Join Us to Shape the Future of Smart Grids
Whether you’re starting your career or bringing years of experience, Zaphiro offers a place to grow, innovate, and make a real impact on tomorrow’s energy systems.
Current job openings
Business Development & Sales Manager
Position Overview
We are seeking a highly motivated Business Development & Sales Manager with strong technical expertise and hands-on experience in the power grid and smart grid domain. In this role, you will play a central part in driving the company’s growth by leading business development initiatives, managing sales activities, and nurturing key customer relationships, while also contributing to marketing efforts.
This position requires a balanced combination of technical knowledge, commercial acumen, and project coordination skills. You will be responsible for identifying and evaluating new business opportunities, engaging with clients and partners to understand complex technical requirements, and supporting the development of tailored, high-quality proposals.
Working closely with commercial partners and internal technical teams, you will help translate customer needs into competitive solutions, ensuring that all offers are technically sound, commercially viable, and aligned with market expectations. Your ability to bridge the gap between engineering and business will be critical to successfully positioning our solutions and securing new projects.
Position Details
- Duration and rate: Permanent, 100%.
- Starting date: as soon as possible
- Workplace: Switzerland.
Key Responsibilities
Business development
- Identify, evaluate, and develop new market opportunities in the smart grid and energy sectors
- Build and maintain strategic relationships with utilities, EPCs, regulators, and technology partners
- Monitor market trends, regulatory changes, and competitive landscape
- Deliver technical presentations, training, and demonstrations to prospective clients and commercial partners, showcasing the product capabilities and value proposition.
Sales & Account Management:
- Manage the full sales cycle: lead generation, qualification, technical specifications assessment, proposal development, negotiation, and closing
- Work closely with engineering and product teams to tailor solutions to customer needs
- Develop and execute sales strategies to meet and exceed revenue targets
- Maintain long-term relationships with key clients and stakeholders
Marketing Support:
- Generate sales collaterals, including case studies, product brochures, presentations, and technical datasheets.
- Contribute in the selection and arrangement of fairs and trade shows.
Required Skills
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in electrical engineering, Energy Systems, Power Engineering, or a related technical field
- 3+ years’ experience within the energy or related industry, in customer-facing roles such as business development, technical sales, account management.
- Strong negotiation and communication skills
- High independency and proactivity, with a strong sense of ownership and responsibility in managing customer relationships, identifying opportunities, and driving business growth.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with attention to detail and accuracy.
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment and effectively manage multiple priorities.
- Languages: Full professional proficiency in English. French, German or Spanish knowledge are a plus.
Desirable Skills
- Strong understanding of power systems and grid infrastructure
- Familiarity with smart grid technologies such as SCADA / EMS / DMS systems, Distributed Energy Resources (DER) integration, Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), Grid automation and digital substations, etc.
- Experience managing RFPs, tenders, and contract negotiations
What We Offer
Apply- Being part of a company committed in heart and mind to contribute to a sustainable future.
- Dynamic and passionate work environment with flexible working time models.
- Ability to help shape the company as it grows.
Student / Internship projects
Phase identification algorithm
Project type
- Internship
Contact point
hugo.delesalle@zaphiro.chProject description and objectives
Distribution System Operators (DSOs) can lack accurate information about phase connectivity in secondary substations, which limits their ability to run advanced algorithms such as Distribution System State Estimation (DSSE). The goal of this project is to develop and evaluate algorithms for automatic phase identification in medium-voltage networks using real PMU measurements: voltage and current phasors at the primary substation, and current phasors in secondary substations.
Tasks
- Review existing phase identification methods.
- Develop and implement new or improved algorithms in Python.
- Test and validate the algorithms using real PMU datasets with ground truth.
- Evaluate performance under scenarios with distributed generation.
Required skills
- Understanding of electrical distribution grids
- Proficiency in Python
- Basic knowledge of DSSE
Other benefits and/or compensation
Depending on the final project type, scope and deliverables, Zaphiro may consider providing additional adequate compensation.
Oscillation detection, characterization and source localization
Project type
- Internship
- MSc thesis
Contact point
paolo.romano@zaphiro.chProject description and objectives
Power system oscillations—whether caused by faults, control interactions, or generator dynamics—can threaten grid stability and reliability. Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) provide high-resolution, time-synchronized measurements that enable real-time monitoring and analysis of such oscillations.
This project aims to develop a data-driven framework using PMU data to detect, characterize, and identify the source of oscillations in a power system. The project will explore algorithms for oscillation detection (e.g., Prony analysis, spectral methods, machine learning), estimate modal characteristics (frequency, damping, mode shape), and propose approaches to pinpoint the most likely source or contributing element of the oscillation.
