Research Engineer, Mechanical

Gridware; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, Dental & Vision

Paid parental leave

Alternating day off

Off the Grid—2 weeks paid break

Commuter allowance

Company-paid training

Job summary

Gridware, a San Francisco-based technology company, is seeking a Research Engineer to join the Physical R&D team. You will help build the measurement and validation infrastructure for a new product that expands Gridware's edge grid monitoring and observability platform.

This role blends hands-on experimentation with fleet-scale data analysis. You will analyze sensor measurements across our deployed fleet, design and run physical tests to validate what those measurements mean, and build the tools

Qualifications

• MS or PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Civil/Structural Engineering, Engineering Mechanics, or closely related field.
• Strong fundamentals in solid mechanics and structural loading; reason from first principles.
• Experience building Python/MATLAB data pipelines for large datasets.
• Experience with exploratory data analysis to identify patterns and anomalies.
• Clear technical communication and documentation skills.
• Ability to work on ambiguous technical problems and learn new domains quickly.

Responsibilities

• Analyze sensor-derived measurements across the fleet and identify anomalies.
• Develop analysis pipelines and tooling in Python, SQL, and related tools to connect sensor outputs to physical metadata.
• Execute physical experiments, instrument test articles, and prepare datasets to characterize measurement error.
• Collaborate with algorithm developers, product managers, and engineers to move capabilities from measurement to customer delivery.
• Communicate findings through documentation, presentations, and technical write-ups.

Skills

Solid mechanics

Python

MATLAB

SQL

Data analysis

Technical communication

Education

MS or PhD in Mechanical Engineering or related field

Tools

Python

MATLAB

SQL

Job description

About Gridware

Gridware is a San Francisco-based technology company dedicated to protecting and enhancing the electrical grid. We pioneered a groundbreaking new class of grid management called active grid response (AGR), focused on monitoring the electrical, physical, and environmental aspects of the grid that affect reliability and safety. Gridware’s advanced Active Grid Response platform uses high‑precision sensors to detect potential issues early, enabling proactive maintenance and fault mitigation. This comprehensive approach helps improve safety, reduce outages, and ensure the grid operates efficiently. The company is backed by climate-tech and Silicon Valley investors. For more information, please visit www.Gridware.io.

Role Description

We are seeking a Research Engineer to join our Physical R&D team. You will help build the measurement and validation infrastructure for a new product that expands Gridware's edge grid monitoring and observability platform.

This role blends hands‑on experimentation with fleet‑scale data analysis. You will analyze novel measurements across our deployed fleet, design and run physical tests to validate what those measurements mean, and build the tools and workflows that connect the two. You will need deep physical intuition for the behavior of mechanical systems to interpret what the measurements mean in the real world, guide how we validate them experimentally, and identify where performance limitations exist.

Responsibilities

• Analyze sensor‑derived measurements across our fleet. Identify anomalies and characterize measurement behavior across device populations.

• Develop analysis pipelines and tooling — using Python, SQL, and related tools — that connect sensor outputs to physical metadata and develop narratives about where our measurements are and are not effective.

• When more data is needed to solve a problem, execute physical experiments to collect that data. Instrument test articles (e.g., strain gauges, load cells, IMUs), implement data acquisition systems, and prepare comparison datasets to characterize measurement error.

• Work closely with algorithm developers, product managers, and other engineers to move new capabilities from measurement to customer delivery.

• Communicate findings clearly through documentation, presentations, and technical write‑ups.

Required Skills

• MS or PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Civil/Structural Engineering, Engineering Mechanics, or a closely related field.

• Strong fundamentals in solid mechanics: beam theory, stress analysis, structural loading. Able to reason from first principles about what physical conditions produce the stresses and deflections we measure.

• Scientific computing: comfortable building analysis pipelines in Python, MATLAB, or equivalent to investigate and report system performance across large datasets.

• Experience with exploratory data analysis—identifying patterns, anomalies, and cohort‑level behavior in noisy real‑world data.

• Clear technical communication and documentation skills.

• Comfortable working on ambiguous technical problems and learning new domains quickly.

Relevant Depth Areas

You do not need to match every area below. Strong candidates will usually bring depth in two or more of these areas.

• Sensor data interpretation for physical systems: experience using sensor signals to draw conclusions about the physical state of a system—developing metrics, identifying signal features, or building monitoring workflows that translate raw measurements into actionable information.

• Statistical analysis of physical systems: experience with extreme value statistics, reliability analysis, survival analysis, or probabilistic methods applied to structural or mechanical systems.

• Fleet‑scale data analysis and data engineering: experience working with sensor data from large deployed populations—including SQL‑based analysis on structured telemetry, population‑level trend identification, and data quality assessment across thousands of units.

• Validation and test design: experience designing validation studies, defining acceptance criteria, and systematically characterizing measurement system performance.

Bonus Skills

• Experience with wood mechanics, timber engineering, or natural/biological materials.
• Experience with geotechnical or foundation mechanics (soil‑structure interaction).
• Familiarity with GIS tools or spatial analysis for infrastructure data.
• Experience operationalizing analytical workflows into production systems (dashboards, automated reporting, alerting).

$140,000 - $165,000 a year

This describes the ideal candidate; many of us have picked up this expertise along the way.

Gridware Technologies Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

Benefits

• Health, Dental & Vision (Gold and Platinum with some providers plans fully covered)
• Paid parental leave
• Alternating day off (every other Monday)
• "Off the Grid", a two week per year paid break for all employees.
• Commuter allowance
• Company‑paid training