Fluidstack

BESS Lead Engineer, Power Generation at Fluidstack (Austin, TX)

Fluidstack· Austin, TX·

Role details

Work type
Hybrid
Employment
Full-Time
Level
Lead

Fluidstack at a glance

Builds and operates gigawatt-scale AI data centers and fully managed GPU clusters for frontier AI labs, governments, and enterprises.

Fluidstack acquires power, designs and builds data centers, and operates them, and it delivers fully managed multi-thousand-GPU clusters to AI companies. It pitches gigawatts of compute in roughly six months versus an industry norm of 18 to 24, and is the builder behind Anthropic's $50B US data center buildout.

· latest: In talks for $1B at ~$18B valuation (April 2026, reported) · backed by Cacti, Jane Street, Situational Awareness, Patrick and John Collison

Job description

About Fluidstack

We exist to make humanity more free. For most of human history, you farmed or you starved. Technology gave people more time for the things they wanted to do, instead of things they had to do. Powerful AI will be the biggest lever for human choice we've ever built - but only if models are aligned with what humanity actually wants. There are groups building AI who don't share these goals. Whoever deploys frontier compute infrastructure fastest will decide whether AI expands human freedom or shrinks it.

We're singularly focused on delivering 10 to 100s of GWs of compute faster than anyone else, rethinking every layer of the stack. We acquire power, design and build data centers, and operate them - with teams spanning hardware and software. Speed and scale are our key differentiators. Come be a part of building civilization-scale infrastructure for AI.

We hire people who care deeply about this problem space. If that is you, please apply!

How We Operate

  • Be a barrel. Full autonomy. Own things end to end, take on scope without being asked, no permission required to operate outside your core role.
  • Insane urgency. We drive everything forward as fast as possible.
  • Reason from first principles. Challenge every assumption. Zero analogy thinking, no egos, the best idea wins.
  • Love of the game. The frontier of AI is the most interesting problem of our time. We put in long hours at high intensity to push the frontier forward.
  • Build something that actually matters. If you're going to spend your time, spend it on something that matters to the world.

The Power Generation Team The Power Generation team designs, sources and builds the generation that runs Fluidstack's AI infrastructure. Examples of key problems the team is working on

  • Put solar, storage and gas in the ground at an install rate no one in the construction market has hit. We are building generation across multiple gigawatt sites at once, on a schedule traditional EPC delivery cannot meet.
  • Secure supply at a scale and timeline the supply chain cannot meet, and reshore it ourselves. Cells, containers, transformers and turbines are all constrained, so we qualify new suppliers and stand up domestic capacity instead of waiting in line.
  • Make solar, gas and storage combine into power steady enough to run AI workloads. A training run does not tolerate a dip, so the hybrid plant has to behave like firm generation even when the resource behind it does not.
  • Clear balancing authority certification, firm load rights, permits and interconnection against long clocks and a shifting policy environment. These approvals sit on the critical path to every gigawatt, so we work them years ahead of the build.

Role Scope

  • Own the storage plant design. Lead the electrical design and sizing of multi-hundred-megawatt storage plants, from single line, protection and grounding through power and energy ratings and augmentation strategy, across several concurrent gigawatt sites.
  • Qualify and dual-source BESS vendors. Choose on technical merit, and run factory witness testing, failure mode review and warranty terms alongside supply chain.
  • Define how the plant dispatches. Specify how storage, solar and on-site generation dispatch together so the plant holds a firm load profile through resource swings and generator trips.
  • Get fire safety approved before equipment lands. Drive NFPA 855 compliance, hazard mitigation analysis and large-scale fire test evidence through the AHJ and the insurer before equipment reaches site.
  • Take each plant through commissioning. Complete capacity and round-trip performance testing and controls integration before the first training load connects.

What We're Looking For

The below is a starting point. We always make space for exceptional people, so if you don't fit this role exactly, tell us where you would.

  • 10+ years of experience in grid-scale battery energy storage engineering, from plant design and sizing through vendor qualification, fire safety approval, and commissioning.
  • You've taken grid-scale battery storage from single line to energized plant, and you can name the sites and the megawatts.
  • You've sized a storage system against a real duty cycle and lived with the result, including the augmentation call and the places the model turned out to be wrong.
  • You've chosen between BESS vendors on technical grounds, sat through factory witness testing, and pushed back on a datasheet that did not survive scrutiny.
  • You've argued NFPA 855 and hazard mitigation analysis in front of an AHJ or an insurer and got to approval.
  • You've integrated storage controls with generation and load so the combined plant behaves as one machine rather than three.
  • You write clearly enough that a procurement lead, a fire marshal and a CEO each get the decision they need out of the same document.
  • You're comfortable with regular travel: expect 25% or more, depending on business needs.
  • Most of our engineering team, stakeholders, and work are based in Austin, TX, and we value working in person. We have a strong preference for Austin and run a hybrid model, but we're open to other locations for the right role and candidate.
  • Bonus: Hybrid plant and dispatch modelling. Power system studies including EMT, protection coordination and arc flash. Behind-the-meter and islanded microgrid operation. Interconnection and market processes (FERC, ERCOT, MISO). Professional Engineer licence.

We are committed to pay equity and transparency. Fluidstack is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability and protected veterans’ status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Fluidstack will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records pursuant to applicable law.

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You will receive a confirmation email once your application has successfully been accepted. If there is an error with your submission and you did not receive a confirmation email, please email careers@fluidstack.io with your resume/CV, the role you've applied for, and the date you submitted your application-- someone from our recruiting team will be in touch.

Why work at Fluidstack

  • Mission-Driven Work: Directly building the physical infrastructure for the next generation of AI — a rare opportunity to work on frontier technology with tangible, large-scale impact.
  • Rapid Growth Trajectory: 516.7% headcount growth YoY with 270 open positions signals massive opportunity for career acceleration and ownership.
  • Technical Depth: Work spans hardware (electrical, civil, mechanical engineering for data centers) and software (GPU cluster orchestration, monitoring, infrastructure platform engineering), offering diverse technical challenges.
  • Top-Tier Talent Pool: Employees come from AWS, Tesla, Crusoe, Palantir, Oracle, and Meta, indicating a high-caliber, ambitious work environment.
  • Work Policy: Remote-friendly for many roles, with hubs in San Francisco, New York, Austin, Seattle, and Buffalo. Departments span Engineering, Operations, Data Center, Security, and more.
  • Culture: Emphasis on speed, autonomy, and removing friction — "We build technology to enable delivery of gigawatts of compute in 6 months" — reflecting a bias for action and operational excellence.

Application questions