Director, Field Applications Engineering

The Company

In order to keep climate change to 1.5°C, we’ll need 30% of global GDP to run on batteries by 2035. We’ll need to electrify entire core infrastructures, decarbonizing transportation and energy generation writ large.

Zitara Technologies builds battery design and management software for transportation and energy companies with large deployments. Their customers operate >$100M deployments of batteries in satellites, EVs, and renewable energy storage installations.

The Role

We are looking for an ambitious leader to build and manage Zitara’s Field Applications Engineering team in North America, driving successful integration of Zitara’s battery design and management software into customer applications.

This person will develop the people, the technology, and the processes that bridge our customers with internal operations, product, and engineering teams. Their FAE organization will manage and nurture our customer relationships, create technical solutions for our customers, and aid in product design and development as the customer advocate within Zitara.

Zitara builds sophisticated technical software for customers with large deployments of complex battery systems. The Director of Field Applications Engineering must therefore apply their robust technical experience to deeply understand and empathize with customer needs, and apply emotional intelligence to build strong and trusting customer relationships that achieve success outcomes for all parties.

The Director of Field Applications Engineering will be a valued key stakeholder and contributor to Zitara’s product planning process and will be invited to participate in strategic decision-making exercises. As a key leader within the company, this person will coordinate work efforts, set performance standards, recruit, and mentor the members of the FAE team.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for customer relationships with Zitara. The FAE team will serve as the primary point of contact from the end of the sales phase and into active technical engagements.
• Supervise individual FAE team members in their work as well as directly manage key customer relationships and strategic customer accounts.
• Develop in-depth knowledge of customer needs across industries, and drive Zitara product development by identifying product gaps and advocating on behalf of our customers internally.
• Coordinate with internal teams to ensure products and services are delivered to customers in tune and on time.
• Lead the FAE organization to guide and mentor customers as they adopt Zitara products, helping them maximize the value of Zitara software when integrated in their applications.
• Individual FAE responsibilities under your supervision will include the provision of direct technical support to customers and the creation of application-specific technical solutions for customers, such as test plans, data analyses, sample code, or technical documentation.
• Directly participate in Zitara’s product planning and development process.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelors' degree in technical subject or equivalent proficiency.
• Five years of technical experience with energy systems, such as:
• Power electronics / power management.
• Renewable energy.
• Mobility / automotive / aerospace.
• Industrial equipment / robotics.
• Comfortable directly managing strategic customer relationships as well as supervising individual FAEs in the management of their customer accounts.
• A track record of building, managing, and leading successful teams.
• Willingness to travel to meet customers in-person.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience with lithium ion battery systems strongly preferred, such as:
• Battery-related applications engineering.
• Battery hardware or software engineering.
• Battery management systems.
• Battery fuel gauge or algorithms.
• Battery cell research and development.

What We Offer

• A full-time position, working from our office in San Francisco.
• Competitive pay.
• Health, dental, and vision care for you and your family.
• A 401k savings plan.
• “Unlimited PTO” vacation policy.
• Excellent colleagues that are interested in your happiness and growth.