Applications Engineer

New Sun Road; Richmond, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

New Sun Road in the United States seeks an Applications Engineer to blend software development with technical account management for solar microgrid DERs. You’ll translate customer needs into actionable functionality within Stellar MOS and Stellar Edge hardware, supporting sales and solution design.

The role requires strong power systems knowledge, hardware-agnostic thinking, and collaboration with the IoT engineering leadership to architect scalable solutions. Remote support may be required.

Qualifications

• Passion for pursuing a future of universal access to renewables-based energy.
• Three to five years of software development and customer-facing experience, preferably in technical account management.
• Experience and comfort with Node.js and Linux-based command line tools.
• Academic expertise and professional experience with renewables-based hybrid power systems.
• Experience with IoT, cellular modems, networking concepts, Modbus, CANbus, serial communications technologies.

Responsibilities

• Respond to customer inquiries, support requests and technical questions.
• Virtually support systems testing for installation and commissioning.
• Serve as an expert resource for using the Stellar MOS portal and provide training as needed.
• Develop documentation and tools to help customers understand product implementation and capabilities.
• Standardize products in our ERP system for easy selection, sale and consistency.
• Develop and improve integrations and drivers for third party components.
• Provide inputs to drive the product roadmap and interpret customer needs with the sales team.

Skills

Node.js

Linux CLI

IoT

Power systems

Modbus

CANbus

Serial communications

Education

Bachelor of Science or equivalent

Tools

Jira

Odoo

Balena

Bitbucket

MongoDB

Google Cloud

VPN

Slack

Google Workspace

InHand Remote Manager

Job description

Applications Engineer

New Sun Road is a global leader in software and IoT technology for remote management of solar microgrids and distributed energy resources (DERs). Our mission is to accelerate deployment of renewable energy systems, and to enable energy and Internet access for underserved and remote populations.

In this multi-faceted role, your experience at New Sun Road will be wide-ranging: from technical sales and account management to system modeling and software engineering. Success in this generalist role requires a broad mix of skills and interests, creativity to solve new problems, and organization to keep implementations on track.

As an Applications Engineer and Technical Account Manager, you will be responsible for translating customer needs into actionable functionality that can be realized within the Stellar MOS™ and Stellar Edge™ hardware. This will require a solid understanding of power systems, creativity, and software development. As new challenges emerge, you will work with the VP of IoT Engineering, to whom this role reports, to architect new solutions. You will serve as the primary point of contact for a set of accounts. You will be there for them if they need technical support – but in our experience most of this communication will be driven by expansion of their operations. You will be an expert in working with the Stellar MOS™ portal and as such you may be called on to support Sales activity – demonstrating functionality as well as helping with solution design.

An important component of your work will be to develop scalable models and processes to account for implementation of new systems – taking advantage of the rich functionality provided by the Stellar MOS™ and Stellar Edge™. We are continuously revamping our underlying architecture and you will be a key participant in those endeavors.

We are continuously developing integrations and drivers as we encounter new components. A core value delivered by the Stellar MOS™ is normalization for true hardware independence. Because of your expertise in power systems, you will be an important contributor to developing these integrations.

Finally, we have a vibrant data science practice. Having invested years developing a solid data foundation, the Stellar MOS™ provides a rich environment for developing estimation, forecasting and optimization services. This practice enables our customers to minimize operational costs, pre-emptively resolve problems before they occur, and effectively plan new projects. You will be an important contributor to designing and implementing new functionalities.

Core Duties and Responsibilities

• Respond to customer inquiries, support requests and technical questions.
• Virtually support systems testing for installation and commissioning
• Serve as an expert resource for using the Stellar MOS™ by responding to queries and providing training.
• Develop documentation and tools that help our customers understand product implementation, capabilities and use.
• Standardize products in our ERP system for easy selection, sale and consistency.
• Develop and improve integrations and drivers for third party components
• Support fulfillment activities when necessary
• Provide inputs to drive product roadmap
• Interpret customer and project needs in collaboration with the customer facing team to support solution selling.
• Identify ways of communicating how our technology removes pain points and adds value to our customers to help meet their business goals.
• Provide consolidated insights and feedback on customer issues and collaborate to define scalable solutions
• Prepare project focused BOMs for sales and customer proposals
• Investigate new components and equipment solutions, including pricing comparisons in order to serve customers and extend our product offering
• Provide extra focus for partners with multiple sites and using Stellar to drive their business

Recommended Skills, Experience, and Interests

• Passion for pursuing a future of universal access to renewables-based energy
• Bachelor of Science or equivalent
• Three to five years professional experience in some combination of software development and customer facing capacity – preferably technical account management
• Experience and comfort working in Node.js and linux-based command line tools and environments
• Academic expertise and professional experience with renewables-based hybrid power system
• Experience with IoT, cellular modems, networking concepts, Modbus, CANbus, serial communications technologies

• Willingness to meet customers where they are and accommodate off-hour support if needed
• Ability to communicate well and clearly to explain power related technical concepts in English.
• Willingness to work in a fast-paced startup environment with a growth mindset
• Familiarity with our tool stack: Google Workspace, Slack, Jira, Odoo, VPN, Google Cloud, Balena, Bitbucket, MongoDB, Odoo, and InHand Remote Manager

Compensation package commensurate with candidate experience and fit.