Systems and Control (Firmware) Engineer

SPAN develops products that accelerate the rapid adoption of renewable energy in the home. The flagship SPAN Smart Panel is the first true evolution for the traditional home electric panel, harnessing enhanced technology for metering, monitoring, and control. An expanded product suite of intelligent, integrated solutions radically lowers the cost and complexity of energy upgrades–including solar, batteries and EVs–empowering homeowners to be active, resilient and informed players in the energy market. 

The Role

SPAN’s System Modeling Group is seeking a driven systems and control (firmware) engineer to contribute to the development of a highly flexible simulation platform for both software- and hardware-in-the loop simulation. The systems and control (firmware) engineer will participate in the development of physics-informed foundational modeling infrastructure, with an emphasis on the unit-level to device-level to evaluate technologies and partnerships that augment SPAN’s Panel and Drive products and accelerate electrifying homes.

Ideal candidates will possess an in-depth knowledge of embedded systems and control systems, preferably with specific applications to power electronics and power networks, for the development of a platform that could accurately assess the performance of behavior for currently available and future home electrification technologies.

In this role, you will:

• Work closely with hardware, software, controls, and firmware teams to integrate the physics-informed modeling infrastructure with a development environment that accurately emulates the code, processor architecture, analog-to-digital measurement sensors, and logic-level actuators for the SPAN Panel, SPAN Drive, and partner home electrification hardware.

• Contribute to building an automated efficient physics-informed modeling infrastructure, leveraging analytical and computational models, that will be used by hardware and design engineers to drive component tradeoff studies, product specifications, system design, integration, and system optimization analyses for the SPAN Panel, SPAN Drive, and partner home electrification hardware.

• Collaborate with software and hardware engineers to specify product experiments to verify and validate computational component and control systems modeling efforts; collaborate with engineers and scientists across teams to interpret test data.

• Support product performance testing for SPAN Panel and Drive products when integrated with various technologies across a number of manufacturers, including electric vehicle batteries, home energy storage systems, and solar photovoltaics.

• Evaluate the scalability of hardware component and home electrical system models for integration into utility-level power systems and interactions with the grid under a wide range of operating conditions and incorporate high granularity and accuracy where simulation acceleration is a priority.

• Support SPAN’s executive staff, product, and business team with techno-economic simulation and analysis to evaluate the viability of research and development projects, technology partnerships, and our product roadmap.

• Build and manage a resource plan and timeline for model development, including key hires that enrich SPAN’s modeling capabilities.

About You 

Required Qualifications

We are seeking modeling engineer who has:

• BSc or MSc in Control, Computer, Electrical, or Electronics Engineering, Computer Science, or similar technical field

• 3+ years with master’s, 5+ years with bachelor’s degree of experience in embedded systems, firmware, or controls domains developing control systems, electronics, or power electronics in the automotive, energy, or aerospace industries (we count in the time spent during graduate school research).

• Proficient in MathWorks/Simulink, Python, or Julia as a scientific analysis and modeling platform.

• In-depth knowledge of firmware, middleware, and software

• Practical knowledge of embedded Linux and DSP

• Proficient in C and Python

• Hands-on experience with microcontrollers, application processors, operating systems, and real-time applications for hardware control system implementation and knowledge control protocols

• Open to learning new topics and solving complex problems

• Demonstrated success working in a cross disciplinary, multi-cultural environment.

Bonus Qualifications

We would love to hire someone who has:

• 5+ years with master’s, 7+ years with bachelor’s degree of experience in embedded systems, firmware, or controls domains developing control systems, electronics, or power electronics in the automotive, energy, or aerospace industries (we count in the time spent during graduate school research).

• Experience in or excited to learn Rust

• Knowledge of advance control theory and methods, e.g., model predictive, adaptive control, distributed control, hierarchical control, etc.

Life at SPAN

SPAN embraces diversity and equal opportunity in a serious way. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. 

Headquartered in San Francisco’s vibrant SoMa neighborhood, we are an eclectic group of creative thinkers who value open communication, teamwork, and a ‘make it happen’ approach to addressing complex challenges. 

Our CEO, Arch Rao⁠—former head of the Tesla Powerwall team⁠—fosters an energetic and collaborative environment, with a strong emphasis on maintaining work-life-balance across the organization.

We’re hiring talented individuals who are driven by success and are passionate about shaping the future of renewable energy. If that sounds like you, we’d love for you to consider joining the rapidly growing team at SPAN.

The Perks:

⚡ Competitive compensation + equity grants at a well-funded, venture-backed company

⚡ Comprehensive benefits (including medical; dental, vision, life and disability insurance)

⚡ Comfortable, sunny office space located near BART and Caltrain public transit

⚡ Strong focus on teambuilding and company culture (events, meet-ups, clubs)

⚡ Flexible hours and unlimited PTO

Our Mission & Values:

At SPAN, we believe that powering your home with clean energy should be a simple and delightful experience that is at its essence human-centered and technology-forward.

Our core values include:

• Making home energy more accessible, intuitive, and convenient.

• Enabling homes and vehicles to be powered by the sun.

• Building resilient homes with reliable power.

• All-electric everything.

• A more flexible & distributed grid.

Interested in joining our team? Submit an application today and we’ll be in touch with next steps!