---
title: 'Director, Project Engineering & Design (EV/BESS) at Highland Electric Fleets'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/director-project-engineering-design-ev-bess-highland-electric-fleets-remote-v8knkrpnmpzk'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-10'
---

# Director, Project Engineering & Design (EV/BESS) at Highland Electric Fleets

- **Company:** Highland Electric Fleets
- **Location:** Remote
- **Compensation:** $185k–$200k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-09-04
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/highlandfleets-2/38fe6c8f-289d-4638-b3c3-6414493d47c4

## Job description

## About Us

Highland Electric Fleets’ mission is to make electric fleets accessible and affordable for all, enabling communities to realize the benefits of cleaner, quieter and healthier fleets. Highland is North America’s leading provider of Electrification-as-a-Service (EaaS). Founded in 2019, Highland partners with school districts, municipalities, and fleet operators to make the transition to electric fleets simple and affordable.

Highland proudly serves as the Official Electric School Bus Provider of the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Team USA. From pioneering vehicle-to-grid technology to managing some of the nation’s largest electric school bus fleets, Highland delivers reliable, cost-effective solutions that support local communities and drive the future of transportation.

## Role Summary

The Director of Engineering leads Highland's engineering and design team — drafting, project engineering, and utility interconnection — that supports a fast-moving portfolio of EV charging, battery energy storage (BESS), and edge compute sites from qualified sites through construction-ready. This leader owns the engineering standards, the design package content and quality gates, and the throughput of the entire function, and partners with Project Development to deliver build-ready sites at portfolio scale and on an aggressive timeline. Reporting to the Vice President, Development & Construction, the Director builds and leads a team of internal and external engineering resources. The Director serves as Highland's senior technical authority on utility and Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) requirements, owns the engineering inputs to project schedule and budget, and builds the standards, playbooks, and tooling that make design faster, more repeatable, and more cost-effective. This position is remote with an expectation of approximately 10-15% travel.

Responsibilities Overview:

- Lead and scale Highland's project engineering function — drafting, design engineering, and utility interconnection — with end-to-end accountability for taking a large portfolio of EV charging, BESS, and edge compute sites from qualified site to permit-ready and construction-ready.
- Own the engineering function's throughput and quality: define the design package content and the internal approval gates for every stage — conceptual, 30%, Issued-for-Permit (IFP), and Issued for Construction (IFC) — and keep packages moving on an aggressive, portfolio-wide timeline.
- Build, develop, and retain a high-performing team of internal engineering resources
- Own Highland's external engineering-partner strategy — select, contract, scale, and manage the performance of engineering design and interconnection consultants so that internal and external capacity flex with portfolio volume.
- Set and enforce Highland's engineering, CAD, and design specifications and standards, and own the repositories of utility and AHJ requirements that make design compliant, consistent, and repeatable across the portfolio.
- Serve as Highland's senior technical authority on utility interconnection and AHJ permitting across EV charging, BESS, and edge compute; resolve the most complex technical and jurisdictional issues and represent Highland's engineering position externally.
- Own the engineering inputs to project schedule and budget — sequence and resource design, interconnection, and permitting milestones so each site is build-ready when construction needs it, and contribute to Highland's repeatable unit-cost installation model.
- Partner cross-functionally with Development, Execution, Origination, Procurement, and Fleet Operations to align engineering with portfolio priorities and continuously improve the site-to-energized process.
- Drive continuous improvement through tooling and process automation (e.g., Procore, Bluebeam, template- and data-driven design) to increase design velocity and improve unit economics as the portfolio scales.
- Provide engineering leadership on technical due diligence, estimating, and risk for new opportunities, supporting Origination and Development on feasibility, buildability, and cost.

Qualifications:

Required

- Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or a related engineering discipline, or 12+ years of directly related professional experience.
- 10+ years of progressive engineering experience in EV charging, renewable energy, power/electrical infrastructure, or utility-scale development, including design management from concept through construction.
- 5+ years leading engineering teams, including managing managers and building or scaling a design organization.
- Demonstrated ownership of engineering standards, design package content, and QA/QC across a portfolio of concurrent projects.
- Proven experience selecting, contracting, and managing external engineering consultants at scale.
- Deep working knowledge of utility interconnection, new electrical service, and AHJ permitting requirements.
- Familiarity with interconnection standards and processes (e.g., IEEE 1547, utility tariffs, and interconnection rules).
- Expertise with CAD-based design delivery (AutoCAD) and design/review tooling (Procore, Bluebeam).

## Preferred

- Professional Engineer (PE) license.
- Experience delivering EV charging infrastructure, BESS, and/or edge compute / data-center power projects.
- Experience building repeatable, unit-cost-driven design programs in a high-growth environment.
- Master's degree in engineering or an MBA.

