Staff Project Engineer - Grid Scale

About the company

Mainspring Energy manufactures and delivers fuel-flexible, low-emissions local power solutions that rapidly add new capacity and deliver reliable, affordable, and sustainable electric power. The company began commercial shipments of its Mainspring Linear Generators in 2020 and today has hundreds of megawatts in advanced development and field operations for leading Fortune 500 companies, data centers, and utilities. Mainspring also partners with global energy leaders including AEP, NextEra Energy Resources, Schneider Electric, and more.

The core values that ground our work, guide our decisions, and connect us together: Pragmatic Optimism Excellence without Ego Proactive Collaboration

Your tasks

Job Overview Project Engineers report to the Project Engineering Manager within the Project Delivery department. A key enabler of Mainspring’s mission is the ability of its team to deliver solutions based on our linear generator technology that solve customer problems in the cross-section of resiliency and clean power supply.

The project engineering team provides the technical expertise, guidance, and support to deploy linear generators into the field efficiently—building customer confidence and enabling future scalability. This role focuses on our largest deployments: sites of 10MW and above that either connect directly to the grid or serve large load sites such as data centers.

This role will be responsible for

• Leading the overall technical definition and direction of assigned projects, including site layouts, single-line diagrams, equipment selection, sequences of operation, plant controls, communication, and network security schemes, protection and metering schemes, grounding, code and grid code compliance, fuel systems, and safety systems
• Serving as the technical integrator across electrical, mechanical, civil, controls, fuel, and utility scopes: providing design coordination, value engineering, and interface reviews so all disciplines come together into one buildable, compliant project, and collaborating with project managers, development, procurement, and other stakeholders within timelines and budgets
• Providing technical support to the interconnection team: supplying plant data, single-lines, and equipment models for applications, reviewing Feasibility, System Impact, and Facility Studies, and advising on technical terms in interconnection agreements
• For large-load and data center sites, defining how the plant serves and protects the load, including islanding, load-following, and transfer schemes
• Guiding selection and specification of medium-voltage and plant interconnection equipment such as switchgear, breakers, transformers, protective relays, revenue meters, reclosers, and PPC/SCADA hardware, plus fuel equipment such as gas regulators and valves; developing specifications, sequences of operation, EPC scopes of work, design standards, and testing procedures; and supporting procurement and proposal requests
• Working directly with clients & engineering partners to translate project requirements into official plan sets using best practices, QA/QC standards, and due diligence; answering RFIs, approving submittals, and reviewing documents and designs to close gaps in function, performance, scope, and responsibility from initial design through commissioning
• Approving design variances, independently resolving engineering modifications to maintain design intent and schedules
• Conducting engineering reviews of site assessments, inspections, and power system studies (load flow, short circuit, coordination, arc flash), and ensuring plant controls and protection settings meet utility, ISO/RTO, IEEE 1547/2800, and applicable NERC/FERC requirements, including ride-through, reactive power, and telemetry
• Monitoring changes to regional grid codes, utility interconnection handbooks, and IEEE/NERC standards, proactively compiling compliance risks and necessary product adaptations
• Supporting permitting for large facilities in coordination with development, environmental, and AHJ stakeholders
• Leading final grid code compliance demonstrations, including NERC/IEEE (1547/2800) model validation and protection relay checkout, and supporting commissioning and energization activities such as witness testing, metering checkout, and utility acceptance testing to secure final Permission to Operate (PTO)
• Participating in and developing improvement initiatives, using Lean or similar methods, that increase operational efficiency within a rapidly growing project delivery department
• Documenting execution challenges and creating training materials and instructional documents to better define engineering requirements for future deployments
• Travelling to project sites at varying stages based on availability

Requirements

• B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering or related discipline (power systems emphasis preferred; Mechanical, Systems, Controls, or Mechatronics considered). Technical degree and equivalent experience may be substituted
• Proven working experience as a project engineer or power systems engineer with 8+ years of relevant experience, including at least 2–5 years in a direct contributing role on grid-scale generation or storage projects utilizing at least some of the following:
• Solar PV, Central Inverters, Battery Energy Storage Systems (AC- and DC-coupled), Modular Generation Packages, Microturbines, Reciprocating Engines/Gensets, Large Fuel Cells, Cogen/CHP, Plant Controllers/DERMS, Virtual Power Plants
• Experience with most of the following is essential: project management, medium-voltage (5 kV+) distribution and protection system design, data acquisition and control systems (SCADA/PPC/EMS), understanding of technical drawings & construction plan sets, and electrical system troubleshooting
• Familiar with construction processes, sequencing, and contractor management for large generation sites
• Strong grasp of balance-of-plant interfaces, including equipment foundations, structural layouts, fuel/gas delivery systems, and hazardous area requirements, with proven ability to review, cross-reference, and approve multi-disciplinary EPC design packages (single-lines, P&IDs, civil site plans)
• Familiar with rules, regulations, best practices, and standards for the power generation industry, including NEC, NESC, IEEE (1547, 2800, C37 series), UL 1741, utility interconnection handbooks, regional grid codes, and the proper sizing/installation/use of power system equipment
• Working knowledge of FERC interconnection requirements and NERC reliability standards as they apply to generation facilities
• Comprehension of medium-voltage protection functions, utility-grade protective relays (e.g., SEL), revenue metering, and their use in power plant design and at the point of interconnection
• Ability to interpret and act on power system study results (load flow, short circuit, coordination, arc flash, power quality, dynamic/ride-through), including outputs from ETAP, SKM, CYME, or PSS/E
• Familiarity with SCADA systems and power plant controllers for voltage regulation and dynamic power control, plus industrial network protocols and devices (e.g., DNP3, Modbus, IEC 61850)
• Excellent decision making, communication, time management, documentation, and organizational skills. Self-directed, with an ownership mindset and enthusiasm for building processes within a growing team

Other

Does your experience not meet all of our posted requirements? Studies have shown that some people are less likely to apply to positions unless they meet every listed requirement. At Mainspring, we are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, flexible, and collaborative environment, so if you want to help us transition the world to clean and affordable electricity, and don’t meet all posted requirements for a particular role, we’d still love to hear from you. Mainspring can sometimes be flexible enough to shift responsibilities for the right person, or otherwise identify open or upcoming roles that may better fit your professional background. In more traditional words, Mainspring Energy, Inc is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability. This compensation and benefits information is based on Mainspring Energy's estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future. We generally do not negotiate on salary once we have made an offer. The level of pay within the range will depend on a variety of job-related factors that may include location, relevant prior experience and/or education, or particular skills and expertise. New hires joining the company tend to be paid within the starting base pay range noted above, with opportunities to increase pay over time based on development of additional skills, competencies, and company-specific knowledge.