Optimization Engineer

GridCARE; Redwood City (CA); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Equity

Health + dental + vision

Lunch three days a week

Hybrid in Redwood City

Remote flexibility

Job summary

GridCARE is hiring an Optimization Engineer for Grid Systems in Redwood City. The role focuses on solving hard optimization problems and building tools that improve grid flexibility, efficiency, and resilience.

You'll work with engineers and researchers on real-world data to support data centers, renewables, and utilities. The ideal candidate has a Master’s or equivalent in a quantitative field, strong math/algorithms background, and production Python or Julia coding experience.

Qualifications

• Master's degree or equivalent in engineering, CS, applied math, physics, or OR.
• Strong fundamentals in math, algorithms, and software engineering.
• Experience writing production-quality Python or Julia code.
• Experience with optimization solvers, simulation tools, and large-scale workflows.
• Ability to reason from first principles and learn quickly.
• Strong debugging, communication, and collaboration skills.
• Ability to leverage modern AI tools to accelerate model development.
• 1–5 years of related optimization, modeling, or scientific software experience.

Responsibilities

• Build optimization and simulation software for large-scale grid planning and operations.
• Develop models and algorithms for scheduling, constraints, reliability, and planning.
• Translate math ideas into clear, tested, maintainable code.
• Analyze performance, identify bottlenecks, and improve reliability.
• Learn, customize, and fine-tune optimization algorithms.
• Work with real-world data and constraints from large systems.
• Collaborate with software, AI, and power systems teams.
• Take ownership of important modeling challenges.

Skills

Math fundamentals

Algorithms

Software engineering

Python

Julia

Optimization experience

Production-quality code

First principles reasoning

Debugging & collaboration

AI tool workflows

Education

Master's degree or equivalent (quantitative field)

Tools

Python

Julia

Optimization solvers

Simulation tools

Job description

Fastminds is a recruiting partner of Gridcare.

We are helping Gridcare find a Optimization Engineer, Grid Systems.

Location: Redwood City, CA — Hybrid (3 days/week in office)

Type: Full-time

About GridCARE

GridCARE is a leading venture-backed startup solving the most critical constraint in AI’s growth trajectory: immediate access to power. As demand for computing skyrockets, access to energy has become the defining bottleneck in the AI infrastructure race. While leading tech companies invest billions in speculative, long-term solutions that may take decades to arrive, GridCARE’s pioneering physics-based generative AI platform unlocks gigawatts of hidden capacity in today’s electric grid — enabling hyperscalers, data center developers, and utilities to power AI infrastructure years sooner than conventional approaches and without costly upgrades.

Founded at Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability and backed by leading climate-tech and deep-tech investors, GridCARE has assembled a world-class team spanning power systems, AI, and infrastructure.

At GridCARE, you will:

• Work at the intersection of AI, energy, and infrastructure — the foundation of the next industrial revolution.
• Partner with hyperscalers, developers, and utilities on high-impact, real-world deployments.
• Help shape a more abundant, efficient, and resilient energy future for the digital era.
• Join a company defining a new category — capacity acceleration for AI.
• Receive competitive compensation, equity, and benefits in a fast-growth, mission-driven environment.

Learn more about GridCARE:

• TechCrunch: GridCARE thinks more than 100 GW of data-center capacity is hiding in the grid
• Utility Dive: Portland General Electric invests in AI-powered flexibility to speed data-center connection
• Data Center Dynamics: From Years to Months — Creating an AI Fast Lane for Data Centers
• GridCARE Raises $64 Million Series A to Create a New Category: Power Acceleration

About the role

We're looking for an engineer in the early stages of their career who has demonstrated the ability to solve difficult technical problems in a professional or research setting to work on hard computational problems in the electric grid. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys solving difficult optimization problems and building software that has a direct impact on critical infrastructure. You’ll work closely with experienced engineers and researchers to build tools that help make the grid more flexible, efficient, and resilient as data centers, renewables, storage, and new regulations reshape how electricity systems operate.

What you’ll do

• Build optimization and simulation software for large-scale electric grid planning and operations problems.
• Develop models and algorithms for resource scheduling, network constraints, system reliability, and large-scale operational planning.
• Translate mathematical ideas into clear, tested, maintainable code.
• Analyze computational performance, identify bottlenecks, and improve reliability.
• Learn, customize, and fine-tune optimization algorithms.
• Work with real-world data and constraints from large physical systems.
• Collaborate across software engineering, applied AI, and power systems.
• Take ownership of important modeling and optimization challenges.

What we’re looking for

• A Master's degree or equivalent experience in a quantitative field such as engineering, computer science, applied math, physics, or operations research.
• Strong fundamentals in math, algorithms, and software engineering.
• Experience writing production-quality code in a language such as Python or Julia.
• Experience with optimization solvers, simulation tools, and large-scale numerical workflows.
• Ability to reason from first principles and learn unfamiliar technical areas quickly.
• Strong debugging, communication, and collaboration skills.
• Effectively leverage modern AI tools and workflows to accelerate model development, experimentation, and software engineering.
• 1–5 years of industry experience, or equivalent applied research experience, in optimization, modeling, simulation, or scientific software development.

Nice to have

• Exposure to power systems, energy markets, or the utility industry.
• Exposure to optimization, operations research, numerical methods, scientific computing, or large-scale infrastructure systems.
• Interest in electricity infrastructure, climate, energy, or industrial AI.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary, performance bonus, and equity.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage.
• Lunch provided three days a week in office.
• Hybrid schedule: 3 days in office for collaboration, 2 days remote for focused work.
• Access to leading academic, industry, and government partners in the AI-energy ecosystem.
• A mission-driven team focused on shaping the future of the energy transition.

Why GridCARE

• Work on a problem that directly affects the speed of deploying AI and energy infrastructure
• Own technical direction on a product built from the ground up alongside domain experts
• Meaningful organizational influence in a small, high-trust team
• Competitive salary, equity, and benefits; hybrid in Redwood City with remote flexibility

Our Philosophy

We believe small teams of strong engineers can solve important, real-world infrastructure problems. We value clear thinking, strong ownership, pragmatic execution, and systems that hold up in production. If you're excited about technical leadership at the intersection of energy, infrastructure, and modern SaaS — we'd love to talk.