VP, Software Engineering

About this role:

You will develop and drive the strategy, vision and planning for our new software engineering group, working closely with our other Engineering leaders to deliver integrated hardware and software solutions. You will manage the team responsible for developing our patented machine vision-enhanced control system that concentrates solar energy onto our towers, as well as the autonomy and robotics group, with potential to expand the role into other software areas of our products. Our software engineers come from a wide variety of backgrounds, with a mix of hardware and software experience. The software we create enables precise control of our solar concentrating field, as well as compute, network, and storage infrastructure to keep everything running smoothly. The robotics and autonomy group develops our autonomous field operation systems that perform multiple operating and maintenance tasks such as our autonomous mirror washing system. 

In this role, you will:

• Have overall responsibility and accountability for the product software strategy and plan of the company. 
• Partner with engineering leadership and management to facilitate all aspects of projects: define, schedule, prioritize, track, proactively manage and communicate status of projects.  
• Manage mid to entry level Engineering managers and where necessary, individual contributors.  
• Lead projects through the software development lifecycle from concept to delivery.  
• Deliver successful outcomes with a laser focus on execution and a keen eye for important details. 
• Drive large, cross-functional programs related to algorithm development, core operating systems, and/or user interfaces across multiple layers of the software stack.
• Collaborate with partners in hardware, firmware, human interface design, production, marketing, and other teams within and outside of Heliogen.
• Build on Heliogen’s technology by rapidly developing, testing, and incorporating improvements to our software.
• Empower employees with clear definition of roles and responsibilities.
• Welcome, actively solicit, and act on feedback. 

What's essential:

• A desire to use your engineering and leadership skills to advance Heliogen’s mission
• Demonstrated leadership experience in related fields of product software and controls 
• 10+ years of experience in managing, leading, and building strong engineering teams. 
• Direct software engineering and/or controls experience (IC work, integration experience hardware/software)  
• Experience driving strategy and vision for teams (building roadmaps, working with cross functional partners to execute on plans)
• Strong communication, collaboration and negotiation skills
• Experience with mentoring and coaching team managers and team members to support learning and growth.
• Ability to create and execute plans in a dynamic and sometimes ambiguous environment.  
• Degree(s) or equivalent experience in computer science, an engineering discipline, and/or physics. 

Desirable:

• Physics knowledge including optics and/or thermodynamics.  
• Robotics skills (kinematics, computer vision, and motor control)  
• Performance optimization including native algorithm implementation & GPU programming. 
• Machine learning skills including CNNs and Gaussian processes.  
• Well versed in Git or Atlassian tools (Jira, Confluence, etc.) and CI/CD pipelines.
• Knowledge of network architectures and security practices.
• 3D geometry, optimization, statistics.
• Embedded software experience. 

California only full-time salary range between $220,000 - $300,000 + equity + benefits.