Battery Systems Technical Lead

Caterpillar•Mossville, IL

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Caterpillar's Integrated Drivetrain Energy Solutions (IDES) Division develops electrified powertrain and zero-emissions products, technologies, services, and solutions. Its focus areas include batteries, fuel cells, motors, inverters, microgrid controllers, charging, energy storage systems, lifecycle solutions, and ePowertrain integration across industries. The Battery Systems Technical Lead owns battery programs from customer need through production and serves as the technical owner of the battery system. The role defines customer requirements, makes architecture and sourcing decisions, and leads cross-functional design, test, and validation engineers through design freeze, certification, and launch. The Technical Lead brings together engineering, suppliers, manufacturing, portfolio management, and commercial partners, weighs technical tradeoffs against business impact, and keeps programs on commitment. The work starts with the 50V fork truck program and is based in Mossville, Illinois, with five-day-per-week onsite availability and domestic relocation available. Travel is expected up to 15% of the time. Visa sponsorship is unavailable.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in an Engineering field.
Extensive experience in technical excellence, including deep knowledge of battery cells, modules, packs, BDUs, and BMS.
Ability to solve battery system challenges involving thermal management, thermal propagation, electrical architecture, and integration into machine platforms.
Extensive experience influencing through technical expertise, building consensus on architecture, sourcing, and make-buy decisions, and challenging assumptions when evidence supports a better solution.
Extensive experience in requirements analysis, translating customer duty cycles, operating environments, and application needs into clear, testable requirements covering energy, power, weight, voltage, life, safety, and certification, and maintaining traceability with corporate requirements management tools.
Advanced project management experience planning, organizing, monitoring, and controlling projects and resources.
Advanced team management experience forming and leading effective cross-functional teams.
Availability to work onsite five days a week in Mossville, Illinois.
Ability to travel up to 15% of the time.

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of battery cell, module, pack, and/or system design.
Knowledge of battery electric powertrain integration, including BMS hardware and software.
Knowledge of battery performance and data analysis.
Experience across low- and high-voltage battery systems.
Experience working directly with customers and battery suppliers.

Responsibilities

Lead battery programs from concept through design freeze, certification, and production launch, starting with the 50V fork truck program.
Work directly with customers to gather requirements and define development loops using corporate requirements management tools.
Lead battery system decision-matrix activities, including architecture, sourcing, and make-buy options, and build organizational consensus.
Lead technical engagement with cell, module, and pack suppliers, including design reviews ahead of design freeze.
Partner with the Battery Performance & Validation team on performance, durability, and certification testing.
Develop scalable battery architectures for reuse across Caterpillar platforms.
Use product and process knowledge to develop project R&D and material estimates.
Develop detailed resource loading and high-level project plans.
Collaborate with internal and external partners to communicate risks and suggest opportunities for improvement.
Plan and execute battery programs through validation and production launch, managing critical paths, supplier lead times, prototype builds, and test schedules.
Lead cross-functional teams of design, test, validation, software, and manufacturing engineers and align them around program goals.