What are the responsibilities and job description for the Sr. Project Manager, Software & Controls position at ESS?
Catalyzing a cleaner future
At ESS (NYSE: GWH), our mission is to accelerate global decarbonization by providing safe, sustainable, long-duration energy storage that powers people, communities, and businesses with clean, renewable energy anytime and anywhere it’s needed. As more renewable energy is added to the grid, long- duration energy storage is essential to providing the reliability and resiliency we need when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing.
Our technology uses earth-abundant iron, salt, and water to deliver environmentally safe solutions capable of providing up to 12 hours of flexible energy capacity for commercial and utility-scale energy storage applications. Established in 2011, ESS Inc. enables project developers, independent power producers, utilities, and other large energy users to deploy reliable, sustainable long-duration energy storage solutions.
Position Profile
ESS is seeking a Sr. Project Manager, Software & Controls to drive project execution across our software, controls, and systems engineering teams. This role owns end-to-end project planning, coordination, and delivery for complex, cross-functional development efforts, ensuring that timelines are realistic, dependencies are understood, and teams remain aligned to product roadmaps and company commitments as we deliver next-generation energy storage products.
You will act as the central execution leader, integrating internal teams of engineers, architects, product leaders, and third-party partners into a cohesive project structure, proactively managing dependencies, identifying risks, tracking costs, and maintaining timelines to ensure projects are executed effectively and with emphasis on quality results. This role operates with a high degree of autonomy and serves as the bridge between functional execution and program objectives.
The ideal candidate is proactive, highly organized, technologically fluent, and comfortable navigating competing priorities with support from leadership.
What you’ll do
In addition to the value of working with and helping grow a global reaching clean technology, ESS offers Company assisted medical, dental and vision, 401k with Company match, Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP), generous flexible time off (FTO), and 8 paid holidays.
As an equal opportunity employer, we are open to considering every qualified candidate who is eligible and legally authorized to work in the United States on a full or part-time basis, without need for sponsorship.
At ESS (NYSE: GWH), our mission is to accelerate global decarbonization by providing safe, sustainable, long-duration energy storage that powers people, communities, and businesses with clean, renewable energy anytime and anywhere it’s needed. As more renewable energy is added to the grid, long- duration energy storage is essential to providing the reliability and resiliency we need when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing.
Our technology uses earth-abundant iron, salt, and water to deliver environmentally safe solutions capable of providing up to 12 hours of flexible energy capacity for commercial and utility-scale energy storage applications. Established in 2011, ESS Inc. enables project developers, independent power producers, utilities, and other large energy users to deploy reliable, sustainable long-duration energy storage solutions.
Position Profile
ESS is seeking a Sr. Project Manager, Software & Controls to drive project execution across our software, controls, and systems engineering teams. This role owns end-to-end project planning, coordination, and delivery for complex, cross-functional development efforts, ensuring that timelines are realistic, dependencies are understood, and teams remain aligned to product roadmaps and company commitments as we deliver next-generation energy storage products.
You will act as the central execution leader, integrating internal teams of engineers, architects, product leaders, and third-party partners into a cohesive project structure, proactively managing dependencies, identifying risks, tracking costs, and maintaining timelines to ensure projects are executed effectively and with emphasis on quality results. This role operates with a high degree of autonomy and serves as the bridge between functional execution and program objectives.
The ideal candidate is proactive, highly organized, technologically fluent, and comfortable navigating competing priorities with support from leadership.
What you’ll do
- Own end-to-end scope capture and facilitate execution of software, controls, and integrated system testing projects
- Detail and maintain integrated project plans, including milestones, dependencies, and risks
- Lead Agile execution rhythms (sprint planning, backlog coordination, release tracking) across multiple teams
- Serve as the primary coordination point for third-party development vendors, ensuring alignment to project timelines and deliverables
- Identify, escalate, and resolve cross-team risks, blockers, and execution gaps
- Track project progress to support accurate portfolio KPIs
- Run project reviews, standups, and status communications with a focus on accuracy and consistency
- Support translation of product and technical strategy into executable plans
- Implement and reinforce project management tools, processes, and governance standards
- Contribute to resource planning, forecasting, and project-level budgeting as needed
- Execution mindset and the ability to organize and motivate teams to implement with excellence
- 6-10 years of experience in project management, program management, or engineering operations
- Experience delivering complex, multi-team projects in software, controls, or integrated hardware/software environments– relevant applications include automotive, aerospace, energy, or similar technical products
- Strong working knowledge of Agile/Scrum methodologies and development workflows
- Proven ability to manage cross-functional dependencies and external partners
- Excellent organizational, communication, and stakeholder management skills
- Ability to operate independently in fast-paced, evolving environments
- Strong analytical mindset with attention to detail and follow-through
- Ability to engage deeply with technical teams without direct authority and understand complex integrated system design strategies/development interplay to identify associated effort, risks, & challenges
- Ability to deal with ambiguity and dynamic priorities
- Drives clarity, accountability, and alignment across complex projects
- Proactively identifies risks and drives mitigation in partnership with engineering and program leadership
- Influences across all levels of the organization with data-driven communication
- Builds strong cross-functional relationships and fosters collaboration
- Balances structure and flexibility to enable execution in dynamic environments
- Maintains high standards for communication quality, consistency, and transparency
- Experience in energy storage, power systems, EV, utilities, or similar industries
- Background in hardware software integrated product development, familiarity with software lifecycle management
- Experience managing third-party engineering or software vendors
- Familiarity with tools such as Smartsheet, MS Project, Jira, Confluence, Azure DevOps, Oracle Cloud
- Proficiency with Excel and / or Power BI
- Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field or equivalent experience
- PMP, Scrum, or similar certification(preferred)
In addition to the value of working with and helping grow a global reaching clean technology, ESS offers Company assisted medical, dental and vision, 401k with Company match, Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP), generous flexible time off (FTO), and 8 paid holidays.
As an equal opportunity employer, we are open to considering every qualified candidate who is eligible and legally authorized to work in the United States on a full or part-time basis, without need for sponsorship.