Objectives:
- Develop algorithms for real-time oscillation detection using PMU data.
- Characterize oscillation modes in terms of frequency, damping ratio, and energy contribution.
- Implement source identification techniques to locate the origin of oscillations.
- Evaluate performance using synthetic or real-world PMU datasets.
Tasks
- Literature Review: Study existing methods for oscillation detection and modal analysis using PMUs. Review signal processing and machine learning approaches relevant to the problem.
- Data Acquisition and Preprocessing: Obtain PMU data (from open datasets or simulations such as IEEE test systems). Preprocess data for noise filtering and synchronization.
- Oscillation Detection: Implement algorithms to detect sustained or growing oscillations (e.g., FFT, Prony, or AR-based methods). Compare detection accuracy and computational performance.
- Oscillation Characterization: Extract modal parameters such as frequency, damping ratio, and mode shape. Visualize time-domain and frequency-domain characteristics.
- Source Identification: Apply energy-based or participation factor-based methods to locate oscillation sources. Validate using test scenarios or benchmark systems.
- Evaluation and Reporting: Analyze results and compare algorithm performance. Prepare a final report and presentation summarizing findings, challenges, and recommendations.
This project, could be developed in full or partly during a single student project.
Required skills
- Strong background in power systems and power system dynamics.
- Familiarity with phasor measurement units (PMUs) and synchrophasor data.
- Knowledge of signal processing (e.g., FFT, Prony, wavelet, spectral analysis).
- Programming proficiency in MATLAB, Python, or similar environments.
- Understanding of machine learning techniques (optional but beneficial).
- Ability to perform data analysis and visualization.
Other benefits and/or compensation
Depending on the final project type, scope and deliverables, Zaphiro may consider providing additional adequate compensation.
Incipient Fault Detection Using Waveform Analysis
Project type
- Internship
- MSc thesis
Contact point
mayank.nagendran@zaphiro.chProject description and objectives
This project focuses on identifying incipient faults in power systems through detailed waveform analysis. Incipient faults are low magnitude, developing anomalies that may precede permanent faults. Early identification can significantly improve system reliability and reduce maintenance costs. The project aims to investigate state-of-the-art methods waveforms for detecting such conditions, and propose an improved detection technique, and validate its effectiveness through simulations. Tasks
Semester Project:
- Perform a literature survey on waveform-based incipient fault detection methods in both transmission and distribution systems.
- Identify key challenges and gaps in existing techniques.
- Develop an algorithm to detect and characterize incipient faults
Thesis will also include:
- Implement the algorithm in MATLAB or Python.
- Validate the proposed method through simulation studies and performance assessment.
- Validate the developed method through case studies in Power Factory and evaluate the performance.
Required skills
- Background in electrical or power systems engineering.
- Knowledge of power system protection and fault analysis.
- Experience with MATLAB or Python,
- Experience with DIgSilent Power Factory is a bonus.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and debugging skills.
- Ability to understand technical literature and produce clear technical reports.
Other benefits and/or compensation
Depending on the final project type, scope and deliverables, Zaphiro may consider providing additional adequate compensation.
PMU calibration system
Project type
- Internship
Contact point
kevin.develle@zaphiro.chProject description and objectives
Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) are essential components of modern power grids, providing synchronized measurements of voltage and current phasors for real-time monitoring, control, and protection applications. However, PMU performance depends heavily on calibration accuracy, including precise time synchronization, magnitude scaling, and phase angle alignment.
This project aims to develop a PMU calibration system based on NI PXI capable of automating the process of PMU calibration.
Objectives:
- Design and implement a platform for automated PMU calibration and testing.
- Develop signal generation and data acquisition modules to emulate standard test conditions.
Tasks
- System Design: Define software requirements for the calibration setup. Design architecture integrating signal generation, data acquisition, and analysis modules.
- Platorm implementation: implement the designed solution, with a paricular focus on test/calibration automation.
- Platform Integration and Testing: Integrate components into a functional calibration platform. Validate system performance using simulated or real PMU devices.
- Documentation and Reporting: Prepare technical documentation for the calibration procedures. Summarize results, limitations, and improvement recommendations.
This project, could be developed in full or partly during a single student project.
Required skills
- Experience with data acquisition systemsand signal processing.
- Programming skills in LabVIEW.
- Familiarity with instrument controland hardware communication protocols (e.g., VISA, SCPI).
Other benefits and/or compensation
Depending on the final project type, scope and deliverables, Zaphiro may consider providing additional adequate compensation.