the regulatory test methods/conditions and create test cases (descriptions/procedures, equipment, wiring looms, loads etc.). Create test plans for when compliance de-risk testing needs performing within the product development cycle and to what level (pre-compliance or full). Set up and perform the testing (in house for pre-compliance work, or at external test house for final full compliance accreditation).

Willingness to travel is essential and will be required occasionally for final full compliance testing when using an external test house (most tests we can do in house to a pre-compliance level). Liaise with external test houses and/or approval bodies to discuss/plan and quote blocks of compliance testing.

Commission, debug electronic circuits, components and PCB assemblies for new product development and sustaining projects. Maintain records and documentation on all tests and analysis. Work with Engineering to improve checklist of verification and validation tests and to define criteria for entry into Validation phase.

Establish a disciplined reporting and communication dashboard of project risks & status with respect to quality and readiness for release. This is a broad ranging role requiring some desk and IT work (planning, researching, writing test procedures documenting test reports etc.) as well as practical hands-on engineering, building test bench set ups, adapting and modifying metalwork, cables, electronics, loads, operating test equipment, commissioning, debugging and repairing test units etc.

To be considered for the role, it is essential that you are an experienced electronics test/product validation engineering professional with demonstrable experience and in-depth knowledge of regulatory standards and test methods for product validation/compliance. A Bachelor's degree or equivalent (preferably with bias towards power electronics) is required.

Demonstrable hands-on experience in a test and/or QA Validation role at system level (HW/SW) - experience of compliance testing for EMC/Vibration/IP ratings and/or UL would be beneficial. Experience of working with power electronic systems (experience with higher voltage systems 200V to 800V DC preferred but not essential). Knowledge of circuit analysis, and design of experiments. Knowledge and experience in applicable product regulatory standards such as (EN1175, EN13849, UL 0583, and EN12895).

Willingness to travel to external test laboratories occasionally. PC literate with experience in MS Office and databases (good and thorough documentation skills). This is an excellent opportunity to join a market leader in their specialist field of technology and to work from their highly impressive operation in Tyneside.