Staff Functional Systems Engineer

Peak Energy•Burlingame, CA

4d•Onsite

About The Position

We’re looking for a functional systems engineer to own the behavioral architecture and functional safety of our energy storage product. You’ll lead functional decomposition of the system, defining functions, operating states, and the transitions between them, and own the safety analyses (HARA, DFMEA) that keep the battery safe in the field. You will work closely with the Firmware, Modeling, other internal ESS Engineering teams, and external parties such as EMS vendors, consultants, and site owners to translate system intent into derived functions and requirements that the product can be built against. You will not only define these inputs but ensure the delivered behavior matches what was specified. The ideal candidate is organized, sharp, motivated, and has the unique ability to see the big picture. This role combines systems engineering fundamentals and technical expertise to massively impact the success of the product.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in software, electrical, systems, or related engineering discipline
4+ years in software or systems engineering on complex electromechanical or embedded products
Hands-on experience with functional decomposition and behavioral modeling (state machines, functional flow block diagrams, or equivalent)
Fluency in requirements engineering: writing good requirements, deriving them across levels, and maintaining traceability
Direct experience leading or heavily contributing to HARA and DFMEA activities
Familiarity with functional safety frameworks (IEC 61508, ISO 26262, or UL 1973 / UL 9540A safety cases)
Comfort working at the firmware boundary: able to read a state machine implementation and question a fault-handling path with embedded and controls engineers
Comfort operating with ambiguous or undefined challenges
Eligible to work in the U.S.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in a related engineering discipline
Battery energy storage, EV, power electronics, or other safety-critical product experience
Experience taking a product through safety certification (UL 9540, UL 1973, or similar)
SysML or other MBSE modeling experience
Experience with requirements management tools (Jama, Polarion, or similar)
Prior work in a startup or fast-moving NPI environment

Responsibilities

Lead functional decomposition of the BESS product: define system functions, allocate them across subsystems, and maintain functional flow block diagrams as the product evolves
Develop and own the site and battery system Concept of Operations and use cases, leveraging them to define system functions and derived requirements.
Create and manage system state diagrams and mode definitions, including operating, fault, and degraded states and the transitions between them
Derive and manage lower-level requirements from system requirements and functions, with clear traceability from customer need through verification
Engage third parties, including EMS vendors, consultants, and site owners, to solicit interface definitions and product-level requirements, and integrate them into the system baseline
Own the Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment for the product, including hazard identification, risk classification, and derivation of safety requirements
Lead system-level Design Failure Modes & Effects Analysis, driving cross-functional participation and closing actions to completion
Partner with firmware and modeling engineers to ensure behavioral requirements are implementable, testable, and correctly realized, including review of control logic against state definitions
Support verification planning by defining how functional and safety requirements will be proven out at the system level
Maintain behavioral architecture and functional safety documentation as the product evolves