Description
Senior Staff Engineer, Power Systems & Site Control
Team: Off product SW and Data Sys Engr
Location: Menlo Park, CA
Commitment: Salary
Workplace Type: remote
Salary:
This position is remote. 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.
Company Overview
Mainspring Energy is revolutionizing power generation with the world’s most flexible and adaptable local power generation technology, the Mainspring Linear Generator. Commercial, industrial, and utility leaders are choosing Mainspring over traditional options like engines, turbines, and fuel cells to quickly and reliably deliver local power for EV charging, commercial facilities, data centers, and grid-scale operations. The Mainspring Linear Generator is fuel flexible, ramps up and down to meet demand, and utilizes a flameless reaction with near-zero NOx emissions.
Backed by top-tier investors including Khosla Ventures, Bill Gates, American Electric Power, Lightrock, and General Catalyst Mainspring designs, manufactures and delivers its products to customers across the U.S. today, and we’re quickly scaling for international expansion.
Inspired by our vision of the affordable, reliable, net-zero carbon grid, Mainspring is rapidly expanding within the $816B global electricity equipment market, and we’re hiring the best talent to meet growing customer demand around the globe. We welcome a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, and talents to bring fresh perspectives and ongoing innovation to our customers.
We are looking to build relationships with people who share our values:
Pragmatic Optimism. Building a new category of world-class power generation requires the optimism of ambition and creativity, balanced with practicality to solve problems efficiently. The challenges that arise are opportunities for growth.
Excellence without Ego. We bring expertise and commitment to creating the best customer experience, from sales to deployment and service, just as we apply deep technical rigor to building and delivering world-class products. We strive for excellence and behave as leaders with the humility to acknowledge our challenges, both collectively and as individual contributors.
Proactive Collaboration. The integration and cross-disciplinary nature of Mainspring’s business requires intentionally seeking out others who bring different skills, perspectives, and priorities. Our culture of inclusion and respect extends beyond our team to interactions with our partners and customers.
More information can be found at www.mainspringenergy.com
Job Overview
Mainspring Energy is looking for a Technical Lead & Architect to define the future of how our Linear Generators integrate into the global energy infrastructure. You will be the primary architect for commercial-grade site control systems, ensuring our technology seamlessly integrates with Microgrids, Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), and utility-scale power plants.
You aren’t just writing code; you are designing the communication and control backbone that allows our generators to play nicely with solar, storage, and the grid.
Key Responsibilities
- Site Architecture: Lead the architectural design of site-level control systems, ensuring high-speed, reliable coordination between multiple LGens and balance-of-plant equipment
- Protocol Mastery: Design and implement robust communication interfaces using OPC-UA, Modbus, and other industrial protocols to ensure interoperability
- SCADA & HMI Development: Own the vision for our SCADA systems and HMI design, focusing on intuitive operator interfaces and deep diagnostic visibility
- DER Integration: Develop strategies for integrating Mainspring technology into Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMS) and complex microgrid environments
- Technical Mentorship: Act as the subject matter expert for the engineering team on commercial power standards, site safety logic, and grid compliance
- Cross-Functional Leadership: Work closely with Product and Hardware teams to translate utility requirements and interconnection standards into software specifications
Core Requirements
- Industry Experience: 8+ years of experience in commercial power generation, industrial automation, or utility-scale energy projects
- Systems Expertise: Deep hands-on experience with SCADA, HMI, and industrial controllers (PLCs/PACs).Expert proficiency in IEC 61131-3 for local machine control. Additionally, a strong preference for candidates experienced in IEC 61499 to design event-driven, distributed architectures that enable seamless coordination across decoupled site assets
- Deep Protocol Knowledge: Expert-level understanding of OPC-UA , MQTT, Modbus, DNP3 (Pub/Sub, Client/Server) and its application in secure industrial environments
- Site Design: Proven track record of designing control logic for complex power sites (e.g., microgrids, peaking plants, or large-scale solar + storage)
- Architectural Fluency: Ability to draft high-level system diagrams and technical specs that bridge the gap between "industrial hardware" and "modern software"
Preferred Skills
- Experience with grid interconnection standards (e.g., IEEE 1547, UL 1741)
- Knowledge of cybersecurity frameworks for industrial control systems (NERC CIP, etc.)
- Background in Python or C++ for high-performance industrial applications
The Mainspring Advantage
At Mainspring, "Site Control" isn't a legacy IT task—it's the core engine of the energy transition. You will have the authority to choose the right tools and architectures to move the world toward a cleaner, more resilient grid.
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.
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