What You Can Expect from Highland: Competitive base salary and performance-based bonus program A supportive, highly collaborative, team-oriented environment Ability to work with bright, innovative, and forward-thinking colleagues Health, Vision, and Dental coverage for employees & their dependents Generous Paid Time Off 401(k) program and company match

Highland Electric Fleets provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, Highland Electric Fleets complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

## About Highland Electric Fleets

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Highland Electric Fleets is North America’s leading provider of Electrification-as-a-Service (EaaS), partnering with school districts, municipalities, and fleet operators to transition diesel fleets to electric.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Venture-backed; latest round: $75M preferred equity, June 2026)
- **Headquarters**: Beverly, Massachusetts, United States
- **Founded**: 2019
- **Founders**: Duncan McIntyre

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Transportation Programs, Fleet Electrification, Clean Energy Infrastructure
- **Target customers**: B2G (Business-to-Government) — primarily school districts, municipalities, and municipal fleet operators across North America
- **Mission or purpose statement**: "Make electric fleets accessible and affordable for all communities" [highlandfleets.com](https://highlandfleets.com/about-us/)

## Products & Services
- **Electrification-as-a-Service (EaaS)**: A full-service, long-term contract model covering planning, procurement, implementation, and ongoing optimization of electric fleets. Includes vehicles, charging infrastructure, software, and operational support — all bundled at a cost comparable to traditional diesel.
- **Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) Integration**: Technology enabling electric school bus batteries to feed power back to the grid, creating an additional revenue stream for fleet operators and supporting grid stability.
- **Major Event Transportation Operations**: Managing large-scale electric fleet operations for events, including serving as the Official Electric School Bus Provider for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: **Total Funding** — $478M across 4 rounds (most recent: $75M from Galvanize Climate Solutions in June 2026)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**:
  - Galvanize Climate Solutions (lead, 2026 preferred equity)
  - Aiga Capital Partners (lead, prior preferred equity)
  - LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games (official provider)
  - Team USA
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Electric school buses have traveled **over 10 million miles** to date [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/highland-electric-transportation)
  - Active deployments in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Texas
  - 121 employees (stable headcount, +0.6% YoY)
  - 12,934 LinkedIn followers (+10.5% yearly growth)
  - $150M in total preferred equity commitments structured for long-term asset-backed deployment

## Competitive Advantages
- **First-mover scale**: Manages some of the nation’s largest electric school bus fleets, with proven reliability across diverse climates (Florida to Michigan to California).
- **EaaS business model**: Long-term service agreements create predictable, recurring revenue and reduce financial risk for customers by matching electric fleet costs to traditional fuel costs.
- **Vertical integration**: Owns the full stack — vehicles, charging, software, V2G, and operations — making switching costs very high for clients.
- **Major event credential**: The LA28 Olympic selection provides unmatched brand validation and operational experience at global scale.
- **Asset-backed financing**: Capital structure designed specifically for long-term, large-scale infrastructure deployment, a moat against undercapitalized competitors.

## Strategic Focus
- **National expansion**: Deploying electric school buses and charging infrastructure into new U.S. markets.
- **Municipal fleet diversification**: Broadening capabilities beyond school buses into other municipal fleet and energy applications.
- **Energy infrastructure integration**: Advancing projects that combine charging infrastructure with on-site energy resources (solar + storage) for customers.
- **Scaling asset portfolio**: Using the latest $75M capital injection to accelerate vehicle and charger deployments.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven impact**: Directly contributes to reducing childhood asthma, improving local air quality, and combating climate change — measurable community outcomes.
- **Hybrid work model**: Flexible remote/office balance; headquarters in Beverly, MA, with roles listed as hybrid or remote.
- **Exceptional benefits**:
  - **100% premium coverage** for medical, dental, and vision (employees + dependents)
  - Long-Term Disability & Life Insurance
  - Flexible Spending/Saving Accounts
  - 3% Employee-Sponsored 401k Match
  - Stock Options
  - $100/mo Cell Phone Reimbursement
- **Work-life balance**:
  - 15 Paid Vacation Days
  - 10 Paid Holidays
  - 6 Paid Sick Days
  - Bonus week off between Christmas and New Year’s
  - 8 Weeks Paid Parental Leave (birthing parents get up to 16 weeks total)
- **Culture**: "Everybody serves" — each employee gets one paid day of service per year. Innovation and practical ingenuity are core values. In-person employee engagement annually. DEI opportunities available.
- **Current open roles** (as of search date): EV Field Service Technician (Hybrid, Boston), Project Finance Analyst (Hybrid, Beverly), Sr. Manager FP&A and Treasury (Remote, Beverly), General Manager Major Event Operations [jobs.lever.co](https://jobs.lever.co/highlandfleets-2)

## Sources
1. [highlandfleets.com - About Us](https://highlandfleets.com/about-us/)
2. [highlandfleets.com - Careers](https://highlandfleets.com/careers/)
3. [jobs.lever.co - Open Positions](https://jobs.lever.co/highlandfleets-2)
4. [cbinsights.com - Company Profile](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/highland-electric-transportation)
5. [linkedin.com - Company Page](https://linkedin.com/company/highlandelectricfleets)

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