Power Systems Engineer Jobs in Menlo Park, CA

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.

Job Overview

The technology that powers Mainspring’s Linear Generator is unlike any other generator technology on the market. The Linear Generator relies on innovative electrical power and control hardware systems to achieve its best-in-class efficiency while meeting the world’s strictest emissions requirements. You will join a talented team responsible for our electrical system architecture. Your primary focus will be the integration and performance of high-power conversion hardware as it interfaces with both the Linear Generator and the customer’s grid.

We have a highly impactful opportunity for an electrical engineer to be part of the team that is responsible for the Linear Generator’s power delivery and integration into customers’ power systems. This role focuses on system-level architecture and validation rather than ground-up power converter or PCB design. This is a deeply hands-on position; you will be the technical authority in the lab, personally putting grid-interactive inverters through rigorous characterization and stability testing to ensure they meet our high standards before they ever reach a customer site. Your ownership extends through the entire product lifecycle from fine-tuning firmware parameters in a controlled environment to monitoring fleet performance and leading root-cause analysis for complex system-integration challenges in the field.

Responsibilities

• Lead the selection, sizing, and configuration of industrial grid-interactive off-the-shelf (OTS) inverters
• Lead the troubleshooting and root cause analysis of complex hardware issues arising in the field, lab, or during testing of grid forming and grid following inverters and AC power systems
• Configure and tune inverter parameters for stable operation across grid-forming and grid-following modes
• Design system-level tests to validate grid-edge behaviors, including low-voltage ride-through (LVRT) and frequency response
• Analyze AC power waveforms, power quality, and fault behavior to diagnose system issues
• Ensure system compliance with grid interconnection standards such as IEEE 1547, UL 1741, and local utility requirements
• Perform critical design reviews and collaborate cross-functionally with mechanical, thermal, controls, test engineering and software engineers to ensure holistic system performance and manufacturability

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field
• 3+ years of hands-on experience working with power inverters or power conversion systems
• Strong troubleshooting skills with AC power systems, including waveform analysis, fault behavior, and system stability
• Comfort working on high voltage systems (400-800 Vac, up to 1500Vdc) in both a laboratory and industrial field environment
• Experience with industrial communication protocols (Modbus TCP/RTU, CANbus, SunSpec) for power electronics control
• Working knowledge of NEC (NFPA 70), specifically regarding grounding, conductor sizing, and overcurrent protection for power generation systems
• The ability to work independently and own complex technical problems from initial identification through final resolution

Bonus

• Demonstrated experience in the development, deployment, or optimization of grid-scale energy projects
• Expertise in Protection & Control (P&C), including programming SEL or Basler relays and coordinating with utility engineers for grid interconnection

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.

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.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. 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.