What are the responsibilities and job description for the Senior BESS Product Safety Engineer position at The AES Corporation?
The Senior BESS Product Safety Engineer is a core technical authority for BESS safety architecture, ensuring systems are designed, tested, and deployed in compliance with applicable fire codes and safety standards.
This role requires approximately 30% travel, primarily to support operational projects across the U.S., with potential travel to international locations as well.
Key Responsibilities
Product Development
- Interpret and apply applicable NFPA, IFC, UL, and IEC standards to guide BESS product development and ensure safety requirements are embedded throughout the design lifecycle.
- Review and approve mechanical drawings, layouts, CAD models, and mechanization diagrams.
- Own safety‑critical BESS enclosure design and requirements, providing technical oversight through prototype builds, factory acceptance testing, and design qualification to mitigate thermal runaway, explosion, and overall safety risks.
- Provide technical oversight of UL 9540 / 9540A testing, fire and explosion modeling (using tools such as FLACS, Ansys, FDS, or similar), plume and gas dispersion analyses, and evaluation of fire safety code requirements, including monitoring and applying evolving codes and standards.
Cross-Functional Engagement
- Develop and maintain fire code compliance matrices and AHJ‑specific permitting documentation, while interfacing with Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs), third‑party engineers, and certification bodies throughout the permitting and approval process.
- Provide technical guidance and training to internal teams, customers, and first responders.
- Lead development of emergency response documentation and safety packages required for project permitting submittals and maintain up to date Technical Data Packages for AES internal teams.
- Engage in industry consortiums and Technical Committees on BESS codes and standards; monitor and contribute to NFPA 855 and UL 9540 / 9540A revision cycles and public input processes to inform AES on evolving regulatory and technical requirements affecting BESS product design and testing.
- Advise and participate in AES BESS Product Development efforts to ensure the highest safety levels are achieved meeting all AES internal and industry regulatory requirements for BESS fire and explosion safety system.
- Mentor junior engineers and contribute to continuous improvement of BESS integration practices.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Fire Protection Engineering, or related discipline.
- 5-7 years of experience in mechanical design and fire protection for energy, industrial, or safety‑critical systems.
- Strong working knowledge of BESS fire codes and standards, including UL 9540 / 9540A, NFPA 68 / 69, NFPA 72, NFPA 855, and NFPA 110/111.
- Experience supporting permitting, testing, and regulatory approval processes.
- Proficiency with mechanical CAD and safety modeling tools (SolidWorks, AutoCAD, etc.).
Preferred Qualifications
- Master’s degree in Electrical, Mechanical, or Fire Protection Engineering.
- Direct experience with utility‑scale BESS.
- Experience working directly with AHJs and third‑party fire engineers.
- Participation in standards organizations (NFPA, UL, IEEE).
- Experience with fire modeling tools such as FLACS, Ansys, FDS, etc.