Staff Software Systems Engineer

About the role

Are you ready to build America’s energy future? Form Energy is an American manufacturing and energy technology company. We’re revolutionizing energy storage with cost-effective, multi-day technology designed to keep the electric grid secure and reliable, even during extended periods of stress. By strengthening the electric system and reimagining what’s possible, we’re giving clean energy a whole new form!

In recent years, Form Energy has earned a number of accolades, including being named by TIME as a “Best Invention”, MIT Technology Review as a “Top Climate Tech Company To Watch”, and Fast Company as “One of the Next Big Things In Tech”. We are making rapid progress on our mission of delivering energy storage for a better world, and our team is growing just as rapidly to meet demand. We have signed contracts with leading electric utilities across the United States and production of our iron-air batteries is underway at our first high-volume manufacturing facility in West Virginia.

Working for Form Energy is more than just a job, it’s a chance to be part of something extraordinary. And now - right as we significantly scale up battery manufacturing - might be the most exciting moment in the company’s history to join. We are assembling a team of highly talented and driven individuals across the country. Driven by our core values of humanity, excellence, and creativity, our team is determined to deliver on our mission and transform the energy landscape for the better.

Feeling energized to make a meaningful impact on the world? Then keep reading - you’ve come to the right place.

Role Description

The Software Systems Assurance team at Form Energy is growing! We coordinate the software architecture, requirements, and verification strategy for Multi-Day Energy Storage products that enable gigawatt-scale battery power plants.

We are looking for a Staff Software Systems Engineer to act as the technical authority bridging complex software architecture, functional safety, and embedded hardware integration. Depending on your background, this role offers the opportunity to specialize in either Broad Systems Architecture (facilitating cross-team design of distributed, safety-critical systems) or Product Assurance & Formal Modeling (using MBSE/Requirements-As-Code to translate high-level security and safety specs into executable, version-controlled schemas and bare-metal execution).

What You'll Do

• Systems Decomposition: Distill, organize, and document the architectural structures, state machines, and requirements of a grid-scale battery electric storage system (BESS), from grid command down to battery cell firmware.
• Cross-Functional Architecture: Facilitate the design and implementation of a distributed, fault-tolerant, safety-critical system, bridging the gap between controls, electronics, and power systems engineers.
• Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE): Transition system state machines, Functional Safety (FuSA) Hardware-Software Interfaces (HSI), and Interface Control Documents (ICDs) from static documents into version-controlled data schemas.
• Formal Authoring, Translation & Verification: Author/translate high-level security specifications and functional safety hazard models (UL 1998/5500, ISO 21434) into verifiable execution contracts and deterministic rules.
• Disambiguation: Get in the code to get answers. You will locate and resolve ambiguity across the system, showing up for the team when context or clarity is needed.

What You'll Bring

• 8+ years of relevant experience in software engineering, embedded systems engineering, or product assurance, including 2+ years of technical leadership experience.
• Demonstrated track record of delivering complex, production-grade embedded systems, safety-critical hardware/software, or service-oriented architectures at scale.
• Fluency in architectural design, failure/risk analysis, and cross-functional communication (diagramming, explaining, and specifying on a near-real-time basis).
• Strong foundation in discrete logic, mathematical modeling, or formal specification, with a demonstrated ability to implement executable specifications using structured data schemas (e.g., JSON Schema, Protobuf, YAML, CUE) rather than static documents.
• Ability to collaborate across diverse, interdisciplinary stakeholders to achieve unified, highly robust hardware/software designs under tight deadlines.

Preferred Qualifications

• For the Assurance/Lab Track: Hands-on experience reading bare-metal C code and performing deep diagnostic debugging using protocol analyzers (Wireshark) and embedded debuggers across CAN, SPI, Ethernet, or Embedded Linux/MPUs.
• For the Formal Modeling Track: Direct capability to decompose complex programmable component safety requirements (e.g., UL 1998, UL 5500) into concrete software safety assertions. Experience with formal specification tools (like TLA+) is a major plus.

#LI-Onsite

Humanity is a cornerstone of Form Energy’s culture, and we make sure our compensation and benefits reflect that. Form Energy offers competitive salaries, stock options, and a holistic benefits package to ensure all employees have what they need to thrive while working here.

When it comes to you and your family’s health, we cover 100% of medical, dental, and vision premiums for full-time employees - and 80% of healthcare premiums for dependents. This starts from day one. We also offer at least 12 weeks of paid leave for new parents (up to 20 weeks for birthing parents), and generous vacation policies to give employees time to recharge when needed.

Form Energy is committed to maintaining the privacy of our applicants. Please be aware that we will never solicit sensitive personal information such as Social Security numbers or bank account details during the recruiting or hiring process.