Senior Director, Application Engineering

At Renesas, we are more than just a semiconductor company; we are the engine behind a "safer, smarter, and more sustainable" future. Headquartered locally in the heart of San Jose, CA, we are at the forefront of innovation in Automotive, Industrial, Infrastructure, and IoT technologies. By blending cutting-edge embedded processing with world-class analog and power expertise, we develop "Winning Combinations" that power billions of intelligent devices globally. Joining us means joining a collaborative, forward-thinking environment where your work directly impacts the next generation of AI-driven infrastructure and green energy solutions. 

The Position 

AI and high-performance compute have made the voltage regulator one of the defining constraints on performance, efficiency, and total cost of ownership. As Sr. Director of Applications in the Performance Computing Power division, you will build and lead an organization that turns Renesas silicon into design wins at the world’s most demanding AI and compute customers — owning the technical relationship from first architecture conversation through production ramp, and serving as the voice of the customer inside our NPI process. 

This is fundamentally a build role, the global organization must be scaled to match the opportunity in front of it. You will be responsible for both building a team and building processes that enable more efficient customer engagement.  Your leadership and team building expertise will be critical skills.   

Key Responsibilities 

• Build and scale the organization. Own recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and talent development as a first-order personal responsibility, growing the team rapidly and to several times its current size to meet accelerating customer demand. 

• Develop leaders and structure. Grow front-line managers and technical leads. Develop organizational structure and operating cadence that lets a fast-growing global team stay accountable, fast, and close to the customer. 

• Scale customer enablement through automation, design guides, simulation models and other high leverage means. 

• Own the reference design portfolio for AI and compute power delivery — delivered ahead of customer windows. 

• Own technical escalations end to end and close the loop from field learning back into the roadmap. 

• Proven organizational leadership. Demonstrated track record of building and scaling technical teams through periods of rapid growth, including managing managers, with a personal record of recruiting, developing, and retaining top engineering talent. 

• Datacenter power expertise. Deep experience with datacenter and server power delivery architectures spanning rack and bus bar distribution through intermediate conversion to the point of load. 

• Customer-facing seniority. Experience leading technical engagements with hyperscale, OEM, ODM, or ASIC customers, with the executive communication skills to be credible with engineers and senior decision makers alike. 

• Cross-functional influence. Ability to align cross-functional organizations without direct authority and make decisive trade-offs under schedule pressure. 

Education and Experience 

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a related discipline with 15+ years of relevant experience; or an advanced degree (MS or PhD) with 12+ years of relevant experience. 

• Substantial portion of that experience in power electronics, power management semiconductors, or datacenter power delivery, including direct people-leadership responsibility. Domestic and international travel to customer and Renesas sites is required. 

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.

Renesas Electronics deals with dual-use technology that is subject to U.S. export controls regulations. Under these regulations it may be necessary for Renesas to obtain U.S. government export license prior to release of technology to certain persons. The decision whether or not to file or pursue an export license application is at the sole discretion of Renesas.