An Energy Storage systems engineer can mean very different things to different employers. One business needs someone to integrate equipment for a customer project. Another needs a product architect. A third needs an engineer who can resolve problems during commissioning. A job description that combines all three without explaining the priority makes it difficult for candidates to judge the role and for interviewers to assess them consistently.
Start with the work the new hire will own. Describe the application, the current engineering team and the next project milestone. The candidate requirements should follow from those decisions.
Distinguish system ownership from component expertise
An electrical design brief and a systems integration brief require different capabilities. Drawing schematics and selecting components may be part of the job, but a systems role also needs clear responsibility for how the components work together.
Specify the interfaces relevant to your product or project: the battery system, power conversion system (PCS), battery management system (BMS), energy management system (EMS), protection equipment and thermal management. A candidate does not need to have designed every subsystem personally. They do need to explain the interfaces they owned, the decisions they made and the specialists they worked with.
Separate essentials from skills that can be developed
Ask the technical hiring manager to place each requirement into one of three groups. This makes trade-offs visible before screening begins.
- Essential at entry: capabilities needed to deliver the first assignment safely and effectively, such as relevant integration experience and the ability to analyse interface problems.
- Supported development: knowledge the team can help the person acquire, such as a particular equipment supplier's tools or your internal documentation process.
- Additional value: experience useful for future projects but not essential to the immediate role, such as a second application segment or another market.
The groups depend on the assignment. Experience that is optional for a supported product-development role may be essential for someone expected to lead a live site with little supervision. Explain that context instead of copying a long list from another vacancy.
Test adjacent experience against the actual gaps
Power electronics, automotive battery systems, industrial controls and conventional power engineering can be useful starting points for a wider search. They are not automatic substitutes for storage project experience. Ask what transfers to your application and what does not.
For example, a candidate may understand battery controls but have limited experience with site-level integration. Another may have strong commissioning experience but little exposure to product architecture. Assess the gap against the team's existing capability, the support available and the time before the person must work independently.
Use a project discussion to assess judgement
Give candidates a short, fictional project brief relevant to the vacancy. Ask them to identify missing information before proposing a solution. Then explore how they would divide responsibilities, validate interfaces and manage changes.
- Which assumptions would you confirm first, and with whom?
- What evidence would you need before accepting an interface or design change?
- How would you investigate a problem that crosses equipment boundaries?
- Which issues would you escalate, and what would you document for the delivery team?
Use information candidates are entitled to share. The puRPOse is to understand their reasoning and personal contribution, not to obtain confidential designs from a previous employer.
Agree the brief before widening the search
Finish with a concise brief covering the application, immediate deliverables, decision authority, essential capabilities and assessment method. Have the technical manager and recruiter review it together. If relevant candidates repeatedly fall short of different requirements, revisit the role design before concluding that the market has no suitable people.