Power Engineering Lead

root/edge; United States; On-site; USD 140,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

root/edge is seeking an experienced Power Systems Engineer to own the electrical design of two behind-the-meter products, including a packaged gas engine module and a containerized electrical power module. You will lead architecture, studies, and controls, ensuring islanded operation and parallel operation across sites.

You will design and verify protection, grounding, and paralleling, coordinate with OEMs, and drive FAT and commissioning while building a high-performance power systems team to

Qualifications

• 5+ years in power systems engineering for islanded or paralleled generator plants serving critical loads.
• Owned the full study set in ETAP, PSCAD, PowerFactory or SKM and written relay settings.
• Experience designing and commissioning engines and inverter-based storage in parallel on live loads.
• Fluent with alternators, MV switchgear, transformers, grid forming inverters, UPS and plant controllers; aware of NEC and IEEE 1547/519/C37, NFPA 110/855, UL 9540/1741, ISO 8528.

Responsibilities

• Set the electrical architecture: alternator sizing, MV bus, transformers, grounding, storage sizing and unit paralleled operation.
• Own studies: load flow, short circuit, protection, arc flash, harmonics, transient simulation and the design acceptance criteria.
• Design controls: synchronization, load sharing, grid-forming storage coordinated with governors and AVRs, plant controller logic.
• Specify equipment, write bid specs, manage OEMs, and secure allocation.
• Lead FAT and site commissioning; own fleet electrical performance.
• Build and lead the power systems team.

Skills

Power systems engineering

Load flow analysis

Protection coordination

Arc flash analysis

Grid forming inverters

Governors and AVRs

Education

MS/PhD in power systems or power electronics

Tools

ETAP

PSCAD

PowerFactory

SKM

Job description

Our client is a venture backed startup that designs, builds, and operates modular natural gas power plants for AI data centers using reciprocating engines, deployed behind the meter so sites can energize in months instead of years. The company is led by repeat founders with multiple successful exits in compute and software, along with investing backgrounds across power and real estate.

About the Role

You will own the electrical design of the company’s two behind the meter products, a packaged gas reciprocating engine module and a containerized electrical power module (MV switchgear, transformers, BESS, UPS, controls, electrical house), from architecture through commissioning, along with the IP that makes them proprietary. The units run islanded, in parallel, on AI loads that step tens of percent in milliseconds.

What You’ll Do

• Set the electrical architecture: alternator sizing, MV bus, transformers, grounding, storage sizing for load steps, and how units parallel across a site.
• Own the studies (load flow, short circuit, protection, arc flash, harmonics, transient simulation) and the design spec and acceptance criteria they produce.
• Design the controls: synchronizing, load sharing, grid forming storage coordinated with governors and AVRs, and plant controller logic.
• Specify equipment, write bid specs, manage OEMs, and secure allocation.
• Lead FAT and site commissioning; own fleet electrical performance.
• Build the power systems team.

What You’ll Build

Engines, switchgear and batteries are purchased. You create the system around them, and patent it:

• Transient management: storage, controls and engine loading coordinated so packaged engines serve GPU load steps without oversizing.
• A standard, type tested electrical module design that is identical from unit to unit and needs minimal site engineering.
• Protection, grounding and paralleling that stay stable from a few units to a large islanded fleet.
• The plant side interface that links live plant state to the company’s compute controls.

What You Bring

• MUST: 5+ years in power systems engineering, 480 V to 35 kV, on islanded or paralleled generator plants serving critical loads.
• MUST: Have owned the full study set in ETAP, PSCAD, PowerFactory or SKM, and written the relay settings.
• Have designed and commissioned engines and inverter based storage running in parallel on live loads; understand governor, AVR and inverter dynamics.
• Fluent in alternators, MV switchgear and relays, transformers, grid forming inverters, UPS, and plant controllers; working knowledge of NEC, IEEE 1547/519/C37, NFPA 110/855, UL 9540/1741, ISO 8528.
• Have written bid specs, negotiated with OEMs, and secured allocation.
• Pluses: PE, MS/PhD in power systems or power electronics, patents.