Senior Battery Test and Validation Engineer
Redwood Materials · San Francisco, United States · 13h ago
About Redwood Materials
Redwood Materials was founded in 2017 by JB Straubel, co-founder and former CTO of Tesla, on a simple but radical idea: the critical minerals powering the energy transition already exist. They just need to come back. Today Redwood is the largest lithium-ion battery recycler in North America — recovering, refining, and redeploying critical minerals from end-of-life batteries back into the supply chain. On the energy side, Redwood has deployed the largest second-life battery project in the world, delivering power to AI data centers in months rather than years using proprietary energy architecture engineered entirely in-house. The company is profitable, the market it operates in is projected to grow 20 to 50 times over the next decade, and Redwood is the only company with the supply chain, the technology, and the operational scale to lead it.
Position Summary:
The Staff Battery Test and Validation Engineer owns and runs Redwood's battery characterization program and serves as the technical authority on what gets tested, how, and why. This is a fully on-site role at 100 Hooper. The role translates open-ended performance, compliance, and system-level questions into test protocols and delivers data-driven answers that inform pack qualification decisions. This role sits at the center of understanding how second-life battery systems for data centers behave across varied cell chemistries, form factors, and usage histories, generating the foundational data that feeds site operating parameters, battery models, and algorithms. This is an on-site role.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
- Design test protocols by translating high-level performance and compliance questions into concrete test matrices, channel allocations, and timelines
- Execute and manage concurrent test and screening campaigns across multiple battery types at the cell, module, and pack level, including cycler programming, test monitoring, and failure root-cause analysis
- Drive lab infrastructure and equipment strategy, evaluating and recommending cycler and chamber purchases, fixture design, and channel capacity planning as the program scales
- Analyze, interpret, and present test data to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, turning raw results into clear engineering conclusions that inform qualification decisions and program risk assessment
- Innovate on test methodology and execution to extract maximum insight from limited channels and time, including smarter test matrix designs, advanced cycler programming, and developing automation scripts
- Collaborate with the battery software and data engineering team to define, prioritize, and validate software automation of characterization processes
Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities:
- BS or MS in Engineering (Mechanical, Chemical, Materials, Electrical), or a related field
- Minimum 3 years of experience
- Strong intuition for lithium-ion cell behavior, operating limits, cell-level failure modes, and degradation mechanisms
- Hands-on experience with electrochemical characterization techniques such as HPPC, EIS, dQ/dV analysis, and cycle life testing
- Proficiency in data analysis and scripting with Python or MATLAB
- Experience with battery cycler platforms (e.g., Arbin, Maccor, Neware) including test programming and troubleshooting
- Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate effectively with systems engineers, battery algorithms engineers, compliance teams, and program managers to ensure cross-functional stakeholder needs are met
- Deep drive to automate workflows and reduce manual processes to improve test efficiency and minimize errors
- Bonus: experience with AI tools, especially coding assistants like Cursor or Claude Code; background in EV battery pack qualification or validation programs; familiarity with battery safety and compliance standards (e.g., UN38.3, UL2580, UL1974)
In accordance with California pay transparency laws, the salary range for this position is listed below. Actual compensation may vary based on a variety of factors, including experience, education, and skills.
The position is full-time. Compensation will be commensurate with experience.
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