Sr./Staff Compliance Engineer

Antora Energy•San Jose, CA

2d•$171,000 - $235,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Antora Energy is seeking a Sr./Staff Compliance Engineer to establish and own its compliance strategy as the company designs and scales thermal batteries. The role will help shape relevant codes and standards while the product is being designed, using product goals and engineering evidence to influence requirements and standards discussions to inform design decisions. The work aims to optimize safety, cost, performance, and deployability together. The engineer will work closely with module, plant, and test engineers to develop a clear, reusable safety case acceptable to permitting authorities and certifiers; establish practical certification pathways with Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) and Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories (NRTLs); and lead the company toward NRTL listing. The position reports to the Product Management team and partners with product development, engineering, testing, projects, and EH&S. The role involves approximately 15–25% travel for standards meetings, AHJ and certifier engagements, and project sites.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or equivalent in mechanical, electrical, chemical, fire protection, or a related engineering field.
At least 8 years of experience in product compliance, certification, safety engineering, or codes and standards for energy, industrial, or high-hazard equipment.
Strong first-principles safety judgment, beginning with human safety and real risk and reasoning from hazards and failure behavior to requirements.
Pragmatic and flexible approach to developing simple, effective requirements grounded in real risk, including comfort working through cost tradeoffs with engineering.
Hands-on experience taking novel or first-of-a-kind equipment through certification and permitting, including direct work with AHJs and NRTLs/certifiers such as UL, CSA, TÜV, or Intertek.
Working fluency in codes and standards governing energy storage and industrial energy facilities, such as NFPA 855/70 (NEC), UL 9540, ASME, IFC/IBC, and ASCE 7.
Experience building safety cases and supporting hazard analyses and test programs with engineering and testing teams, such as FMEA, HAZOP, and fault tree analysis.
Persuasive technical communication skills and ability to influence standards committees, regulators, certifiers, and internal engineering leaders and build consensus among stakeholders with competing priorities.
Ability to operate in ambiguity, identify and scope significant compliance risks early, drive them to resolution, and know when to escalate.
Strong commercial judgment connecting compliance decisions to product cost, schedule, and deployment risk.
High comfort with leading AI tools such as Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini, and good judgment about workflows to automate.
Motivation by impact beyond self-interest; belief in the mission, team-first approach, humility, openness, and willingness to persist through difficult periods.

Nice To Haves

Active participation in standards development organizations such as NFPA, ASME, ASHRAE, UL Standards & Engagement, or IEC, including drafting proposed code language.
Experience with thermal energy storage, battery energy storage, high-temperature systems, or pressure equipment.
Experience leading a product from field certification to NRTL listing for high-volume production.
Familiarity with state-by-state permitting, including the Midwest and Texas, such as Texas, Missouri, Minnesota, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Illinois.
Familiarity with international codes and standards, such as IEC, EU, and Australian frameworks.
Experience writing or implementing company safety and reliability policies, risk acceptance criteria, or management-of-change processes, such as ISO 12100 or IEC 61508.
Hardware startup, new-industry, or first-of-a-kind deployment experience.
PE license or fire protection credentials.

Responsibilities

Own Antora's compliance strategy across product design, testing, and deployment, including defining certification boundaries and supporting evidence and clarifying module-to-plant dependencies.
Support module, plant, and test engineers in analyzing hazards and safe failure behavior, and coordinate the analyses and tests required for compliance.
Develop a clear, reusable safety case grounded in analysis and test evidence, and establish collaborative acceptance pathways with AHJs and NRTLs/certifiers.
Lead codes and standards advocacy with NFPA, ASME, ASHRAE, UL Standards & Engagement, and other relevant bodies; participate in working groups, propose language, and build support for technically sound requirements.
Work with engineering to determine when product design should change and when to advocate for better requirements.
Assess project-level certification strategies until NRTL listing is in place, including likely AHJ requirements and the probability, cost, and schedule impacts of field certification versus alternatives such as state machinery designation.
Align project, commercial, and engineering stakeholders on site certification approaches and lead the effort with minimal draw on the core project execution team.
Develop a long-term UL/NRTL certification strategy aligned with the product roadmap, achieve NRTL listing, and support the transition from field work to high-volume factory production.
Build a codes and standards database for current and future products across domestic and international jurisdictions, translate standards into executable engineering requirements, and drive knowledge transfer and traceability into design, manufacturing, and commissioning.
Recommend environmental design standards and their applicability to TES field, balance-of-plant, and electrical systems; establish survival versus operability conditions, derive environmental envelopes for target markets, and advise when distinct geographic product versions are needed.
Help write Antora's first company product safety and reliability policy with EH&S and reliability teams, including risk acceptance criteria, design-gate hazard-analysis requirements, and management of change for safety-critical designs.
Travel approximately 15–25% for standards meetings, AHJ/certifier engagements, and project sites.