ESS - EMS Engineering, Director

Vibehackers; Troy, Northern (MI, KY); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

401(k) match

Short- and long-term disability

Health Savings Account (HSA)

Paid time off (PTO)

Profit sharing

Market-leading benefits

Job summary

SKOn seeks a Head of EMS Engineering to lead architecture, development, and commercial execution of its grid-scale Energy Management Systems. You will guide a high-performing software team interfacing with BMS and PCS for reliable storage and hybrid generation applications.

Responsibilities include setting strategic direction, driving protocol standardization, and delivering advanced EMS for data centers and energy storage systems, while aligning with ISO/IEC standards and cybersecurity

Qualifications

• 10+ years in software development within clean energy or power systems.
• 5+ years in senior engineering leadership building and scaling teams.
• Proven delivery of grid-scale EMS, SCADA, or PPC products.
• Deep domain knowledge of BESS, BMS, PCS, inverter systems, microgrid controllers, and hybrid plant controls.
• Experience with industrial protocols and real-time control (Modbus, DNP3, CAN, IEC 61850, IEC 60870-5-104).

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end EMS software lifecycle including high availability control and real-time telemetry.
• Drive architecture evolution from DC-Block to AC-Block with inverters.
• Standardize protocols and control loops for fast power control and fault recovery.
• Co-develop product roadmaps with hardware teams and PPC strategy.
• Deliver features for utility-scale storage, solar+storage, and AI Data Center microgrids.
• Lead multi-asset integration and sub-second backup switching; support peak shaving.
• Recruit, hire, and mentor architects, control engineers, QA, and cloud/edge developers; establish CI/CD and ISO/IEC standards.

Skills

Software Architecture

Team Leadership

Product Strategy

Systems Integration

Control Systems

Real-time Systems

CI/CD

Cybersecurity Compliance

Agile/Scrum

Recruiting & Mentoring

Commercial Execution

Education

BS/MS in CS/Mechanical/Electrical/Systems Eng

Tools

C/C++

Rust

Python

Go

Linux

AWS

Azure

Job description

Explicitly mentions vibe coding and advanced AI agentic platform management.

About the Role

Lead and scale SKOn's Energy Management Systems (EMS) software organization, owning architecture, development, and commercial execution to deliver grid-scale EMS that integrates with BMS and PCS. Drive product strategy, technical direction, and team building for high-reliability applications including AI Data Centers and hybrid generation integration.

Job Description

Role

Head of EMS Engineering (Director) responsible for end-to-end strategy, architecture, development, and commercial execution of SKOn’s proprietary Energy Management Systems (EMS). Lead a high-performing software engineering team to build EMS that interfaces with Battery Management Systems (BMS) and Power Conversion Systems (PCS) for grid-scale energy storage applications.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the complete software lifecycle for EMS: high-availability control, real-time telemetry, edge/cloud integration, and interfaces with BMS and PCS controllers.
• Drive architecture evolution across phases: initial DC-Block deployments with 3rd-party centralized PCS and future AC-Block solutions with string inverters.
• Standardize and implement communication protocols and control loops (Modbus, DNP3, CAN, IEC 61850, IEC 60870-5-104) for fast power control, SoC management, thermal balancing, and fault recovery.
• Co-develop product roadmaps with BESS hardware and systems engineering; define strategy for co-existence or replacement of 3rd-party Power Plant Controllers (PPC).
• Deliver algorithms and software features for utility-scale storage, solar+storage hybrid systems, and high-reliability AI Data Center (AIDC) microgrids.
• Lead integration of multi-asset controls involving BESS, CCGT, Gen-SETs, and utility interconnections; enable sub-second backup switching and peak shaving for AIDC.
• Recruit, hire, and mentor software architects, control engineers, QA, and cloud/edge developers; establish CI/CD, automated testing, cybersecurity compliance, Agile/Scrum, and ISO/IEC software standards.

Requirements

• Education: B.S. or M.S. in Computer Science, Mechanical, Electrical, Systems Engineering, or related field.
• Experience: 10+ years in software development within clean energy or power systems, with 5+ years in senior engineering leadership building and scaling teams.
• Proven delivery of commercial grid-scale EMS, SCADA, or Power Plant Controller (PPC) products.
• Deep domain knowledge of BESS, BMS architecture, PCS operation, inverter systems (centralized and distributed), grid interconnection dynamics, microgrid controllers, and hybrid plant controls.
• Expertise with industrial protocols and real-time control (Modbus TCP/RTU, DNP3, CAN bus, IEC 61850, IEC 60870-5-104) and control loop design.
• Software proficiency with C/C++, Rust, Python, Go; experience with edge runtime environments (Linux, RTOs) and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure).
• Strong leadership skills in team building, product strategy, and commercial positioning.

Compensation & Shift

• Shift: Day Shift
• Compensation: 100000

Medical, dental, vision, life insurance; 401(k) match; short- and long-term disability; health savings account (HSA); paid time off (PTO); profit sharing; competitive compensation and market-leading benefits package.

Skills

Software Architecture Team Leadership Product Strategy Systems Integration Control Systems Real-time Systems Protocol Standardization CI/CD Automated Testing Cybersecurity Compliance Agile/Scrum Recruiting & Mentoring Commercial Execution