Company

Batteries have a big role to play in tackling the climate crisis, and it’s essential to make sure that they’re safe and reliable to operate.

At Zitara (YCombinator S20), we build cutting-edge software solutions that empower companies to deeply understand their batteries, both in design and deployment. It’s all part of our work to enable a renewable energy revolution, powered by safer batteries, at a lower cost, with less waste. Our customers operate >$100M deployments of batteries in satellites, EVs, and renewable energy storage installations.

Our team brings top researchers in physics-based battery algorithms together with seasoned software engineers to build safety-critical firmware and large scale machine learning systems. We bring with us decades of experience from companies like Tesla, Cruise, and Google.

Role

We are looking for a field applications engineer who will ensure successful integration of Zitara’s battery design and management software in customer applications.

This person will act as a bridge between customers and internal teams: they will manage and nurture the customer relationship, develop technical solutions for customers, and aid in product design and development as a customer advocate within Zitara. The field applications engineer must combine robust technical skills with strong emotional intelligence to help customers achieve their goals while strengthening their relationship with Zitara.

The ideal candidate will have technical experience with battery systems, though candidates without battery experience who have strong backgrounds in field applications engineering or in energy-related disciplines may also be considered for the role. Programming experience is helpful but not required for the role.

Responsibilities

• Manage customer relationships with Zitara, serving as a primary point of contact from the end of the sales phase and into active technical engagements.
• Develop a thorough technical understanding of specific customer applications.
• Coordinate with internal teams to ensure products and services are delivered to customers on schedule and at quality.
• Guide and mentor customers as they adopt Zitara products, helping them maximize the value of Zitara software when integrated in their applications.
• Provide direct technical support to customers when they encounter difficulty.
• Create technical solutions for customers, such as data analyses, sample code, or technical documentation.
• Develop in-depth knowledge of customer needs across the industry, and drive Zitara product development by identifying product gaps and advocating on behalf of our customers internally.
• Directly participate in Zitara’s product planning and development process.

Qualifications

• Bachelors' degree in technical subject or equivalent proficiency.
• Two years of technical experience with energy systems, such as:
• Power electronics.
• Renewable energy.
• Mobility / automotive / aerospace.
• Industrial equipment / robotics.
• Strong emotional intelligence that enables relationship building with customers of all stripes.
• Clear and effective written and verbal communication..
• High attention to detail and quality in work output.
• Willingness to travel to meet customers in-person.

Preferred Additional Qualifications

• Previous experience in a FAE role or similar.
• Technical experience with lithium ion battery systems strongly preferred, such as:
• Battery-related applications engineering.
• Battery hardware or software engineering.
• Battery management systems.
• Battery fuel gauge or algorithms.
• Battery cell research and development.
• Comfortable programming in Python and/or C.

What We Offer

• A full-time position, working from our office in San Francisco, CA.
• Competitive pay. The salary range for this position is $115k to $148k (excluding performance bonus).
• Health, Dental, and Vision care for you and your family.
• A 401k savings plan.
• “Unlimited PTO” vacation policy.
• Excellent colleagues that are interested in your happiness and growth.

Zitara is committed to building a diverse and inclusive team. Reports from LinkedIn and Hewlett Packard indicate that women are less likely to apply for positions due to perceived mismatches with listed qualifications. It's reasonable that this phenomenon extends to other underrepresented groups too. If you think you have what it takes but don't necessarily meet every single point listed, please apply - you could be exactly who we are looking for!