Control Systems Engineering Lead

Control Systems Engineering Lead

Remote (Located in San Francisco is a plus) | Competitive | Permanent

About the Company

Our client is an early stage company designing, building, and operating modular natural gas power for AI data centers. Units use reciprocating engines and are deployed behind the meter so sites can energize in months instead of years. The company is led by repeat founders with multiple successful exits in compute and software, and deep investing experience in power and real estate.

The Role

You own the control system that makes modular behind the meter power behave as one machine: engines, batteries, switchgear, and UPS across hundreds of units, feeding AI data center load that steps from 10 to 100% in milliseconds. Vendor controllers handle single unit paralleling. Coordinated fleet scale control of hybrid gas and storage against GPU load is unsolved, and that control stack is the IP you will build and the company will own.

You will work across two products. The Modular ePod combines MV switchgear, BESS for transient support, MV transformers, UPS, protection, controls, and the enclosure and skid. Modular generation is a packaged reciprocating engine module and its governor and AVR integration into the ePod control scheme. You report directly to the founders, with site travel as needed.

What You’ll Do

• Set the architecture. Define the electrical and controls architecture, including the single line diagram, protection, BESS sizing and inverter control mode, switchgear and transformer selection, and UPS topology.
• Write the control system. Build unit and fleet level control covering genset and BESS coordination, load step handling, paralleling, black start, islanded and grid tied modes, and fault detection and recovery.
• Model first, then test. Build dynamic plant models driven by measured GPU load traces, along with the HIL and automated test rig that proves controller code against them.
• Build the fleet layer. Deliver telemetry, state estimation, predictive dispatch from data center load signals, health monitoring, and OTA updates.
• Manage OEMs and integrators. Select partners and decide what to buy, what to write, and what to patent.
• Own unit performance. Hold the spec and acceptance criteria for every unit, and own transient response, availability, and power quality in the field.
• Build the team. Hire and lead the controls and test organization.

The IP You’ll Create

• Hybrid genset and BESS control for GPU load, with storage sizing and dispatch that lets engines run at steady state while batteries absorb steps, cutting BESS capex and fuel burn.
• Fleet scale coordination of hundreds of paralleled units using predictive dispatch from data center telemetry, rather than reactive droop.
• A plant model and HIL test platform that works as a digital twin, so controllers can be tuned, certified, and updated without field risk.
• Fault handling and degraded mode logic that keeps the load up through unit failures.

What You Bring

• 5+ years in control systems for high consequence hardware (power, microgrid, BESS, launch vehicle, nuclear plant, or defense), with systems shipped and operated.
• Strong control theory and model based design, including multi loop control, state estimation, system ID, stability under large disturbances, and MPC. Fluency in Simulink, Modelica, or PSCAD, and in production control code (C/C++, Rust, or PLC where appropriate).
• Real time embedded and safety rated control experience: deterministic execution, industrial protocols (IEC 61850, Modbus, CAN), FDIR, redundancy, and safety case discipline (IEC 61508, or a nuclear or aerospace equivalent).
• Hands on experience building HIL and automated test rigs.
• Power systems depth, or a proven ability to acquire it fast: machine and inverter dynamics, protection, MV equipment, and IEEE 519, 1547, and 2800. Aerospace, defense, and nuclear candidates will be paired with a field power engineer but must own the physics.
• A track record of defensible IP, such as patents or control architectures competitors could not replicate quickly.
• Ideal backgrounds include modular and distributed power developers, engine, switchgear, and power electronics OEMs, and high performance controls teams in electric vehicles, space, and defense.

Compensation

Competitive cash plus meaningful equity. This is a senior leadership role at an early stage company, so we do not have a set minimum or maximum range for this role.

Interested?

This is a confidential search conducted by root/edge. To learn more, contact Emily Walker at emily@root-edge.com.