Power Electronics Engineer: Salary and Responsibilities in 2026

Charging an electric car, feeding a solar farm's electricity into the grid, powering a satellite's equipment, or running a train's motor: each of these operations relies on an energy converter. The power electronics engineer designs these converters, which transform and control electrical energy with the best possible efficiency, within an ever more constrained volume and mass.

The profession sits at the crossroads of electronics, electrical engineering and thermal management, and it is at the heart of the electrification of transport, industry and energy. This page details the missions, skills, training, power electronics engineer salary and career paths.

Job profile last updated on 26/09/2026.

Key takeaways

• Power electronics converts and controls electrical energy: AC to DC, DC to DC, DC to AC.
• The power electronics engineer designs, sizes and validates inverters, chargers, power supplies and drives.
• Wide-bandgap semiconductors, SiC and GaN, are transforming the profession by enabling more compact and more efficient converters.
• Master's-level training: an engineering degree or Master's in electronics, electrical engineering or 3EA.
• Salary: Apec does not publish data specific to this role. Its closest profiles indicate that 80% of postings fall between €35k and €53k gross per year (electronics engineer) and between €33k and €53k (electrical engineering engineer).

What is power electronics for an engineer?

Power electronics is the branch of electronics that processes energy rather than information. Where digital electronics handles signals of a few milliwatts, power electronics carries power ranging from a few watts to several megawatts.

Its principle relies on semiconductor components used in switching mode, such as MOSFETs, IGBTs and diodes, driven at high frequency to chop and shape the current. Four main families of converters can be distinguished:

• Rectifiers: from AC to DC.
• Choppers or DC-DC converters: from one DC voltage to another.
• Inverters: from DC to AC, for example to power a motor.
• Dimmers and cycloconverters: from one AC to another.

These converters are everywhere: electric vehicles (traction inverter, onboard charger), renewable energy (photovoltaic inverters, wind converters), rail, aerospace, space, industrial variable-speed drives, and power supplies for servers and equipment.

Why hire a power electronics engineer?

Because the converter often determines the efficiency, mass, volume and reliability of the whole system. On an electric vehicle, one efficiency point gained on the inverter translates into range. On an aircraft or a satellite, every gram counts.

Three trends make this profile strategic:

• The electrification of transport and industry, which multiplies the need for converters.
• The energy transition, which Apec identifies as a major challenge for electrical engineering engineers: integrating intermittent renewables, and new uses such as heat pumps and batteries.
• The arrival of SiC and GaN, which change the design rules and demand new skills.

The power electronics engineer must also deal with a structuring constraint: fast switching generates electromagnetic disturbances. Designing a converter is therefore done in close coordination with the EMC engineer.

What role does the power electronics engineer play in the organisation?

They typically report to the R&D manager, the electronics project manager, or the engineering office manager. They work at manufacturers and equipment suppliers in automotive, aerospace, rail, space and defence, at converter and inverter manufacturers, in energy, and in engineering firms.

Within a project, they work with control electronics engineers, embedded software engineers who program the converter's control, mechanical and thermal engineers for cooling and integration, the EMC engineer, and test and qualification teams.

What are the missions of a power electronics engineer?

1. Designing the converter

• Translate the specifications into a conversion architecture: topology, switching frequency, component selection.
• Size the semiconductors, magnetic components (inductors, transformers) and capacitors.
• Design the gate drive circuits (drivers) and protections.
• Run electrical and thermal simulations.

2. Mastering thermal management and integration

• Assess losses and size the cooling system.
• Define the layout and routing of power boards with the engineering office.
• Integrate EMC constraints from the architecture stage.

3. Prototyping and validating

• Build and tune prototypes.
• Define and run tests: efficiency, waveforms, heating, voltage withstand, cycling.
• Analyse results and refine the design.

4. Industrialising and qualifying

• Support the transition to production.
• Write qualification and certification files.
• Manage component obsolescence over the product's lifetime.

What skills are needed to become a power electronics engineer?

Technical skills

• Conversion topologies and converter control.
• Power semiconductors: MOSFETs, IGBTs, diodes, and wide-bandgap SiC and GaN technologies.
• Magnetic components and component thermal management.
• Analogue electronics and control electronics.
• EMC constraints specific to converters.
• Power measurements: oscilloscopes, differential and current probes.
• Technical English for datasheets and documentation.

Soft skills

• Rigour, particularly around electrical safety in the laboratory.
• Analytical mindset to diagnose failures.
• Sense of trade-offs between efficiency, cost, mass and reliability.
• Teamwork with software, mechanical and thermal disciplines.

