BESS Project Engineer, Senior or Staff

Number of employees

2000

San Francisco, California, United States, United States

Posted on: 2026-09-14

Category: materials

Ready to make this your next chapter?

Let Redwood Materials know you found them on WorkInGreen. It helps more companies post climate jobs here.

Employment type:

Full time

Experience required:

Senior

Salary

Salary not provided

About the company:

Redwood Materials is an American clean energy company headquartered in Sparks, Nevada, focused on securing domestic supplies of critical battery materials and providing large-scale energy storage solutions. The company recycles end-of-life batteries to recover lithium, nickel, cobalt, and copper, creating one of the largest domestic sources of these critical minerals in the United States. Its operations support the broader transition away from reliance on foreign supply chains for materials essential to electric vehicles and energy storage systems. Through its Redwood Energy division, the company designs, integrates, and deploys large-scale energy storage systems for data centers and the national grid, utilizing both new and repurposed batteries to deliver cost-effective solutions. Redwood Materials partners with major automotive, technology, and energy companies including Volkswagen Group of America, Panasonic, GM Ultium Cells, Toyota, BMW, Amazon, Volvo, and Southern Company, reflecting its central role in the emerging domestic battery supply chain. Founded by former Tesla Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel, Redwood Materials was established with the mission of building a circular economy for batteries, reducing waste, lowering the carbon footprint of energy storage, and strengthening American energy independence. The company holds ISO 45001 and ISO 14001 certifications, underscoring its commitment to occupational health, safety, and environmental management standards.

About Redwood Materials

Redwood is localizing a global battery supply chain that seamlessly integrates recovery, reuse, and recycling — keeping critical minerals in circulation and driving the energy transition. Founded in 2017, we’re delivering low-cost and large-scale energy storage and producing battery materials in the U.S. for the first time, all from batteries we already have.

Redwood Materials is deploying large-scale battery energy storage systems that power data centers and the grid, including North America's largest microgrid (63 MWh) for Crusoe, a stationary storage partnership with GM using new and second-life EV batteries, and a new deployment at Rivian's Normal, Illinois manufacturing plant. The Senior or Staff BESS Project Engineer joins as an early member of a new engineering team working on our Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) product line. You will own the full project lifecycle, from commercial scoping and Business Development handoff through engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, and a structured handoff to Operations and Maintenance, for a growing portfolio of front-of-the-meter and behind-the-meter energy storage and microgrid projects. You are the connective tissue between Business Development, Product Engineering, our internal engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) team, external EPC partners, and customers, and you drive the schedule, manage risk, and make sure every project lands on time, on budget, and to spec. The work rewards people who are comfortable operating where processes are still being built and who want to shape how Redwood delivers energy storage at scale.

Responsibilities will include:

  • Drive end-to-end project execution from requirements scoping and Business Development handoff through engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, and Operations and Maintenance handoff
  • Own the integrated schedule, budget tracker, and risk register for each assigned project, and proactively identify and escalate schedule or cost risks
  • Serve as the primary interface between Business Development, Product Engineering, internal and external EPC partners, and customers across all project phases
  • Track RFI and submittal workflows, change order logs, permitting, interconnection coordination, and all contractual project deliverables
  • Partner with Product Engineering on equipment selection, bill of materials alignment, and technical scope definition, and retain change control over the Basis of Design across the project lifecycle
  • Oversee commissioning readiness and test plan execution, and manage structured handoff documentation to Operations and Maintenance
  • Maintain project data in project management tooling, provide planning inputs and deployment forecasting to leadership, and capture lessons learned into repeatable delivery templates, checklists, and execution standards

Desired Qualifications:

  • Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Program Management, Business, or a related discipline
  • Deep program management experience in battery energy storage, renewable energy, or utility-scale power infrastructure such as peaker plants, combined-cycle generation, and substations; Staff level reflects a broader track record leading a portfolio of projects
  • Demonstrated experience managing projects from scoping through commissioning and Operations and Maintenance handoff, with ownership of schedule, budget, and risk
  • Strong cross-functional communication skills, comfortable managing up, down, and across internal and external EPC, customer, and internal engineering teams
  • Familiarity with key BESS-related standards such as UL 9540, UL 9540A, UL 1973, UL 1741, IEEE, NEC (NFPA 70), NFPA 855, and IEC
  • Willingness to travel to project sites as needed
  • A Passion for sustainability and making the world a better place!

Physical Requirements:

  • Climbing, standing, and stooping during project site visits
  • Typing and extended computer work in an office setting

Working Conditions:

  • Office environment in San Francisco, CA, with regular travel to project sites
  • Site visits involve varying conditions, including noise, dust, and temperature extremes at active BESS construction and commissioning sites
  • Occasional weekend or after-hours work to meet project milestones
  • Travel up to 25%, primarily to project sites across the U.S.

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. 

California Pay Range:
$160,000$252,000 USD

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 [email protected].

Get job alerts

Receive new climate job opportunities matching your preferences.

Not quite the right fit? Keep looking.

More climate roles that match your skills and values.

View all jobs

189 Materials jobs at Redwood Materials

Redwood Materials is hiring Facilities Technician,Staff Architect, EPC,Facilities Supervisor, and more.

Hiring at Redwood Materials? Feature these jobs →

View all jobs at Redwood Materials