Principal BESS Engineer, Procurement & Performance | Energy
HybridSydney, New South Wales, Australia
Job Summary
Lead Owner's Engineer and technical advisory engagements for utility-scale battery energy storage systems across feasibility, procurement, contracting, design, construction, commissioning, and operation. Establish sizing and performance bases using dispatch duty, grid requirements, site climate, and lifecycle objectives. Prepare and review Principal's requirements covering net power, usable energy, round-trip efficiency, availability, degradation, and augmentation. Lead tender evaluations by interrogating assumptions, exclusions, and operating limits to normalize competing offers. Support contract negotiations on performance guarantees, warranties, liquidated damages, and long-term service obligations. Review BESS architecture interfaces across cells, racks, battery management systems, power conversion, thermal management, and grid connections while coordinating specialists. Move confidently between system sizing, technical specifications, vendor proposals, and contract schedules to deliver defensible client recommendations.
Required Qualifications
- Significant experience (8+ years) in the energy sector, including substantial hands-on experience with utility-scale BESS projects across development, procurement, delivery or operation.
- A background and experience of working in either / or a combination of consulting, developer, OEM, integrator or EPC industries.
- Strong capability in BESS sizing and operating-duty definition, including power and energy requirements, AC and DC boundaries, state-of-charge windows, duration, C-rate, cycling, throughput, degradation and augmentation.
- Detailed understanding of BESS performance criteria and guarantees, including net power, usable energy, round-trip efficiency, auxiliary consumption, availability, response, thermal derating, degradation, warranty limits and acceptance testing.
- Demonstrated experience preparing or reviewing procurement documentation, evaluating and normalising bids, undertaking technical due diligence, assessing departures and supporting commercial negotiations.
- Sound understanding of BESS technology and interfaces across cells, modules and racks, battery management systems, power conversion systems, energy management or plant control systems, medium-voltage balance of plant, grid connection, thermal management and fire safety.
- Either registered, or working towards professional registration, on the National Engineering Register in Australia (such as RPEV or RPEQ), ideally supported by Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng) status or equivalent international accreditation.
- A bachelor degree in electrical engineering, power systems or another engineering discipline relevant to battery energy storage systems.
- All newly hired employees are required to attend an in-person Day 1 onboarding at an AECOM office location as a condition of employment.
Desired Qualifications
- Experience with factory acceptance testing, site acceptance testing, commissioning, capacity or efficiency testing, and verification of contractual performance requirements is highly regarded.
- Commercial acumen and the ability to assess lifecycle value, risk allocation, warranties, performance remedies, long-term service agreements, operations and maintenance obligations, and augmentation strategy.
- Strong client engagement and communication skills, with the ability to advise, influence and build trusted relationships across technical, procurement, commercial and executive teams.
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