Staff Engineer - Release Management

Mainspring Energy; Menlo Park (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pre-IPO stock options

Benefits package

Job summary

Mainspring Energy is seeking a Staff Engineer – Release Management to orchestrate software deployments across our field fleet. You will bridge engineering labs and power plants, ensuring safe, transparent, and reliable updates from firmware tweaks to system optimizations.

You will lead deployment strategy, manage bundles, define Go/No-Go criteria, and craft release notes, while coordinating with Software, Product, and Field Operations.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in Release Engineering, DevOps, or Technical Project Management (preferred: HIL or IoT).
• Proficiency with CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or Jenkins).
• Proficiency with configuration management tools.
• Ability to explain C++ logic changes to technicians.
• Ability to explain business value to executives.
• Attention to detail; measure twice, cut once.

Responsibilities

• Architect the deployment strategy for software bundles and edge/cloud components.
• Manage integrity of software bundles and dependencies across variants.
• Establish Go/No-Go criteria and robust rollback procedures.
• Translate PRs into release notes for internal and external stakeholders.
• Communicate impact of bundles on machine performance, efficiency, or maintenance.
• Serve as liaison between Software, Product, and Field Operations.
• Provide field guidance and define deployment playbooks for FOA teams.
• Act as escalation point during update windows and troubleshoot telemetry issues.
• Aggregate field data to improve deployability and reliability.

Skills

Release Engineering

DevOps

CI/CD pipelines

Configuration management

C++ communication

Tools

GitHub Actions

GitLab CI

Jenkins

Job description

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.

About Mainspring

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

• Pragmatic Optimism
• Excellence without Ego
• Proactive Collaboration

Job Overview

The Linear Generator is a complex fusion of high‑performance hardware and sophisticated control software. As our Staff Engineer – Release Management, you will be the conductor of the release symphony, ensuring that every code deployment—from firmware tweaks to high‑level system optimizations—is delivered to our fleet with precision, safety, and transparency.

You aren't just pushing "update"; you are defining the bridge between our engineering lab and the physical power plants in the field.

Responsibilities

• Architect the Deployment Strategy: Define the "how" and "when" for software bundles, balancing the need for rapid innovation with the stability required for industrial power generation.
• Version Control & Bundling: Manage the integrity of software bundles, ensuring that dependencies between product variants, edge computing modules, and cloud telemetry are synchronized.
• Risk Mitigation: Establish "Go/No‑Go" criteria for releases and design robust rollback procedures to protect hardware assets in the field.
• The "What & Why": Translate technical pull requests into meaningful Release Notes for both internal engineering teams and external clients/stakeholders.
• Impact Assessment: Clearly communicate how a specific software bundle changes machine performance, efficiency, or maintenance intervals.
• Inter‑departmental Liaison: Act as the primary point of contact between Software Engineering, Product Management, and Field Operations.
• Command Center Guidance: Provide the "playbook" for the Field Operations & Assembly (FOA) team. You define the sequence; they execute the update.
• Technical Support: Serve as the escalation point during the update window, helping FOA troubleshoot deployment failures or unexpected telemetry readings.
• Feedback Loop: Aggregate data from field deployments to help Engineering improve the "deployability" and reliability of future builds.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in Release Engineering, DevOps, or Technical Project Management (preferred: Hardware‑in‑the‑Loop (HIL) or IoT environments).
• Proficiency with CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or Jenkins).
• Proficiency with configuration management tools.
• Exceptional ability to explain a C++ logic change to a technician.
• Exceptional ability to explain a business value proposition to a VP.
• "Measure twice, cut once" mindset with strong attention to detail.

What Success Looks Like

• In your first six months, you will have moved our deployment process from a manual, "high‑stress" event to a predictable, documented, and boring (in a good way!) routine. You will be the reason our field units are always running the best possible version of themselves.

Does your experience not meet all of our posted requirements? We are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, flexible, and collaborative environment. If you want to help us transition the world to clean and affordable electricity and don’t meet every posted requirement, we’d still love to hear from you. Mainspring can sometimes be flexible enough to shift responsibilities for the right person, or identify open or upcoming roles that may better fit your professional background.

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.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

This position is onsite at our Menlo Park HQ. The salary will be adjusted to reflect local market conditions based on employee location as well as the experience of the employee. Along with the base salary, Mainspring offers pre‑IPO stock options + benefits.