Technologist - R&D

ON.energy•Houston, TX

About The Position

ON.energy is building the backbone of energy and AI infrastructure powering grid-safe data centers and mission-critical facilities. The company supplies and operates hyperscale power systems that solve the toughest resilience challenges, delivering custom solutions for AI data centers, mission-critical facilities, and front-of-the-meter assets. ON recently announced a 5GW partnership, with 3GW currently under construction across multiple hyperscale data center campuses. With patented technology and proprietary software, ON.energy develops projects worldwide that set new benchmarks for resilience. The Technologist will serve as a senior technical advisor, technology scout, and innovation strategist for ON.energy’s Research & Development organization. This role is responsible for identifying and evaluating emerging technologies, building repeatable technology evaluation rubrics, advising leadership on innovation opportunities, and translating ambiguous technical options into defensible recommendations. Residing within the R&D team, the position ensures that ON.energy’s technology roadmap is grounded in rigorous systems thinking, practical techno-economic analysis, supplier diligence, and clear decision criteria.

Requirements

B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Power Engineering, Physics, Materials Science, Controls, Energy Systems, or a related technical field required.
M.S. or Ph.D. preferred where paired with applied product, project, or technology evaluation experience.
10+ years of relevant experience in energy storage, power electronics, grid integration, controls, DERs, data center power, UPS systems, battery systems, product development, technical due diligence, or adjacent advanced-energy technologies.
Strong understanding of BESS, PCS/inverters, EMS/SCADA, BMS, controls, thermal systems, power conversion, grid-code considerations, reliability, availability, warranties, or commercial guarantees. Depth in at least one domain is required; breadth across multiple domains is highly valued.
Demonstrated ability to use first-principles reasoning, model-based analysis, techno-economic evaluation, and structured decision frameworks to clarify complex technology tradeoffs.
Hands-on experience building practical analysis tools in Python, MATLAB, Excel, databases, dashboards, or similar environments.
Familiarity with AI-assisted engineering workflows is preferred, provided outputs are reviewed and validated by technical judgment.
Experience engaging vendors, OEMs, consultants, laboratories, internal engineering teams, commercial stakeholders, and executives to validate claims, align expectations, and recommend action.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Able to produce executive-ready recommendations while preserving technical traceability, assumptions, and evidence quality.

Nice To Haves

Experience with utility-scale BESS, microgrids, solar-plus-storage, data center power infrastructure, grid-forming/grid-following inverter systems, or UPS products.
Experience with DOE/FMEA, supplier qualification, laboratory test planning, battery characterization, lifecycle modeling, or reliability analytics.
Familiarity with standards and compliance frameworks relevant to storage, inverters, UPS, safety, grid integration, utility interconnection, or data center infrastructure.
Ability to develop product or technology roadmaps, make/buy/partner recommendations, proof-of-concept plans, and technology readiness assessments.
Comfort working across technical, commercial, and executive audiences without losing rigor or oversimplifying tradeoffs.

Responsibilities

Develop structured evaluation frameworks for technologies, vendors, product concepts, and partner capabilities.
Define weighted criteria covering technical performance, maturity, manufacturability, safety, compliance, reliability, lifecycle value, integration complexity, and commercial fit (partnering with ON's supply chain team) to identify engineering-adjacent metrics and scoring rubrics.
Create minimum thresholds and stage-gate decision criteria for concept screening, supplier down-selection, proof-of-concept approval, pilot execution, and product adoption.
Thoroughly document assumptions, scoring rationale, evidence gaps, risk registers, and recommendations so technology decisions can be reviewed, challenged, and reused across projects.
"Toolify" or "systematize" approaches wherever possible, leveraging agentic AI to develop repeatable, automatic process for technology evaluation and reporting to ensure broad, easily-accessible knowledge transfer internal to ON.
Monitor OEM roadmaps, supplier activity, academic research, national laboratories, standards bodies, customer requirements, market participation trends, and adjacent industries to identify technologies relevant to ON.energy’s product strategy.
Maintain a prioritized pipeline of emerging technologies, companies, architectures, and research topics.
Recommend which opportunities merit deeper diligence, proof-of-concept work, or executive review.
Translate scouting findings into concise briefs that explain relevance to energy storage, power conversion, controls, grid integration, data center power, UPS applications, and future product architectures.
Advise R&D and company leadership on technology trends, build/buy/partner tradeoffs, supplier claims, integration risks, product roadmap implications, and recommended next steps.
Convert unclear or early-stage ideas into decision-ready concept summaries, including value proposition, technical approach, target use cases, risks, proof points, and resource requirements.
Support product, engineering, supply chain, commercial, and executive teams by providing technical diligence and structured recommendations for technology-related decisions.
Build or supervise practical models that compare lifecycle value, augmentation impacts, efficiency, auxiliary loads, availability, reliability, warranty exposure, CapEx/OpEx, and operational constraints.
Assess interfaces across batteries, PCS/inverters, EMS/SCADA, BMS, thermal systems, protection, controls, metering, communications, and grid interconnection requirements.
Identify technical, commercial, compliance, and implementation risks. Where useful, apply sensitivity analysis, optimization, probability-based methods, or scenario comparisons to clarify decision quality.
Frame the right technical questions for OEMs, EPCs, consultants, laboratories, and technology partners.
Validate claims against data, test evidence, standards, references, and integration realities.
Create supplier and technology scorecards that compare fit to ON.energy requirements, technical maturity, cost-risk profile, validation burden, serviceability, and implementation schedule.
Own and manage technology pilot programs that reduce adoption risk through disciplined component-level and system-level validation.
Define pilot objectives, success criteria, test plans, integration requirements, instrumentation needs, failure modes, decision gates, and exit criteria so pilots produce actionable evidence for product development, supplier qualification, and executive go/no-go decisions.
Develop lightweight tools, templates, Python/Excel workflows, and AI-assisted review approaches that improve repeatability and speed while preserving engineering judgment and human review.
Produce concise technical memos, comparison matrices, market scans, technology briefs, decision records, and executive summaries that can become part of ON.energy’s R&D reference library.
Codify lessons learned from technology evaluations, supplier discussions, pilots, and project outcomes so later product decisions start from a stronger evidence base.

Benefits

Competitive salary + annual performance-based bonus eligibility
Medical, dental, and vision insurance
401(k) with company match
Paid time off and company holidays
Professional development and growth opportunities
Opportunity to grow with a mission-driven team shaping the future of clean energy
Competitive salary + annual performance bonus eligibility
Christmas Bonus (Aguinaldo): 30 days
Major medical expenses and life insurance
Paid time off and holidays (per local policy)