Director - Controls Software

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. More information can be found at www.mainspringenergy.com Job Overview The Linear Generator is a next-generation energy system where the control layer must seamlessly integrate and manage multiple interdependent physical domains. Your technical leadership will be crucial for the modeling, simulation, and control of its dynamics, which encompass mechanical, electrical, fluid, thermal, and thermodynamic processes. In this role, you will manage and mentor a team of engineers responsible for the machine's behavior and performance. You will drive a technical strategy that prioritizes model-based design and high-fidelity simulation, ensuring robust performance before algorithms reach hardware. \n

Responsibilities Team Leadership:

Manage, mentor, and grow a team of world class engineers across domains from dynamics and automation to power and reaction control

Technical Strategy:

Drive a "simulation-first" development culture. Oversee the creation of plant models and control strategies, ensuring designs are validated in simulation (MIL/SIL) prior to software implementation

Architecture & Oversight:

Provide technical guidance on control architectures, ensuring the mathematical models and control logic are sound, robust, and well-specified

Cross-Functional Alignment:

Collaborate with Product and Program Management to roadmap features. You will assess technical feasibility and ensure the team delivers validated specifications that meet product requirements

Process Excellence:

Establish workflows for algorithm development, including design reviews, requirements traceability, and validation plans

Reliability & Diagnostics:

Oversee the development of diagnostics and fail-safes to ensure the generator operates autonomously and safely in the field

Qualifications Leadership:

Multiple years of experience leading and growing high-performance engineering teams

Technical Depth:

Strong background in control theory (linear and nonlinear), system dynamics, and signal processing

Simulation Expertise:

Demonstrated experience with Model-Based Design (MBD) workflows and simulation tools (MATLAB/Simulink, Python, etc.)

Systems Mindset:

Ability to understand complex interactions in electromechanical machines involving sensors, actuators, and thermal/fluid dynamics

Education:

BS or MS in mechanical, electrical, or systems engineering (or equivalent experience) Comfortable reviewing block diagrams, simulation results, and technical specifications \n $212,000 - $250,000 a year 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. \n 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.