Compliance Engineer

Location: Mountain View/San Jose Bay Area
Team: System Engineering

The Impact You’ll Make:

We are seeking an experienced Senior Compliance Engineer to lead global product compliance for next-generation renewable energy products including utility-scale photovoltaic systems, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), Power Conversion Systems (PCS), intelligent power distribution equipment, and high-voltage power electronics. This role will own compliance strategy from concept through certification, ensuring products meet global regulatory, safety, EMC, grid interconnection, environmental, and market access requirements while supporting rapid product development.

Key Responsibilities:

Compliance Strategy

• Own global compliance strategy throughout the product lifecycle.
• Develop certification roadmaps and regulatory plans.
• Identify applicable standards for North America and international markets.
• Support design teams to achieve compliance by design.

Safety Engineering

• Lead product safety evaluations.
• Review insulation coordination, creepage and clearance, electrical spacing, grounding, touch current, abnormal testing and fault analysis.
• Support safety risk assessments.

Certification Programs

• Manage certification activities with UL, CSA, TÜV and other NRTLs.
• Coordinate witness testing and certification schedules.
• Review certification reports and resolve non-conformances.

EMC & Environmental Compliance

• Develop EMC qualification plans.
• Support IEC 61000 immunity and emissions testing.
• Coordinate environmental qualification including IEC 60068 testing.

Grid Compliance

• Support IEEE 1547, UL 1741 SB, IEEE 1547.1 and utility interconnection requirements.
• Review inverter control functions including ride-through, Volt-VAR, Volt-Watt, Frequency-Watt and anti-islanding.

Standards Leadership

• Interpret new and evolving standards.
• Provide guidance to engineering teams.
• Maintain corporate compliance matrix.

Documentation

• Prepare certification documentation, technical construction files, risk assessments and compliance reports.
• Review drawings, BOMs and design changes for regulatory impact.

Cross Functional Leadership

• • Partner with Hardware, Firmware, Systems, Reliability, Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Product Management.
  • Support customer audits and regulatory agency interactions.

The Skills You Bring:

• BS or MS in Electrical Engineering or related discipline.
• 8+ years of product compliance or certification engineering experience.
• Experience working directly with UL, CSA, TÜV or equivalent certification bodies.
• Strong understanding of renewable energy products and power electronics.
• Excellent technical writing and communication skills.

Nice to Have:

• Experience with utility-scale solar and BESS.
• Knowledge of grid codes and interconnection requirements.
• Experience leading certification projects from concept through production.
• Experience with risk analysis and functional safety.

About the Tech Stack 

• UL 1741, UL 1741 SA/SB, UL 62109, UL 9540, UL 9540A, UL 1998, UL 1699B.
• IEEE 1547, IEEE 1547.1, IEEE 2800.
• IEC 62109, IEC 62477, IEC 61000, IEC 60068, IEC 60990.
• NFPA 70, NEC Article 690 and 706.
• CE, UKCA, FCC, RoHS, REACH, WEEE.

Benefits and Perks:

Competitive Compensation Package

Health Insurance: We offer 100% coverage of employee premiums under a Gold-level PPO plan. Dental & Vision Insurance: 50% of employee premiums are covered.

Retirement Plan: A 401(k) plan with a 6% employer match.

Additional Information:

Minimum salary of $210,000 to maximum salary of $265,000 + equity + benefits.

The range provided is 1AP’s reasonable estimate of the base compensation for this role. The actual amount will be based on job-related and non-discriminatory factors such as location, experience, training, skills, and abilities. Consult with your Recruiter during the initial call to determine a more targeted range based on these job-related factors.

About 1st Avenue Power:

At 1st Avenue Power, we are on a mission to deliver simple, fast-to-deploy, customer-centric and intelligent power systems leveraging the abundance of solar to provide inexpensive and reliable clean energy to global customers from data centers to energy starved communities around the world. We envision a future where every community, business, and nation thrives on the limitless potential of clean energy, united in a shared commitment to a sustainable and equitable world.

You will be working with Dr. Tom Buttgenbach, one of the most successful clean energy technology innovators and entrepreneurs who has been a driving force in making solar-based energy solutions the cheapest and most reliable energy option. Tom founded and led Avantus (formerly known as “8minute Solar Energy“), to become one of the largest and most profitable solar and energy storage companies in the United States and the largest in California, including delivering over 17% of Los Angeles’ power.  

When Tom sold his interest in Avantus’ development business  to KKR in mid-2024, it had delivered over $1 billion in profit and secured over $10 Billion in power purchase agreements and project financings with a pipeline of over 30 GW of solar and 90 GWh of energy storage, capable of powering the homes of more than 20 million Americans day and night. 

Tom’s family office investment firm, 1st Avenue Capital, is building teams for the next generation of advanced solar power system architecture and AI to aggressively drive down the cost of and equitable access to clean and reliable energy.[1] 1st Avenue’s advanced large scale power systems are addressing the increasing inadequacy of the grid to meet the massively growing power demands of the digital economy, while its intelligent distributed solar utilities are leapfrogging the grid to provide equitable access to inexpensive, clean and reliable power to underserved communities around the world.

1AI Energy, the employing entity for 1st Avenue Power, and 1st Avenue Power are committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and will not discriminate against an applicant or employee based on race (inclusive of traits associated with race, including hair texture and protective hairstyles), color, religion, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding), age, veteran or military status, marital status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, reproductive decision-making, or any other legally recognized protected class under federal, state, or local law.  We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.. Applicants with disabilities may be entitled to reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), and local laws. A reasonable accommodation is a change in the way things are normally done which will ensure an equal employment opportunity without imposing undue hardship on 1AI Energy or 1st Avenue Power. Please inform the company's personnel representative if you need assistance completing an application or to otherwise participate in the application process. 

Join our team and make a real difference in the world.

[1: Additionally, 1st Avenue is in the business of acquiring projects where there has been a final notice-to-proceed or financial close.]