Principal Energy Engineer

Energy Principal (L7 equivalent), org-wide scope 12+ years

Other levels: Energy Engineer Senior Energy Engineer Lead Energy Engineer Junior Energy Engineer

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The job description

Tech stack. Enterprise modeling platforms, portfolio optimization tools, Python, regulatory and market analysis frameworks, technology readiness assessment methods

About the role

You will serve as the senior-most technical authority for energy engineering at a company building the next decade of its generation and infrastructure portfolio. Executives, board members, and project teams bring you the decisions that carry the most capital and the most uncertainty. This role matters because your technical vision shapes which markets the company enters, which technologies it standardizes on, and how billions in project capital get risk-managed across a multi-year pipeline. As a principal, your judgment will shape company-wide engineering standards, from study methodologies to equipment specification philosophies that persist across projects. The role includes originating new service offerings, spotting market needs before competitors do and building the technical capability to serve them. You will represent the company in industry forums, publish technical papers, and mentor senior engineers toward their own principal-level impact. Business development will lean on your credibility in pursuits, so your name on a proposal carries weight with sophisticated clients.

What you will achieve

Define the company technology roadmap across generation, storage, and grid assets, aligning engineering capability with a 5-year, multi-GW business plan
Approve or kill project concepts at stage gates, saving the company from nine-figure commitments to technically flawed developments, adopted as reference designs across the engineering organization
Establish enterprise engineering standards, design philosophies, and risk criteria adopted across all regions and business units
Drive resolution of the organization's hardest technical problems: novel technology integration, systemic performance shortfalls, and first-of-a-kind commissioning challenges, with findings published internally as technical guidance notes
Build the next generation of technical leadership by mentoring senior engineers and setting the bar for engineering excellence company-wide

What you will bring

Must-haves

12+ years of experience in energy engineering with deep expertise across multiple generation or infrastructure technologies
Recognized authority in at least one domain: power systems, renewables, storage, hydrogen, or grid modernization
Track record of technical decisions that moved hundreds of megawatts or nine-figure capital with successful outcomes
Ability to evaluate novel technologies rapidly: separating genuine breakthroughs from marketing with first-principles analysis
Experience interfacing with C-suite, boards, lenders, and regulators on technical strategy and risk
History of building engineering organizations, standards, and review processes that scale
Strong external presence: industry conferences, standards committees, or published technical leadership

Nice-to-haves

PE license and advanced degree (MS or PhD) in a relevant engineering discipline
Experience with M&A technical due diligence on energy assets or companies
Knowledge of electricity market design and its interaction with technology choice
Patent portfolio or contributions to industry standards
Published technical papers or active participation in IEEE, ASHRAE, or similar societies