Power Electronics Controls Engineer, Energy Storage
Redwood Materials
$160,000 - $252,500 / year
Need a reasonable accommodation to apply or interview? Contact us.
JobMinglr uses automated technology to recommend jobs based on profile information and job preferences. Match Score does not determine eligibility for a position, prevent a user from viewing or applying to a job, or make hiring decisions on behalf of an employer.
Description
About Redwood Materials
Redwood Materials was founded in 2017 by JB Straubel, co-founder and former CTO of Tesla, on a simple but radical idea: the critical minerals powering the energy transition already exist. They just need to come back. Today Redwood is the largest lithium-ion battery recycler in North America — recovering, refining, and redeploying critical minerals from end-of-life batteries back into the supply chain. On the energy side, Redwood has deployed the largest second-life battery project in the world, delivering power to AI data centers in months rather than years using proprietary energy architecture engineered entirely in-house. The company is profitable, the market it operates in is projected to grow 20 to 50 times over the next decade, and Redwood is the only company with the supply chain, the technology, and the operational scale to lead it.
The Redwood Vision: Modernizing the Grid
Imagine being at the epicenter of the next great industrial shift. Just as the electric vehicle revolution redefined the car as a software-defined machine, Redwood Materials is redefining the global energy grid. We aren’t just managing batteries; we are building the "nervous system" for a circular energy economy.
Our San Francisco R&D team is architecting the transition from static, hardware-heavy infrastructure to dynamic, software-controlled ecosystems. We are proving that a sustainable, 100% renewable grid isn't just a goal—it’s a technical reality powered by superior control intelligence. We are looking for the "architects of the electron" to help us make fossil-fuel peaker plants a thing of the past.
Power Electronics Controls Engineer
As a Power Electronics Controls Engineer, you will lead the design and implementation of the intelligent "brains" for our next-generation Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and mixed-asset energy sites. You will be responsible for the entire journey of our control systems—from white-space conceptualization and advanced modeling to real-world grid impact. Your work will ensure that recycled and new battery assets work in perfect harmony to stabilize the grid and optimize high-power conversion at an industrial scale.
Responsibilities will Include:
- Software-Defined Power: Design and optimize advanced control algorithms for high-power BESS, focusing on grid-forming, grid-following, and complex multi-asset energy site synchronization
- High-Power Conversion Architecture: Develop bidirectional DC/DC and AC/DC control schemes for industrial-scale storage, ensuring peak efficiency, thermal stability, and safety across all operating modes
- Digital Twin Development: Build high-fidelity "Digital Twins" of power stages and grid environments using PLECS and MATLAB/Simulink to predict system behavior under extreme transient and fault conditions
- Virtual & Hardware Validation: Architect and lead comprehensive Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testing environments (Opal-RT/Typhoon) to rigorously stress-test control firmware before deployment
- Circular Asset Integration: Collaborate with battery and systems teams to implement control strategies that optimize the performance and longevity of mixed-asset arrays, including the integration of recycled battery chemistries
- Cross-Functional Leadership: Partner closely with electrical, firmware, and thermal engineers to define the long-term roadmap for modern, resilient energy storage site controllers
Desired Qualifications:
- Educational Depth: MSc or PhD in Electrical Engineering with a specialization in Power Electronics Control Systems. (MSc requires 3+ years of relevant industry experience; PhD preferred)
- Topology Mastery: Deep theoretical and practical mastery of high-efficiency power conversion. You are an expert in resonant topologies (LLC, CLLC, DAB) and advanced multi-level architectures, specifically Flying Capacitor (FC) and Active Neutral Point Clamped (ANPC)
- Control Theory Expertise: Proven ability to design robust closed-loop controllers (Bode, Nyquist, State-Space) and implement them effectively on digital signal processors (DSPs) or microcontrollers
- Modern Toolchain:
- Expert-level MATLAB/Simulink and PLECS for modeling and simulation
- Strong proficiency in C for real-time embedded systems
- Experience with Python for automation, scripting, and data analysis
- Proactive Innovation: A self-driven attitude with the ability to navigate the ambiguity of a fast-paced R&D environment. You enjoy building the framework as much as you enjoy writing the code
- Grid Standards: Familiarity with grid-interconnection codes (e.g., IEEE 1547, UL 1741) and their implications for controls development is highly desirable
In accordance with California pay transparency laws, the salary range for this position is listed below. Actual compensation may vary based on a variety of factors, including experience, education, and skills.
The position is full-time. Compensation will be commensurate with experience.
We collect personal information (PI) from you in connection with your application for employment with Redwood Materials, including the following categories of PI: identifiers, personal records, professional or employment information, and inferences drawn from your PI. We collect your PI for our purposes, including performing services and operations related to your potential employment. If you have additional privacy-related questions, please contact us at privacy@redwoodmaterials.com.
About this role
Redwood Materials is building control systems for the next generation of grid-scale energy storage, and this role puts you at the center of that work. You'll design the algorithms and architectures that let recycled and new batteries work together to stabilize the grid—moving from white-space concepts through digital simulation to real hardware validation. The scope spans grid-forming and grid-following control schemes, high-fidelity digital twins in MATLAB and PLECS, Hardware-in-the-Loop testing environments, and cross-functional collaboration with electrical, firmware, and thermal teams to define the long-term controller roadmap.
This is a deep technical role that demands mastery of power electronics fundamentals. You'll need expert-level command of resonant and multi-level topologies, closed-loop control theory, and the modern toolchain—MATLAB/Simulink, PLECS, C for embedded systems, and Python for automation. Familiarity with grid interconnection standards like IEEE 1547 is valuable. The ideal candidate holds an MSc in Electrical Engineering with 3+ years of industry experience, or a PhD; you should be comfortable navigating ambiguity in a fast-paced R&D environment and equally at home architecting frameworks and writing code.
The position is full-time, in-office in San Francisco, with a salary range of $160,000 to $252,500 based on experience and qualifications.
How this employer is doing
average
- H1B: Sponsors Visas
- Layoffs in News
- Hiring Mentioned
- Recently Raised Funding
In the news
Minerals processing startup Valor hires former Redwood Materials VP of engineering, Mining Weekly
This role's local market on JobMinglr
Pay for this role
$160,000 to $252,500 per year
That is the employer's posted range, and where you land in it is usually decided in one conversation. Before that conversation, run the numbers: analyze an offer for this role.
Before you apply, worth reading
How JobMinglr reads this job
Every listing here is scored against your profile before you apply: skills overlap, experience level, location and work arrangement, each weighted and explained. You see the score and the reasons, not just a list. How the matching works.