Principal Battery Systems Engineer

ON.energy; Houston, Miami, Reston (TX, FL, VA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid time off and company holidays

Professional development and growth

Job summary

ON.energy seeks a Principal Battery Systems Engineer to set the technical direction for the BESS product line and own the roadmap across multiple development cycles. You will architect new products, resolve trade-offs, and represent the company externally to vendors and certifying bodies.

You will lead architecture, define standards, mentor engineers, and drive cross-functional collaboration with commercial teams. Travel up to 25-30% for FAT, site commissioning, and vendor reviews.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or closely related field.
• 10+ years of hands-on engineering in BESS or power systems.
• Experience leading multiple product cycles end-to-end.

Responsibilities

• Set architecture for BESS product line and technical roadmap across cycles.
• Define engineering standards and review gates.
• Lead vendor and supply chain strategy for battery, PCS, BoP.
• Mentor engineers and lead design reviews.
• Represent product engineering externally with customers and certifying bodies.
• Travel up to 25-30% for FAT, commissioning, and vendor reviews.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Cross-functional teamwork

Architectural decision making

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

MS preferred

Tools

AutoCAD

E-CAD

Job description

ON.energyis setting the standard for large load interconnection. ON's patented AI UPS is a medium-voltage UPS that serves as a firewall, protecting the data center from the grid, and the grid from the data center.With multiple gigawatts currently under construction, we are enabling grid-safe data centers.

PrincipalBattery SystemsEngineer

Role Overview

We're looking for a Principal Engineer to set the technical direction for our BESS product line and to own the product roadmap across multiple concurrent development cycles. This is the senior technical voice on the product team: you'll architect new products, resolve the hardest engineering trade-offs, set the engineering standards others work to, and representON.energy'sproduct engineering externally - to vendors, customers, certifying bodies, and the broader industry. You should be comfortable operating with minimal direction, holding the bar on technical quality, and moving multiple product cycles forward in parallel without losing the thread on any of them.

What You'll Own

Architecture & Technical Direction

• Set the architecture for the BESS product line and own the technical roadmap across multiple concurrent product cycles.
• Make the hard trade‑off calls - cost vs reliability, performance vs lead time, standardization vs customization - and document the reasoning so future decisions inherit context.
• Define the engineering standards, design rules, and review gates that other engineers on the team work to. Own the product‑engineering bar.
• Approve major design changes; act as the final technical authority on the change baseline.
• Run multiple product development cycles in parallel - concept through prototype, FAT, field deployment, and revision - without losing depth on any of them.
• Drive cycle cadence: decide what ships when, where the technical risk lives, what gets parallelized vs sequenced.
• Identify and execute the next‑generation product moves - higher voltage class, alternate chemistries, new form factors - ahead of customer demand.

Detailed Engineering Depth

• Personally own the hardest pieces of work: novel architectures, first‑of‑kind designs, advanced component sizing (fuse coordination, busbar thermal optimization, protection coordination across cascaded systems), cabinet thermal modeling, and complex protection schemes.
• Review and approve detailed engineering drawings - SLDs, GAs, schematics, panel layouts - at the level required to sign off, not just consult.

Vendor & Supply Chain Strategy

• Own the strategic relationships with key vendors - battery, PCS,BoP. Decide the architecture of those relationships: sole‑source vs dual‑source, co‑development depth, IP boundaries.
• Set the technical qualification process used by the team and enforce it. Run the highest‑stakes design reviews and resolve the highest‑stakes vendor escalations personally.

Engineering Leadership & Mentorship

• Mentor and develop other engineers on the team. Build their technical judgment, not just their throughput.
• Run design reviews. Lead post‑mortems on field issues and turn them into product changes.
• Set the cadence and quality bar for ECR/ECN, FMEA, design reviews, and product handoff.

External & Cross‑Functional Representation

• RepresentON.energy'sproduct engineering externally - customer technical reviews, vendor escalations, industry working groups, certifying bodies, conferences.
• Partner with the commercial team on the most technically complex pursuits and proposals - proposing architectures, defending positions, structuring technical exhibits in LTSAs and supply agreements.
• Brief leadership on technical risk and product roadmap decisions.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Power Electronics, or a closely related technical field. MS preferred.
• 10+ years of hands‑on engineering experience in BESS, power electronics, UPS, or comparable mission‑critical industrial power systems, with a demonstrated record of operating with minimal direction in a senior technical role.
• Owned multiple product development cycles end-to-end and independently. You've personally designed and integrated a BESS at the system level, from engineering through commissioning and into live operation, not just handed it off at FAT, and the products are still in the field.
• Architecture‑level decision authority on previous BESS equipment. You've made the trade‑off calls others built around, not just executed someone else's architecture.
• Deep, demonstrable skill in detailed component sizing - fuse coordination, busbar sizing, protection device selection, thermal sizing for enclosed cabinets - at the level required to sign off on production designs.
• Fluency producing and reviewing SLDs, GAs, schematics, and panel layouts; expert with AutoCAD or equivalent E‑CAD; comfortable across mechanical drawings.
• Strong track record running strategic vendor relationships through design, FAT, serial production, and post‑deployment escalation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication - specs, technical positions, design review leadership, board‑level briefings.
• Willing to travel up to 25-30% for FAT inspections, site commissioning, customer engagements, and vendor reviews.

Preferred

• Direct experience with data center / UPS / mission‑critical power or utility‑scale BESS at the architecture level.
• Active involvement in standards bodies (UL, IEC, NFPA, IEEE working groups, CSA TC committees) or technical conference contributions.
• Patents, peer‑reviewed publications, or other evidence of recognized technical depth in the field.
• PE license.
• Familiarity with UL 9540 / 9540A, NFPA 855, IEC 62619, IEEE 1547, NEC Article 706, plus the relevant codes for target markets.
• Experience standing up or scaling structured PLM, ECR/ECN, and design‑review processes.
• Multi‑domain depth - BMS / cell engineering, PCS / power electronics, thermal / mechanical - alongside the EE core.

For US‑based roles - What you'll get:

• Competitive salary + annual performance‑based bonus eligibility
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid time off and company holidays

For Mexico‑based roles - What you'll get:

• Competitive salary + annual performance bonus eligibility
• Major medical expenses and life insurance
• Paid time off and holidays (per local policy)

For all roles:

• Professional development and growth opportunities
• Opportunity to grow with a mission‑driven team shaping the future of clean energy
• Equal Opportunity: ON.energy is committed to equal employment opportunity and to maintaining a work environment free of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation.
• Benefits vary by role and location and are subject to change.