Principal Software Architect - AI & Security

Mainspringenergy; Edison (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Mainspring Energy seeks a Principal Software Architect to lead AI-enabled engineering workflows and define a strategic AI architecture for its power-generation tech. You will drive governance, safety guardrails, and agentic workflows across cloud and edge environments, coordinating cross‑functional teams and cybersecurity standards.

The role emphasizes leadership in distributed systems, IoT integration, and scalable software stacks for industrial automation.

Qualifications

• No specific degree requirements stated in the ad.

Responsibilities

• Define AI governance within GCP/Vertex AI and ensure data privacy and security.
• Lead technology decisions for AI/ML stack balancing latency, cost, and throughput.
• Architect agentic workflows to improve customer outcomes.
• Design validation pipelines using Digital Twin simulations and HWIL testing.
• Drive Generative AI integration across product life cycle with scalable, reliable architecture.
• Champion innovation and cross-functional collaboration while driving strategic initiatives.
• Ensure strong cybersecurity requirements (NERC CIP, ISO27001, SOC2).

Skills

AI governance

Strategic tech leadership

Agentic workflows

Digital twin validation

Architectural leadership

Innovation & change

AI expertise

Cloud & edge

IoT systems

Security & compliance

Leadership & communication

Job description

About Mainspring

Mainspring Energy manufactures and delivers fuel‑flexible, low‑emissions local power solutions that rapidly add new capacity and deliver reliable, affordable, and sustainable electric power. The company began commercial shipments of its Mainspring Linear Generators in 2020 and today has hundreds of megawatts in advanced development and field operations for leading Fortune 500 companies, data centers, and utilities. Mainspring also partners with global energy leaders including AEP, NextEra Energy Resources, Schneider Electric, and more.

The core values that ground our work, guide our decisions, and connect us together:

• Pragmatic Optimism
• Excellence without Ego
• Proactive Collaboration

Job Overview

Mainspring Energy is evolving beyond using AI for simple productivity gains. We are seeking a Principal Software Architect to lead our transition into an organization where AI agents are fully embedded in our engineering development cycles. This is a strategic leadership role focused on architecting the future of how we build linear generator technology.

At the principal level, you will not just support existing processes; you will define the AI strategy for engineering development workflows, ensuring that AI‑driven automation has clear structure, rigorous guardrails, and measurable Return on Investment (ROI).

The candidate in this role will be the evangelist for AI based architecture and champion for cross‑organisational adoption of AI and Cybersecurity guardrails and standards.

• AI Governance & Safety Guardrails: Define and enforce robust AI governance frameworks within the GCP/Vertex AI ecosystem, implementing strict data privacy and security controls compliant with NERC CIP, ISO27001 and SOC2 standards to protect sensitive customer data and mission‑critical fleet operations.

• Strategic Technology & Tooling: Provide technical leadership in selecting and maintaining the AI/ML stack while optimizing for the specific latency, cost, and throughput constraints of our cloud‑to‑device architectures. Guide technology decisions, enabling scalability, reliability, and availability guarantees.

• Agentic Workflows for Customer Outcomes: Identify, Architect and guide the implementation of Agentic workflows to address critical customer pain points, such as autonomous fleet telemetry analysis and proactive diagnostic resolution, bridging cloud intelligence with embedded edge constraints.

• AI‑Enabled Digital Twin Validation: Design validation pipelines that leverage agentic Digital Twin simulations to stress‑test software stack in a lab environment (utilizing Hardware‑in‑the‑Loop/HWIL), ensuring system reliability and safety under diverse, high‑volatility grid‑edge conditions prior to deployment.

• Architectural Leadership & Domain Expertise: Drive the integration of Generative AI across the product development life cycle stages, applying extensive experience in distributed systems, data and IoT architecture; strong preference for candidates with a demonstrated track record in industrial automation, energy‑grid management, or power‑generation & distribution industries.

• Innovation & Change Leadership: Champion innovation, collaborate across cross‑functional organizations, secure leadership buy‑in for strategic initiatives, and serve as a catalyst for organizational change.

• AI Expertise: GCP/Vertex AI ecosystem, Generative AI, LLMs, and Agentic workflows.
• Cloud Tech Stack: Extensive back‑end, distributed systems and production software development experience. Deep experience with managed cloud services (GCS/AWS) for scalable, reliable, and available systems.
• IoT & Systems Engineering: Demonstrated track record in hardware‑software integration with experience in IoT, industrial automation, energy‑grid management, or power‑generation/distribution industries. Experience managing cloud‑to‑device architectures with edge constraints, Hardware‑in‑the‑Loop (HWIL) simulation, and secure Over‑the‑Air (OTA) update management.
• Compliance & Security: Experience building software that meets strong cybersecurity requirements (e.g., NERC CIP, ISO27001, SOC2).
• Strong focus on the software "ilities": Reliability, Maintainability, Scalability, Usability, Testability, Monitorability, Deployability, and Extensibility.
• Leadership: Ability to make reasoned technical trade‑offs between shorter‑term stakeholder requirements and longer‑term product roadmap. Extensive experience as a team lead, mentor and architect on multi‑year product deliverables.
• Communication: Ability to communicate technology choices, technical architecture, and trade‑offs to diverse audiences, including executive leadership, business stakeholders, and implementation teams.

At principal level, you are the architect of the strategy, not just the executor. You are expected to define the technical roadmap that transforms our engineering culture, acting as a multiplier who elevates the entire organization's capability through AI.

Does your experience not meet all of our posted requirements? Studies have shown that some people are less likely to apply to positions unless they meet every listed requirement. At Mainspring, we are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, flexible, and collaborative environment, so if you want to help us transition the world to clean and affordable electricity, and don’t meet all posted requirements for a particular role, we’d still love to hear from you. Mainspring can sometimes be flexible enough to shift responsibilities for the right person, or otherwise identify open or upcoming roles that may better fit your professional background.

In more traditional words, Mainspring Energy, Inc is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.

This compensation and benefits information is based on Mainspring Energy's estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future. We generally do not negotiate on salary once we have made an offer. The level of pay within the range will depend on a variety of job‑related factors that may include location, relevant prior experience and/or education, or particular skills and expertise. New hires joining the company tend to be paid within the starting base pay range noted above, with opportunities to increase pay over time based on development of additional skills, competencies, and company‑specific knowledge.