Power Systems Engineer

American Terawatt • San Francisco, CA

10d • Onsite

About The Position

American Terawatt is building a new industrial electric grid for the United States, focusing on designing and deploying advanced power transmission systems for large industrial loads. Their systems cater to AI datacenters, automated manufacturing, refineries, and mines, aiming to make interconnection fast, simple, and cheap. The core of their network is HVDC transmission, supported by unique, standardized, modular terminal designs that integrate energy storage and are built to expand into a future HVDC transmission network. The company is hiring a Power Systems Engineer to contribute to the design, modeling, testing, and deployment of these HVDC terminals and transmission systems. This role involves working closely with a Principal Engineer and the R&D team, taking ownership of power-system modeling, subsystem validation, and providing commissioning support. It's a hands-on position for individuals who want to solve complex power-delivery challenges and help transform a new HVDC terminal design into operational infrastructure. Initially an individual contributor role, there is potential for growth into broader system-level technical ownership as the company scales. The position reports directly to a Principal Engineer.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field.
• 3+ years of commercial experience in power systems or electrical engineering.
• Hands-on experience with transmission planning tools (e.g., PSSE, PSLF, DIgSILENT PowerFactory) in addition to EMT tools (e.g., PSCAD, EMTP), and/or industrial/distribution tools (e.g., ETAP, SKM PowerTools).
• Experience in the full engineering lifecycle from concept through design, development, testing, deployment, and commissioning of a functioning commercial system.

Nice To Haves

• Master's or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Controls, or Power Systems.
• Experience designing across the entire spectrum of power delivery and generation infrastructure (medium-voltage and high-voltage applications).
• Experience with grid interconnection processes, utility coordination, and applicable codes and standards (NEC, NERC, IEEE, IEC, CIGRE, ANSI, NESC).
• Experience performing advanced power system studies, including harmonic analysis (e.g., IEEE 519 compliance), control interaction studies (e.g., sub-synchronous control interaction), and protection studies (e.g., short circuit analysis, relay coordination) for complex electrical systems.
• Experience designing and operating islanded power systems supporting critical loads.
• Proficiency with Python or MATLAB for simulation automation and results post-processing.
• Familiarity with DC transmission architectures.
• Background in data center or other high-density compute power infrastructure, or exposure to AI infrastructure or hyperscale facility development.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the specification and design of HVDC systems, including developing and validating terminal subsystems in both simulation and physical hardware.
• Develop deep, end-to-end knowledge of the terminal design over time.
• Use EMT and transmission-system models to evaluate how customer requirements, grid conditions, and available vendor equipment affect terminal performance.
• Translate modeling results into updated requirements, equipment specifications, and design recommendations delivered on schedule.
• Develop and execute subsystem validation tests with test engineers and technicians, including overstress and fault-injection testing against defined design limits.
• Compare physical results with simulations, resolve discrepancies, update models and designs, and support field commissioning to verify performance.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation package commensurate with experience, including salary and material equity participation.
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage, including 75% coverage for dependents and spouses.
• Up to $300/month reimbursement for gym and wellness expenses, or Bay Club membership for SF-based employees.
• Lunch provided daily when working from an office.
• Unlimited PTO with manager approval.
• Company-wide office closures for July 4 week and one week in December.
• Laptop of choice provided.
• Convenient SF office location on the Embarcadero and near public transit (pre-tax transit benefit).
• Employee contribution 401(k) program.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level