Base Power Company

Manufacturing Controls Engineer at Base Power Company (Austin, TX)

Base Power Company· Austin, TX·

Role details

Work type
Onsite
Employment
Full-Time

Base Power Company at a glance

Base Power installs home batteries and sells below-market energy in Texas, earning its margin from the grid instead of your bill.

Base Power is a next-generation power company that installs whole-home backup batteries and sells fixed-rate, below-market electricity to homeowners, primarily in Texas. It coordinates its fleet of distributed batteries as a single grid asset, earning revenue from wholesale energy markets so it can keep customer rates low.

$1.3B raised · latest: Series C · $1B · October 2025 · backed by Addition, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners

Job description

About Base

Base is America’s next-generation power company. We’re rebuilding the foundation of modern civilization–electricity–by deploying a vast network of distributed batteries that is transforming today’s fragile, centralized grid into a resilient and abundant system. We are engineers, operators, and creatives solving some of the most complex, interdisciplinary challenges of our time.

About the Role

Base is seeking a Manufacturing Controls Engineer to contribute to deliver new manufacturing lines to produce battery backup systems. In this role you are directly responsible for the design and implementation of these manufacturing lines. You will work with cross-functional teams to establish the required functionality of the manufacturing system and bring that system into reality.

What You’ll Do

  • Design and launch manufacturing lines for new products being mass-produced for the first time.
  • Develop controls systems that merge traditional PLC logic with a modern software stack.
  • Be the person capable of doing it all. Perform hands-on work with full-scale production equipment, from initial commissioning to mass production and ramp.
  • Contribute to Base Power’s hardware and software standards for future equipment development.
  • Lead machine suppliers to successful project delivery. Collaborate on high-level machine and line designs decisions, lead supplier design reviews and factory acceptance testing, and coordinate across multiple internal teams to land a successful production line at any Base facility.

What You’ll Bring

  • 3+ years programming experience in PLC or industrial controllers (e.g., Allen-Bradley, Siemens).
  • Experience programming and setting up industrial robots (e.g., Fanuc, KUKA).
  • Electrical schematic design using ePLAN or AutoCAD.
  • Experience in a manufacturing setting.
  • Hands-on experience troubleshooting and fixing electro-mechanical devices.
  • Familiar with common hand tools and diagnostic tools (e.g., multimeters).
  • Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Mechatronics Engineering, Computer Science, similar degree, or equivalent experience.

About this Team

Makers of the machines that power tomorrow. The Manufacturing Engineering team owns the interface between a proof of concept and a scalable, profitable product. Our team focuses on how a product can be built, defining the process technology and equipment solutions along the way. We are the feedback loop with the product design team to ensure designs are manufacturable both at cost and scale. The Manufacturing Engineering team owns every aspect of bringing the physical mechanisms of manufacturing a product into the factory.

Please note: Base is a startup, which means priorities shift and evolve quickly. Your role may expand or change based on the needs of the business at any given time, so the responsibilities listed may not be exhaustive.

Our Values

  • First Principles Thinking: Question assumptions. Principles > rules.
  • Operate at Base Pace: Focus on what matters, act quickly, and learn by doing.
  • Give & Get Feedback: Be direct, be humble, and maintain a growth mindset.
  • Everyone’s an Owner: Follow through on commitments and own results.
  • Strong Opinions, Loosely Held: Drive clarity and make calls with imperfect information.
  • Committed to the Mission: Rebuilding the grid is a big challenge. We work hard because we care deeply about the impact we’re creating. We work in-person. It’s not a 9-to-5. We are all-in.
  • Fun & Optimism Coexist with Grit: Collaboration and celebration coincide with the intensity of building real things.

Do the best work of your life at Base.

Why work at Base Power Company

  • Culture: Described as "intense, fast-paced, and deeply mission-driven." The company demands high output, ownership, and a bias toward action. It's explicitly stated as "not for everyone, and that's by design." This is a high-ownership, low-ambiguity environment.
  • Work Model: On-site at Base HQ in Austin, Texas. Proximity to the product and team is central to how they move fast. "Do I need to be based in Texas? Yes."
  • Hiring Speed: Fast process — aim for 1st conversation to offer in ~2 weeks.
  • Interview Process: 3-4 hour on-site including technical assessments and behavioral/team conversations. Focus on "how [you] approach problems, communicate tradeoffs, and collaborate."
  • Non-traditional backgrounds: Explicitly welcome: "We care about what you've built and how you think, not the logos on your resume. Some of our best people came from non-traditional paths."
  • Engineering Culture: Heavy focus on hardware + software + field operations. Talent sources heavily from Tesla, Anduril, SpaceX — firms known for hardcore engineering and manufacturing excellence. Roles span hardware engineering, firmware, software, manufacturing, field installation/service, operations, growth, and design.
  • Team Composition: ~29% of employees are in technical roles; ~15% in operations; significant representation of trades workers (11).
  • Notable Perks: Opportunity to work on physical infrastructure deployed at scale; chance to contribute meaningfully to grid modernization and American energy resilience.

Application questions