Principal Battery Cell Engineer

HappyGlobal Service; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

HappyGlobal Service seeks an experienced battery cell design leader to support U.S. OEM customers in cell development, validation, and industrialization for advanced lithium-ion systems.

You will steer cell architecture discussions, translate vehicle and pack requirements into cell specs, and lead design reviews through mass production, collaborating across global teams with travel up to 30%.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, electrochemistry, or a related technical discipline.
• 7+ years of experience in lithium-ion battery cell development, characterization, testing, or validation.
• Experience completing at least one full lithium-ion battery cell product-development cycle, from concept to production.
• Hands-on experience designing, executing, and interpreting lithium-ion cell performance, life, and degradation tests.
• Knowledge of dQ/dV, dV/dQ and electrochemical characterization techniques (GITT, EIS, CV, PITT).

Responsibilities

• Lead technical interface for U.S. OEMs on cell design, development, validation, and industrialization.
• Develop test methods and validation strategies to evaluate cell performance and safety.
• Translate customer requirements into cell-level design targets and trade-offs.
• Lead design reviews, workshops, and engineering discussions from RFI/RFQ through mass production.
• Collaborate with R&D, manufacturing, quality, and IP teams; travel up to 30%.

Skills

Lithium-ion battery design

Cell development & validation

Electrochemistry techniques

Root-cause analysis

Technical leadership

English communication

Education

Master’s degree in chemistry/chemical engineering/materials science

Tools

GITT

EIS

CV

PITT

Python

MATLAB

Job description

Our client innovates in the next generation electric vehicle and energy storage technologies (lithium batteries and related systems) with the aim to accelerate electrified transportation and achieve sustainable development. The company is powered by a leading power battery technology company that provides solutions for vehicles including the world's first mass commercial e-bus route.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the lead technical interface for U.S. OEM customers on battery cell design, development, validation, and industrialization.
• Provide technical leadership in customer discussions covering cell architecture, materials, electrochemical performance, safety, lifetime, fast charging, and manufacturability.
• Represent company's cell design and manufacturing capabilities, technology roadmap, product portfolio, and development maturity to OEM customers.
• Translate customer vehicle-, pack-, and system-level requirements into cell-level design requirements, targets, and engineering trade-offs.
• Build a deep understanding of customer applications, duty cycles, operating environments, and pack constraints to guide optimal cell and pack integration.
• Develop cell design solutions that balance energy density, power capability, safety, durability, cost, and manufacturing feasibility.
• Lead technical alignment with customers on cell requirements, design specifications, interface definitions, validation plans, and acceptance criteria.
• Lead cell design reviews, technical workshops, and engineering discussions with customers and internal teams from RFI/RFQ through development, launch, and mass production.
• Develop test methods and validation strategies to evaluate cell-level and cell-in-pack performance, safety, reliability, and durability.
• Analyze and interpret cell test data to assess design performance, identify technical risks, and recommend design improvements.
• Lead root-cause investigations and corrective actions for cell design, performance, safety, and manufacturing issues; clearly communicate findings and recommendations to customers.
• Provide technical leadership throughout the complete cell development lifecycle, including concept development, design optimization, design verification, manufacturing scale-up, launch, and post-launch improvement.
• Collaborate with cross functional teams to develop DFMEAs and PFMEAs, identify critical design and process characteristics, and coordinate FMEA reviews with customers.
• Support customer-facing quality and industrialization activities, including APQP, PPAP, design reviews, process reviews, and technical audits.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with OEM cell, battery pack, vehicle integration, safety, validation, manufacturing, and quality teams.
• Collaborate across R&D, manufacturing, quality, and intellectual-property teams to advance cell designs, application solutions, and proprietary technologies.
• Travel domestically and internationally up to 30% to support customer engagements, design reviews, testing, manufacturing activities, and product launches.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, electrochemistry, or a related technical discipline.
• Seven or more years of experience in lithium-ion battery cell development, characterization, testing, or validation.
• Demonstrated experience completing at least one full lithium-ion battery cell product-development cycle, from concept and requirements definition through cell design, validation, manufacturing scale-up, production launch, and post-launch support.
• Hands-on experience designing, executing, and interpreting lithium-ion cell performance, life, and degradation tests.
• Experience with incremental capacity analysis and differential voltage analysis, including dQ/dV and dV/dQ methods.
• Working knowledge of electrochemical characterization techniques, including GITT, EIS, CV, and PITT.
• Familiarity with lithium-ion cell manufacturing processes, including electrode manufacturing, cell assembly, electrolyte filling, formation, aging, and end-of-line testing.
• Strong understanding of cell chemistry, material behavior, electrochemical performance, aging, and degradation mechanisms.
• Demonstrated ability to connect cell design and test results with manufacturing-process capability and end-product performance.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and root-cause-analysis skills.
• Ability to work effectively with global and cross-functional teams.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.

Preferred/Nice To Have

• Experience developing or optimizing lithium-ion cells for fast-charging applications.
• Knowledge of applicable battery safety standards and regulations, such as UN 38.3, UL, IEC, GB, and FMVSS requirements.
• Experience working directly with automotive or electric-vehicle OEM customers.
• Experience developing DFMEAs and PFMEAs and supporting APQP, PPAP, product qualification, change management, and customer audits.
• Hands-on laboratory experience with electrochemical characterization techniques such as GITT, EIS, CV, and PITT.
• Hands-on experience with material-characterization methods such as XRD, FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, or NMR.
• Experience analyzing large battery datasets using Python, MATLAB, or comparable data-analysis tools.

HappyGlobal Service and its clients are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply.