System Validation Engineer, Residential Grid Compliance

About the role

System Validation Engineer, Residential Grid Compliance | Tesla (Energy Engineering)

Location: Palo Alto, California | Req ID: 267617 | Job Type: Full-time

What to Expect

To ensure Tesla's overall mission of accelerating the world's transition to sustainable energy, the Tesla Energy team is bringing our world-leading battery technology to the grid. Tesla is leveraging its breakthrough firmware, electronics, test, and manufacturing capability to develop and deploy grid-connected storage at residential, industrial, and utility levels.

The Tesla Energy team is looking for a System Validation Engineer to accelerate our entry into new markets with residential grid-tied products such as Powerwall and Powershare, in addition to future unannounced products. A grid-tied device must be a responsible citizen of the grid, maintaining an intricately timed balance of Voltage, Frequency, Power, and other parameters to ensure the health and stability of the grid.

In addition, communication protocols enable grid operators to effectively control and monitor devices, which is critical for some markets like Australia where huge amounts of solar lead to corresponding fluctuations on the grid.

The road is unpaved and will require creativity and a deepening understanding of our systems, and grids around the world. For example, Powerwall has the highest market share of any residential battery system, and Powershare Grid Support is the first Vehicle-To-Grid (V2G) system at scale. Pragmatism, willingness to dive into new codebases and systems, eagerness to work with stakeholders, and engineering leadership are key strengths we expect you to bring to the table.

What You'll Do

• Lead system-level firmware validation for residential energy storage systems, solar PV, and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology across multiple grid standards and markets
• Design, build, and maintain advanced test setups and infrastructure to enable system-level firmware validation
• Develop and execute comprehensive test plans to validate grid support functions, performance, safety, and interoperability requirements
• Perform firmware integration testing of grid support functions and identify firmware defects early in the development cycle
• Develop and maintain automated test suites to enable continuous regression testing

What You'll Bring

• Strong electrical engineering fundamentals with understanding of power electronics and control systems
• 5+ years of experience in grid-connected power electronics compliance testing, hardware/firmware integration, or power systems validation
• Familiarity with grid compliance standards (e.g., IEEE, UL, EN) and regional grid codes
• Proficiency with specialized test equipment: power analyzers, grid simulators, oscilloscopes, power supplies, electronic loads, CAN tools
• Preferred: Programming familiarity in Python for test automation
• Preferred: International grid compliance experience (Europe, Australia, Japan, etc.)

Benefits

Along with competitive pay, as a full-time Tesla employee, you are eligible for the following benefits at day 1 of hire:

• Medical plans > plan options with $0 payroll deduction
• Family-building, fertility, adoption and surrogacy benefits
• Dental (including orthodontic coverage) and vision plans, both have options with a $0 paycheck contribution
• Company Paid (Health Savings Accounts) HSA Contribution when enrolled in the High-Deductible medical plan with HSA
• Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• 401(k) with employer match, Employee Stock Purchase Plans, and other financial benefits
• Company paid Basic Life, AD&D
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance (90 day waiting period)
• Employee Assistance Program
• Sick and Vacation time (Flex time for salary positions, Accrued hours for Hourly positions), and Paid Holidays
• Back-up childcare and parenting support resources
• Voluntary benefits to include: critical illness, hospital indemnity, accident insurance, theft & legal services, and pet insurance
• Weight Loss and Tobacco Cessation Programs
• Tesla Babies program
• Commuter benefits
• Employee discounts and perks program
• Earned Wage Access: Real-time pay access paid daily, subject to eligibility and schedule (applicable for below Sr. Managers levels)

Expected Compensation$140,000 - $252,000/annual salary + cash and stock awards + benefitsPay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements dependent on the position offered. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.