Control Systems Engineer
First Principle has been retained by an early, exceptionally well-backed team building a new industrial electric grid for the United States, delivering gigawatts of power directly to next-generation data centers and advanced manufacturing hubs.
At the heart of their network is a power terminal with integrated energy storage. It’s built to hold a link stable on its own, with no grid inertia to lean on, putting controls at the core of the whole system. With projects already in active development across the West, the R&D team is now building the control platform that will take this hardware from simulation to the field.
We’re seeking a Control Systems Engineer to develop, test, and deploy the control software behind these terminals. You’ll own key subsystems end to end, working alongside principal engineers with decades of system design behind them. This is a hands‑on builder role with a high level of architectural ownership.
Key Responsibilities:
Own key control software subsystems end to end (development, testing, deployment, and maintenance) while contributing to the terminal and network-level control architecture.
Model and validate control performance in Simulink or PLECS, then prove it out on SIL/HIL platforms before anything reaches real hardware.
Work closely with power systems engineers to keep power delivery seamless from each terminal and across the wider network.
Support in-situ commissioning of controls software at project sites.
Help build and improve the team’s controls development pipeline, including CI/CD, version control, and issue tracking.
Success Criteria A degree in Engineering or a related field, with 3+ years of commercial experience delivering control systems in safety‑critical domains.
Deep fluency in control fundamentals: feedback and feedforward control, state estimation, PID tuning, and stability analysis.
Hands‑on experience validating controls through simulation and on HIL/SIL platforms, with strong debugging skills across the software, firmware, and hardware boundary.
Relevant backgrounds may include EV powertrain and motor control, robotics, aerospace, grid‑scale energy storage, or power conversion.
This is a rare chance to write the control software for a new kind of transmission network, applying the same fundamentals as inverters and drives at gigawatt scale. On‑site in San Francisco, with meaningful equity, and fantastic benefits for an early‑stage team.