Power Systems Engineer

American Terawatt · San Francisco

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About American Terawatt

American Terawatt is building a new industrial electric grid for the United States. Power systems engineering is at the core of what we do.

We design and deploy advanced power transmission systems, serving large industrial loads, gigawatts at a time. Our systems deliver power to everything from frontier AI datacenters to advanced automated manufacturing, refineries, mines, and more.

We make interconnection fast, simple, and cheap. On our network, generation owners get their projects online faster, delivering abundant power at competitive prices.

The backbone of American Terawatt’s network is HVDC transmission, anchored by our unique terminal design. American Terawatt’s terminals are standardized, modular, and natively integrate energy storage. Each terminal is designed to expand to operate as a full node on our future HVDC transmission network.

About the role

We are hiring a Power Systems Engineer to help design, model, test, and deploy our HVDC terminals and transmission systems.

You will work with a Principal Engineer, the broader R&D Engineering team, and our test engineers and technicians, taking ownership of power-system modeling, subsystem validation, and commissioning support.

This is a hands-on builder role for someone who wants to solve complex power-delivery problems and help turn a new HVDC terminal design into operating infrastructure.

This is currently an individual contributor role, with the opportunity to grow into broader system-level technical ownership as the company scales. You will report directly to a Principal Engineer.

What you will own

As a Power Systems Engineer at American Terawatt, you will:

• Contribute to the specification and design of our HVDC systems, including developing and validating terminal subsystems in both simulation and physical hardware. You will develop deep, end-to-end knowledge of the terminal design over time.

• Use EMT and transmission-system models to evaluate how customer requirements, grid conditions, and available vendor equipment affect terminal performance. Turn the results into updated requirements, equipment specifications, and design recommendations that can be delivered on schedule.

• Develop and execute subsystem validation tests with test engineers and technicians, including overstress and fault-injection testing against defined design limits. Compare physical results with simulations, resolve discrepancies, update models and designs, and support field commissioning to verify performance.
  
  

What success looks like

You will help shape the exact roadmap, but we expect success in this role to include the following early milestones:

In your first month

• Build a working understanding of the terminal architecture, key subsystem requirements, and current engineering priorities.

• Set up the required modeling and testing tools and reproduce key baseline results.

• Take ownership of an initial analysis or design task and align with the Principal Engineer on the approach and deliverables.
  

By month six

• Independently own models and studies for assigned terminal subsystems and use the results to guide design decisions.

• Deliver design updates that address system requirements, vendor constraints, and project timelines.

• Complete a full validation cycle from simulation through physical testing and contribute to a major testing or commissioning milestone.

What we are looking for

Required Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or a related field.

• 3+ years of commercial experience in power systems or electrical engineering.

• Hands-on experience with transmission planning tools (e.g., PSSE, PSLF, DIgSILENT PowerFactory) in addition to EMT tools (e.g., PSCAD, EMTP), and/or industrial/distribution tools (e.g., ETAP, SKM PowerTools).

• Experience in the full engineering lifecycle from concept through design, development, testing, deployment, and commissioning of a functioning commercial system.
  
  

Preferred Experience

• Master's or PhD in Electrical Engineering, Controls, or Power Systems.

• Experience designing across the entire spectrum of power delivery and generation infrastructure (medium-voltage and high-voltage applications).

• Experience with grid interconnection processes, utility coordination, and applicable codes and standards (NEC, NERC, IEEE, IEC, CIGRE, ANSI, NESC).

• Experience performing advanced power system studies, including harmonic analysis (e.g., IEEE 519 compliance), control interaction studies (e.g., sub-synchronous control interaction), and protection studies (e.g., short circuit analysis, relay coordination) for complex electrical systems.

• Experience designing and operating islanded power systems supporting critical loads.

• Proficiency with Python or MATLAB for simulation automation and results post-processing.

• Familiarity with DC transmission architectures.

• Background in data center or other high-density compute power infrastructure, or exposure to AI infrastructure or hyperscale facility development.

Details

• Travel: As required

• Reports to: Principal Engineer
  
  

Compensation & Benefits

• Compensation: Competitive compensation package, including salary and equity, commensurate with experience.

• Healthcare: Medical, dental, and vision coverage, including 75% coverage for dependents and spouses.

• Wellness: Up to $300/month reimbursement for gym and wellness expenses, or Bay Club membership for SF-based employees.

• Meals: Lunch provided daily when working from an office.

• Time off: Unlimited PTO with manager approval, plus company-wide office closures for July 4 week and one week in December.

• Additional perks: Laptop of choice provided, convenient SF office location on the Embarcadero and near public transit (pre-tax transit benefit), and employee contribution 401(k) program.

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