Staff/Senior Staff Compliance Engineer

Heron Power Inc.; Scotts Valley (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Heron Power Inc. in Scotts Valley, CA is seeking a Staff/Senior Staff Compliance Engineer to lead the full product safety and regulatory lifecycle for grid-connected power electronics.

You will drive compliance strategy from early engagement to certification, market launch, and sustaining improvements across the product portfolio. You will partner with engineering, product and manufacturing to embed compliance into design, develop test plans, manage NRTL relationships, and navigate evolving

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering or equivalent
• 7+ years’ experience in regulatory and compliance certification for solar, wind, battery or other power electronics products
• Deep understanding and familiarity with UL/IEC/EN, IEEE, and ISO standards and how they inform the design and certification process of grid-connected power electronics systems
• Experience with manufacturing processes and material selection for high-power assemblies
• Experience developing DFMEA, PFMEA and HARA for complex hardware design and manufacturing environment
• Experience of participating in product-relevant standards committees
• Development experience of cybersecurity program for utility connected equipment
• Functional safety requirements and procedures integration into Software and Firmware development
• Ability to thrive in ambiguity, relying on your first principles engineering experience to identify creative solutions to hard problems
• Capability to remain engaged, proactive, and positive under pressure, owning assignments and taking full accountability
• Effective communicator and negotiator with excellent attention to detail
• Hands on experience designing and operating test equipment and data acquisition systems

Responsibilities

• Research, interpret, and apply compliance from UL, IEC, IEEE, NEC, ISO to inform product listings and market entry
• Partner with engineering, product and manufacturing to embed compliance into design
• Develop and execute compliance test plans and build test infrastructure
• Debug failures and drive design solutions with engineering teams
• Establish and manage partnerships with NRTLs for timely certification
• Define and maintain client test data acceptance programs with NRTLs
• Monitor evolving standards and engage AHJs and utilities
• Represent the company in codes and standards development activities
• Contribute to thought leadership through white papers and utility hearings
• Mentor and guide junior engineers while establishing best practices
• Develop capital and operating expenses forecast for compliance operations
• Develop infrastructure planning aligning with product roadmap

Skills

First principles engineering

Regulatory compliance leadership

Stakeholder communication

Problem solving under ambiguity

Project ownership

Education

Master’s degree in electrical or mechanical engineering or equivalent

Tools

Python

LabVIEW

Embedded scripting

Test equipment operation

Data acquisition systems

Job description

What to Expect

Heron Power is a startup company building cutting-edge power electronics for the 21st-century grid. We aim to debottleneck the growth of electricity generation and consumption with scalable, innovative, and less costly hardware solutions, accelerating the electrification of everything.

Our first focus goal is to build better converters (inverters & rectifiers) to connect large-scale renewables, storage, and loads to the grid. Heron’s leadership team is made up of seasoned veterans who have designed and shipped gigawatts of power conversion products over the past decade.

We understand that no one individual knows everything. We will all learn a lot together and from each other. We strive to build a collaborative, enriching environment conducive to personal, technical, and career growth. You can expect to work in a dynamic and collaborative environment, driven by first principles engineering, solving difficult problems.

Job Overview

As a Staff/Senior Staff Compliance Engineer, you will drive and manage the full product safety and compliance lifecycle across our product portfolio. This role is responsible for leading compliance strategy from early engagement in codes and standards development through certification, market launch, and ongoing sustaining improvements. You will lead the responsibility for identifying all regulatory and technical hurdles Heron’s products must clear on the path to global market. Then, in collaboration with the design engineering team, will demonstrate Heron's products meet or exceed all requirements, achieve all certifications, and successfully enter target markets.

How You Will Contribute

• Research, interpret, and apply compliance from UL, IEC, IEEE, NEC, ISO, and other regulatory bodies to inform Heron’slink path to successful listing for each product and new market entry.

• Partner with leads from engineering, product and manufacturing across the product lifecycle to embed compliance into product architecture and design, bringing first-principles-informed, can-do creativity.

• Develop and execute compliance test plans, including identifying/building test infrastructure and resources.

• Debug failures and drive design solutions in collaboration with engineering design teams

• Establish and manage high-performance partnerships with NRTLs to achieve timely certification.

• Define and maintain client test data acceptance programs with NRTLs to accelerate compliance program execution.

• Proactively manage business risk by monitoring evolving standards, engaging with AHJs and utilities.

• Represent the company in industry codes and standards development activities, proactively influencing emerging requirements and translating them into actionable product and engineering guidelines

• Contribute to thought leadership through white papers, participation in utility hearings, and regional codes and standards activities.

• Mentor and guide junior engineers while establishing best practices, tools, and scalable compliance processes.

• Develop capital and operating expenses forecast for compliance operations

• Develop infrastructure planning aligning with product roadmap

What You Will Bring

We have a short list of must-have requirements. We prioritize candidates with a strong grip on first principles, hands-on skills, and a sense of initiative. Domain-specific knowledge and experience will help determine the career level for each hire.

Must-Have Requirements

• Master’s degree in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering or equivalent

• 7+ years’ experience in regulatory and compliance certification for solar, wind, battery or other power electronics products

• Deep understanding and familiarity with relevant UL/IEC/EN, IEEE, and ISO standards and how they inform the design and certification process of grid-connected power electronics systems

• Experience with manufacturing processes and material selection for high-power assemblies (e.g., busbars, potting, conformal coating, HV connectors).

• Experience developing DFMEA, PFMEA and HARA for complex hardware design and manufacturing environment

• Experience of participating in product-relevant standards committees

• Development experience of cybersecurity program for utility connected equipment

• Functional safety requirements and procedures integration into Software and Firmware development

• Ability to thrive in ambiguity, relying on your first principles engineering experience to identify creative solutions to hard problems.

• Capability to remain engaged, proactive, and positive under pressure, owning assignments and taking full accountability

• Effective communicator and negotiator with excellent attention to detail.

• Hands on experience designing and operating test equipment and data acquisition systems, such as oscilloscopes, power and spectrum analyzers, data loggers, etc.

Nice-to-Haves

• Familiarity with grid-tied hardware such as medium-voltage converters, switchgear, circuit breakers, or protective relays.

• Experience designing or testing medium-voltage systems (e.g., 1.5kV–35kV), including insulation coordination, clearance/creepage, and partial discharge considerations.

• Hands-on experience with test automation using Python, LabVIEW, or embedded scripting for power hardware validation.

• Working experience of UL1741, UL 347a, IEC 62109-1, IEC 62109-2, IEC 62040, IEC 62477, UL 9540, UL 1998, UL 840, UL 2891, UL5500, IEEE 1547, IEEE 2800

If you are passionate about technology and enjoy working in a fast-paced environment, we would love to hear from you. Join us in accelerating the electrification of everything at Heron Power.

Heron Power provides competitive compensation (salary and equity) and benefits. The salary for this role ranges from $160,000 to $220,000 per year.