Energy Systems Engineer

Job Description: Systems Engineer – Energy Systems & Embedded Software

Company: NAVIA Energy Inc.
Location: San Jose, California (with customer-site travel)
Employment Type: Full-time
Travel: Required, including vendor facilities, customer sites, and energy system deployment locations
Work Authorization: U.S. Citizenship Required

About NAVIA Energy

NAVIA Energy is developing an AI-powered autonomous energy operations platform that integrates solar PV, battery energy storage systems (BESS), inverters, smart load controllers, and grid-connected energy assets. Our technology helps commercial and industrial facilities, microgrids, and mission-critical installations improve energy efficiency, reliability, resilience, and operational performance.

Position Overview

NAVIA Energy is seeking a versatile, hands-on Systems Engineer to support the integration, installation, commissioning, testing, and optimization of distributed energy systems. The ideal candidate combines practical knowledge of solar and battery systems with embedded software development, industrial communication protocols, system performance monitoring, and field engineering.

The engineer will work closely with NAVIA's engineering team, equipment vendors, installation contractors, and customers to develop, integrate, test, and deploy complete energy management solutions at customer sites.

Key Responsibilities

1. Energy Systems Integration and Deployment

• Support the design, integration, installation, and commissioning of solar PV systems, battery energy storage systems (BESS), inverters, smart load controllers, meters, and associated electrical equipment.
• Coordinate with solar EPCs, battery suppliers, inverter manufacturers, electrical contractors, and other technology vendors.
• Support grid-connected and microgrid deployments, including grid import/export configurations, energy flow management, and load control.
• Assist with electrical system integration, equipment configuration, functional testing, troubleshooting, and site acceptance testing.
• Work with engineering teams to translate system designs into reliable field deployments.

2. Embedded Software and Communication Protocols

• Develop, configure, test, and debug embedded software for energy monitoring, control, and edge computing systems.
• Implement and troubleshoot industrial communication protocols, particularly Modbus RTU and Modbus TCP.
• Integrate communication interfaces with inverters, BESS controllers, meters, sensors, and smart load controllers.
• Develop device drivers, communication interfaces, configuration utilities, and diagnostic tools as needed.
• Support hardware-software integration, firmware validation, and system-level debugging.

3. Software Installation and System Configuration

• Install, configure, and maintain NAVIA software on edge computers, gateways, and customer-site systems.
• Support software deployment, firmware updates, device provisioning, network configuration, and remote connectivity.
• Validate data acquisition and communication between field devices and NAVIA's energy management platform.
• Document installation procedures, configuration settings, troubleshooting steps, and software release versions.

4. Energy Performance Monitoring and Optimization

• Establish and track performance metrics for solar PV, BESS, inverters, grid interaction, and controllable loads.
• Collect and analyze operational data, including energy generation, consumption, battery state of charge, charging/discharging power, grid import/export, and system efficiency.
• Develop performance dashboards, test reports, and system validation procedures.
• Identify performance deviations, communication failures, energy losses, and equipment integration issues.
• Support testing and validation of energy management algorithms, automated controls, and AI-based optimization functions.

5. Customer-Site Engineering and Technical Support

• Work directly with engineering teams to prepare, install, commission, and validate systems at customer sites.
• Conduct site assessments, equipment inspections, integration testing, and troubleshooting.
• Coordinate with customers, contractors, and vendors to resolve technical issues and meet deployment schedules.
• Provide technical documentation, training, and post-deployment support.
• Travel to customer locations and vendor facilities as required.

Required Qualifications

• U.S. citizenship.
• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Energy Systems, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• Hands-on experience integrating or deploying solar PV, battery storage, inverters, power electronics, industrial controls, or related energy systems.
• Experience with embedded software development, firmware integration, or hardware-software system integration.
• Practical knowledge of Modbus RTU/TCP and industrial communication interfaces.
• Experience installing and configuring software on embedded computers, gateways, Linux-based systems, or industrial edge devices.
• Ability to troubleshoot electrical, software, networking, and communication issues systematically.
• Experience collecting, analyzing, and reporting system performance data.
• Willingness and ability to travel to vendor and customer sites for installation, commissioning, testing, and troubleshooting.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to work effectively with multidisciplinary engineering teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with microgrids, distributed energy resources (DERs), energy management systems (EMS), or distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS).
• Knowledge of battery management systems (BMS), state-of-charge estimation, battery charging/discharging controls, and inverter operating modes.
• Experience with grid export controls, export limits, zero-export configurations, demand response, or peak shaving.
• Proficiency in C/C++, Python, Linux, Git, and software debugging tools.
• Familiarity with MQTT, REST APIs, Ethernet, TCP/IP, serial communications, and industrial networking.
• Experience with data acquisition, time-series databases, dashboards, and automated test frameworks.
• Familiarity with electrical drawings, wiring diagrams, single-line diagrams, and electrical safety practices.
• Experience with commissioning checklists, system acceptance testing, root-cause analysis, and technical documentation.
• Knowledge of cybersecurity practices for connected energy systems.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Successful installation and commissioning of integrated energy systems within project schedules.
• Reliable communication and data acquisition across inverters, BESS, meters, and load controllers.
• Accuracy and completeness of energy system performance monitoring and reporting.
• Successful implementation and validation of Modbus interfaces and equipment controls.
• Reduction in deployment time, integration defects, and recurring field issues.
• Timely resolution of vendor, software, hardware, and customer-site technical issues.
• Quality of test plans, commissioning documentation, and deployment procedures.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a hands-on, multidisciplinary engineer who is equally comfortable working with energy equipment vendors, debugging embedded software, analyzing system performance, and commissioning integrated systems at customer sites. The candidate should be resourceful, execution-oriented, comfortable working in a startup environment, and motivated to help deploy innovative AI-enabled energy solutions in real-world operating environments.

Equal Opportunity: NAVIA Energy is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to qualified applicants.

Pay: $100,000.00 - $120,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Health insurance

Work Location: In person