Principal Engineer, Development

Orenda•New York, NY

16h•$150,000 - $420,000•Onsite

About The Position

Orenda is seeking a Principal Engineer, Development to serve as the owner's engineer for their NYC portfolio. This role involves setting and maintaining engineering standards, directing engineering partners, and ensuring designs comply with Orenda's standards and applicable codes. The Principal Engineer will be the senior technical resource for the team, providing technical direction, mentorship, and resolving technical escalations. This position reports to the Director of Development and is ideal for a deeply technical engineer who leads by setting clear standards, developing team capabilities, and enabling others to deliver high-quality work.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering.
Professional Engineer (PE) license in New York State.
10+ years designing MW-scale power generation or electrical infrastructure projects.
Primary expertise in electrical engineering, with strong working knowledge across other disciplines — civil, structural, mechanical, and controls — enabling holistic design review and coordination across all trades.
Direct experience working with Con Edison, including familiarity with their interconnection process and design standards.
Strong command of design processes, codes, and standards, with a proven record of value engineering and innovative technical problem-solving.
Demonstrated ability to set engineering standards and review others' work for compliance and cross-trade consistency.
A leadership style built on setting clear technical standards and developing the capabilities of others.
Clear about fact versus interpretation; comfortable identifying gaps in your knowledge and asking for help.

Nice To Haves

MS in engineering.
Knowledge of battery energy storage and other energy storage technologies.
Familiarity with SCADA, controls, and energy management systems (EMS).
Fluency in AutoCAD; Revit a plus.
A keen interest in systems engineering.

Responsibilities

Own and maintain Orenda's engineering standards and technical specifications governing the design, equipment selection, and construction of our NYC energy storage portfolio, in compliance with all applicable codes and AHJ and utility requirements.
Author the technical specifications that guide our engineering partners and equipment selection; derive site-specific technical requirements and recommend equipment line-ups.
Ensure design compliance — review our engineering partners' design sets for adherence to Orenda standards and consistency across engineering trades, and identify technical risks early in the design process.
Serve as the team's senior technical resource, providing responsive support and resolving technical escalations for project management, permitting, and procurement.
Provide technical direction and mentorship to our engineering partners and internal staff, developing the team's capability to deliver work that meets Orenda's standards.
Coordinate with Orenda's in-house Energy Management System (EMS) team to integrate SCADA and controls requirements into project designs and ensure field systems align with our platform.
Support procurement with technical evaluation of OEM capabilities and product fitness, and review equipment submittals.
Incorporate feedback from the Construction and Asset Management teams to continuously improve our design standards and specifications, closing the loop between field and operational performance and design.
Provide technical oversight during commissioning to ensure assets are built and operate as intended.
Support new product development — as Orenda deploys new technologies or enters new markets, provide engineering evaluation of technical feasibility and adapt our standards and specifications to the new requirements.
Document and share good engineering practices and lessons learned to raise the technical capability of the whole team.