Sr. Director, Energy Storage System Product & Strategic Marketing

QuantumScape is on a mission to transform energy storage with solid-state lithium-metal battery technology. The company’s next-generation batteries are designed to enable greater energy density, faster charging and enhanced safety to support the transition away from legacy energy sources toward a lower carbon future. What we need: We are looking for a market-savvy, technically grounded, and strategically bold individual contributor to own product and strategic marketing for energy storage systems targeting the data center industry. Reporting directly to the Data Center BU General Manager, this is not a traditional product marketing role. It sits at the intersection of deep technical understanding, market intelligence, customer intimacy, and commercial strategy — with a direct line to shaping how QuantumScape positions and sells one of the most disruptive battery technologies of the next decade. This is a high-autonomy, high-ownership IC role. You will be expected to move fast, operate independently, build external relationships from scratch, and produce executive-ready deliverables without a team beneath you. You will own the voice of the market into QuantumScape, and the voice of QuantumScape into the market. You will set the terms of the competitive conversation — and change them. What You'll do: Product Strategy & Positioning Define and own the product marketing strategy for QuantumScape's solid-state battery technology in data center energy storage applications — including UPS replacement, rack-level BESS, facility-scale backup, and renewable integration buffers. Develop compelling, technically credible product positioning and value propositions tailored to distinct customer segments: hyperscalers, colocation operators, edge data center operators, and power system integrators. Translate QuantumScape's technology advantages — energy density (844+ Wh/L), thermal safety, charge rate, cycle life — into quantified customer value metrics: $/kWh TCO, $/rack-U saved, risk reduction vs. Li-ion thermal runaway, PUE impact, and sustainability/carbon metrics. Work cross-functionally with engineering, product management, and business development to align roadmap priorities with market requirements and customer feedback loops. Own the product narrative: create and maintain messaging frameworks, pitch decks, white papers, application briefs, and technical marketing collateral that resonate with both technical buyers and executive decision-makers. Market Intelligence & Analysis Build and maintain a rigorous, living view of the data center energy storage market: TAM/SAM/SOM sizing, segment growth rates, technology adoption curves, and buying behavior by customer tier. Apply credible market analysis methodologies — primary research (customer interviews, win/loss analysis, expert panels), secondary research (IDTechEx, BloombergNEF, Wood Mackenzie, JLL, Uptime Institute), and proprietary modeling — to drive strategy, not just decorate slides. Monitor and analyze the competitive landscape across battery chemistries (Li-ion LFP, NMC, lead-acid VRLA, sodium-ion, vanadium redox flow), UPS/BESS system vendors, and emerging solid-state competitors. Identify whitespace opportunities — applications, geographies, customer segments, or use cases — where QuantumScape's technology profile is uniquely differentiated. Track regulatory, policy, and safety developments affecting data center energy systems (NFPA 855, UL 9540, IEC 62619, OCP power standards, EU taxonomy, EPA emissions rules) and translate implications into product and go-to-market decisions. Competitive Intelligence Develop and maintain competitive battlecards, positioning maps, and objection-handling frameworks for use by sales, business development, and executive teams. Conduct scenario analysis across competing chemistries and system architectures — including total cost of ownership (TCO) modeling, fire risk and insurance premium delta, space-density tradeoffs, and sustainability profiles. Proactively identify inflection points in the competitive environment — new entrants, chemistry breakthroughs, pricing shifts, partnership announcements — and rapidly translate them into updated strategy. Customer Engagement & Market Development Lead strategic engagement with key customer segments, including: Hyperscalers: Microsoft, Google, Amazon AWS, Meta, Oracle — understanding their data center power architecture roadmaps, UPS refresh cycles, sustainability targets, and procurement pathways. Power system companies : Delta Electronics, Lite-On Technology, etc. — engaging at both the engineering and strategic partnership level to influence product integration and joint go-to-market. Serve as the primary technical-commercial interface with customers during early-stage engagement: presenting QuantumScape's value proposition, gathering requirements, and identifying joint development or pilot opportunities. Develop