The Mission

The electrical grid was built to carry electricity unidirectionally from central fossil fuel plants to end consumers. As we transition to a renewable future built from rooftop solar and community storage, the grid itself needs an overhaul. Span’s goal is to re-invent the grid from a clean slate to enable that transition, envisioning a grid made of distributed control systems and software as much as copper wires.

To accomplish this, we are upgrading the breaker panel — the humble box sitting at the center of every building’s electrical wiring — to monitor, control, and make decisions about energy. This converts buildings from passive consumers in a centralized fossil fuel grid to active participants in the emerging distributed energy market.

Span’s unique commitment to clean-slate “right architecture” and our zealotry for top-caliber customer experience position us as domain leaders in envisioning the distributed grid and have allowed us to achieve rapid growth and high visibility in the industry in the three years since our founding.

The Role

Span is looking for a standards and compliance expert to help direct Span’s certification strategy. You’ll serve as our resident expert for the many relevant standards we design to; guide and coach our growing design engineering team; and build your own team of test engineers and domain experts to support compliance test execution and work with NRTLs. You will play a critical role in helping Span execute it’s products and help set product strategy. Along the way, you’ll help Span develop entirely new classes of energy product — including, but not limited to, the standalone microgrid interconnect device we’re pioneering — and help Span contribute to future codes and standards.

Responsibilities

• Serve as resident expert for a variety of hardware and software safety standards; providing guidance to design engineers

• Hire and manage a team of test + certification engineers; own timeline for certification projects

• Develop Span’s certification strategy for new and innovative products

• Bottom-line Span’s relationships with NRTLs

• Work with system architects to run safety analyses & document Span’s development practices

• Serve on STPs; help develop Span’s long-term certification strategy

About YouRequired Qualifications

• Bachelor’s/graduate degree in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, or related

• 8+ years' professional experience with standards and compliance, including managing relationships with NRTLs, running tests, and informing design

• Proven track record with high voltage / power electrical products

• Solid basis in electrical and mechanical engineering fundamentals

• Deep understanding of the “UL mindset” and the underlying rationale behind core hardware certification concepts (e.g. creepage and clearance, temperature testing)

• Experience developing safety concepts and performing hardware safety evaluations

• Experience taking products through functional safety evaluations (UL 1998, ISO 26262, IEC 60730, or equivalent)

• Experience mentoring junior engineers and building teams

• Professional experience with any combination of electrical (UL 67, UL 414, UL 508), solar inverter (UL 1741 / 1741 SA, UL 9540), electric vehicle charging (UL 2231, UL 2594, UL 9741), and/or controls (UL 916, UL 60730) standards

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience with National Electrical Code, smart-grid communications standards (e.g. IEEE 2030.5), utility standards (e.g. PG&E Greenbook), and/or metering standards (ANSI C12.20)

• Experience with international standards and homologation

• Experience representing companies on standards committees

Life at Span

Span is a startup based in the SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco. We are a small, diverse team of creative thinkers. We value open communication, teamwork, and a make-it-happen attitude - no job is too big or too small. We strive to make change by imagining what the future could be and building a product to complete that vision. We are looking to grow our team with talented people who are on the same mission to shape the future of energy.

Working at Span, you can expect:

• Competitive compensation at a well-funded, venture-backed company

• Comprehensive benefits including a choice of medical plans; dental, vision, life and disability insurance

• A sunny, airy office located close to BART and Caltrain public transit

• Regular team lunches, brown bag learning opportunities, board games nights, and other opportunities to connect with teammates - in-person and now virtually

• Equity grants at a quickly-growing startup

• Flexible hours and vacation time - we simultaneously work hard and make space for the important stuff

• To be a part of a team and culture that is hard-working, has a good sense of humor, values collaboration, and is just a little bit nerdy 

Span embraces diversity and equal opportunity in a serious way. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.