Tools and work environment

The power electronics engineer uses simulation tools such as Matlab and Simulink, PLECS, PSIM or SPICE-type simulators, electronic CAD software such as Altium Designer, and thermal simulation tools.

Their time is split between design and the laboratory, where they work on live test benches. The environment imposes strict electrical safety rules, with electrical clearances adapted to the voltage levels handled.

How do you become a power electronics engineer?

The profession is practised with a Master's level degree. Apec's electronics engineer and electrical engineering engineer profiles cite these reference training paths:

• A Master's in electronics or 3EA (electronics, electrical energy, automation).
• A Master's in electrical engineering.
• An engineering school diploma with a specialisation in electronics, electrical engineering, or electrotechnics.

A PhD is an asset for upstream R&D roles, particularly on SiC and GaN technologies or magnetic components.

According to Apec, electronics engineer roles are accessible to new graduates, but recruiters favour candidates with at least one year of experience in the target domain.

Power electronics engineer salary in 2026

Apec does not publish compensation data specific to the power electronics engineer role. Its two closest profiles give an order of magnitude (pages accessed on 26/09/2026):

• Electronics engineer: 80% of the gross annual compensation offered in postings is between €35k and €53k, averaging €43k.
• Electrical engineering engineer: 80% of compensation offered is between €33k and €53k, averaging €42k.

A second benchmark, for companies covered by the metalworking industry collective agreement: the 2026 minimum hierarchical salaries (SMH) published by UIMM. An entry-level manager classed F11 has a minimum of €28,430 gross per year on a 35-hour week basis, or €36,959 under the forfait jours. In class G13, the minimum is €40,350, or €52,455 under the forfait jours.

Two reading precautions:

• The Apec ranges cover salaries offered in job postings, not salaries actually paid, and concern broader job families than power electronics alone.
• The metalworking minimums are collective floors. The class depends on the role, and engineering firms often fall under a different agreement (Syntec collective agreement).

The main factors of variation are experience, mastery of SiC and GaN technologies, sector (automotive, aerospace, space, energy), and level of responsibility over the architecture.

What career paths does a power electronics engineer have?

With experience, the power electronics engineer can move toward:

• Expert or architect in energy conversion.
• R&D project manager, then R&D manager.
• Engineering office manager.
• Systems engineer, on complete traction or energy chains.

R&D project manager, R&D manager and engineering office manager are among the career paths cited by Apec for the electronics engineer. There are many bridges to related roles: electronics engineer, electronics technician-engineer, mechatronics engineer or embedded systems engineer.

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FAQ

What is power electronics?

Power electronics is the branch of electronics that converts and controls electrical energy using semiconductors operated in switching mode. It performs AC-to-DC, DC-to-DC and DC-to-AC conversions, at the heart of electric vehicles, renewable energy and power supplies.

What does a power electronics engineer do?

They design and size converters (inverters, chargers, power supplies, drives), select components, manage thermal aspects, build prototypes, run tests, and support industrialisation and qualification.

What is the salary of a power electronics engineer?

Apec does not publish data specific to this role. Its closest profiles indicate that 80% of postings fall between €35k and €53k gross per year for the electronics engineer, and between €33k and €53k for the electrical engineering engineer. In the metalworking industry, the 2026 collective minimum for an entry-level F11 manager is €28,430 on a 35-hour week basis.

What studies are needed to become a power electronics engineer?

A Master's level: an engineering degree or Master's in electronics, electrical engineering or 3EA. A PhD is an asset for upstream R&D roles.

What is the difference with an electronics engineer or an electrical engineer?

The electronics engineer designs circuits that mainly process information (signal, digital). The electrical engineer, or electrical engineering engineer, works on the production, transmission and use of energy, including installations and machines. The power electronics engineer sits between the two: they design the semiconductor converters that transform energy.

In which sectors does a power electronics engineer work?

In automotive, aerospace, space, rail, energy (solar, wind, storage), defence and industry, at manufacturers, equipment suppliers, converter makers and engineering firms.

What components must a power electronics engineer master?

Power semiconductors (MOSFETs, IGBTs, diodes), wide-bandgap SiC (silicon carbide) and GaN (gallium nitride) technologies, magnetic components (inductors, transformers), capacitors, and gate drivers.

What career paths does a power electronics engineer have?

Toward expertise in energy conversion, R&D project management, responsibility for an engineering office, or systems engineering on complete traction or energy chains.