and execute a market seeding strategy: evangelize QuantumScape's data center energy storage vision through industry conferences (OCP Summit, Data Center World, Supercomputing, IEEE APEC), analyst briefings, and thought leadership publications. Build relationships with key influencers in the data center power ecosystem: rack power architects, facilities engineers, procurement leads, sustainability officers, and CFOs of major operators. Go-to-Market Execution Partner with business development and sales leadership to develop go-to-market playbooks for data center customer acquisition: segmentation, targeting, messaging, channel strategy, and pipeline development. Define and track marketing KPIs: pipeline influenced, market awareness metrics, competitive win rates, customer engagement quality, and content performance. Manage relationships with external research firms, marketing agencies, and event partners as a sole practitioner — resourceful prioritization is essential. Who You Are: You understand data center power infrastructure as well as any engineer — and you can translate that knowledge into commercial narratives that move buyers. You have equal comfort walking a hyperscaler's infrastructure team through a battery chemistry tradeoff analysis and presenting a market opportunity thesis to QuantumScape's board. You're energized by markets that are early and fast-moving, where the rules haven't been written yet. Skills You’ll need: Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Chemistry, or related technical field — required. 10+ years of experience in product marketing, strategic marketing, or technical marketing in energy storage, power systems, data center infrastructure, or adjacent hardware/technology sectors. Deep understanding of data center power architecture — legacy and emerging: Legacy: UPS topologies, VRLA/Li-ion battery systems, PDU/RPP design, N+1/2N redundancy, genset integration, 48V DC power distribution. Emerging: Open Rack V3, 48V rack-level power, AI/GPU pod power density, software-defined power, demand response, on-site BESS for renewable integration. Demonstrated ability to conduct and interpret credible market analysis: TAM/SAM modeling, customer segmentation, technology adoption frameworks, and competitive positioning — with the rigor to defend methodology in front of sophisticated audiences. Strong product positioning and value articulation skills — proven track record of translating complex technical differentiation into compelling, commercially relevant narratives. Direct experience engaging hyperscale or large enterprise data center customers — understanding how infrastructure buying decisions are made and who the real influencers are. Familiarity with the power system integration ecosystem — companies such as Delta, Lite-On — and how OEM/ODM relationships work in the data center supply chain. Experience building and presenting TCO and business case models for infrastructure technology purchases. Exceptional communication and presentation skills — ability to tailor message for technical engineers, procurement teams, C-suite executives, and investors. Comfort with ambiguity and a builder's mentality: this is a market-making role, not a playbook-execution role. Nice to have: Background in battery technology, semiconductors, or energy storage systems — enough to engage credibly with customers on technical tradeoffs (Li-ion vs. sodium-ion vs. solid-state vs. flow batteries). Experience with OCP, SNIA, IEEE, or Uptime Institute standards and community engagement. Prior experience at a deep-tech hardware startup, energy storage company, or power electronics firm bringing a new technology to market. Familiarity with data center sustainability metrics: PUE, WUE, CUE, Scope 2 emissions, carbon-free energy (CFE) targets, and how they influence procurement decisions. Experience in analyst relations: briefing firms such as IDTechEx, BloombergNEF, Wood Mackenzie, Gartner, and IHS Markit. MBA or equivalent advanced degree is a plus, though not required if the candidate brings equivalent strategic depth. Master's degree or MBA preferred. ONSITE: This position is required to work onsite 5 days per week to meet the minimum essential duties and requirements of this position.  As an on-site R&D and manufacturing operations organization, in-person face to face interaction is essential to building authentic relationships, trust, teamwork, and collaboration. Compensation & Benefits: Expected salary range for this role is from $ 185,700to $260,030 and a final salary will be determined by the candidate's experience and educational background. QuantumScape also offers an annual bonus and a generous RSU/Equity package as part of its compensation plan. In addition, we do offer a tremendous benefits plan including employee paid health care, Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP), and other benefits. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request an accommodation.