Senior/Staff AI/ML Engineer, Plant Intelligence

Sr./Staff AI/ML Engineer, Plant Intelligence

Location: Mountain View, CA - Remote
Team: Software

The Impact You’ll Make:

1AP builds software-defined power systems: utility-scale solar and storage plants designed, built and run on one software stack, from the layout of the land to the electronics on every string.

Plant Intelligence is the layer that understands each plant: how it is designed, how it should perform and how it actually runs. It spans site design, performance modeling, digital twins, forecasting and asset health.

This is the first machine learning role on Plant Intelligence, shaping how AI becomes part of every plant.

Key Responsibilities:

• Combine physics and machine learning into models that predict how each plant performs.
• Build the data foundation: capture and label operations, maintenance and field data for model training.
• Build the pipelines every model is trained, evaluated and deployed through.
• Package models for the plant, working with Plant Infrastructure on running them on site.

The Skills You Bring:

• 6+ years of software engineering, including 3+ years building machine learning for production.
• Strong Python and SQL background with hands-on modern ML libraries experience. 
• Strong data engineering: reliable pipelines for large volumes of sensor and time-series data.
• ML systems: training and evaluation pipelines, model registry and production monitoring.
• Experience with modern data platforms: data lakes, streaming and workflow orchestration.
• Infrastructure as code: Terraform or similar.
• Bias for action and end-to-end ownership: shipping early, measuring results, and owning models from first prototype through production and beyond.

Nice to Have:

• Utility-scale solar and battery storage operations: dispatch, curtailment, clipping, availability, degradation.
• Solar performance modeling tools: PVsyst, SAM, or similar.
• Hybrid modeling: combining physics or simulation with machine learning.
• Optimization: linear or mixed-integer programming.
• Power electronics awareness: inverter limits, thermal derating, active and reactive power control.
• Deploying models on edge hardware.
• Full-stack software development experience.

Benefits and Perks:

• Competitive Compensation Package

• Health Insurance: We offer 100% coverage of employee and 75% of dependent premiums under a Gold-level PPO plan. Dental & Vision Insurance: 50% of employee premiums are covered.

• Retirement Plan: A 401(k) plan with a 6% employer match.

Additional Information:

Minimum salary of $237,000 to maximum salary of $257,500 + equity + benefits.

The range provided is 1AP’s reasonable estimate of the base compensation for this role. The actual amount will be based on job-related and non-discriminatory factors such as location, experience, training, skills, and abilities. Consult with your Recruiter during the initial call to determine a more targeted range based on these job-related factors.

About 1 Arc Power:

At 1 Arc Power, we are on a mission to deliver simple, fast-to-deploy, customer-centric and intelligent power systems leveraging the abundance of solar to provide inexpensive and reliable clean energy to global customers from data centers to energy starved communities around the world. We envision a future where every community, business, and nation thrives on the limitless potential of clean energy, united in a shared commitment to a sustainable and equitable world.

You will be working with Dr. Tom Buttgenbach , one of the most successful clean energy technology innovators and entrepreneurs who has been a driving force in making solar-based energy solutions the cheapest and most reliable energy option. Tom founded and led Avantus (formerly known as “8minute Solar Energy“), to become one of the largest and most profitable solar and energy storage companies in the United States and the largest in California, including delivering over 17% of Los Angeles’ power.  

When Tom sold his interest in Avantus’ development business  to KKR in mid-2024, it had delivered over $1 billion in profit and secured over $10 Billion in power purchase agreements and project financings with a pipeline of over 30 GW of solar and 90 GWh of energy storage, capable of powering the homes of more than 20 million Americans day and night. 

Tom’s family office investment firm, 1st Avenue Capital, is building teams for the next generation of advanced solar power system architecture and AI to aggressively drive down the cost of and equitable access to clean and reliable energy.[1] 1st Avenue’s advanced large scale power systems are addressing the increasing inadequacy of the grid to meet the massively growing power demands of the digital economy, while its intelligent distributed solar utilities are leapfrogging the grid to provide equitable access to inexpensive, clean and reliable power to underserved communities around the world.

1AI Energy, the employing entity for 1 Arc Power, and 1 Arc Power are committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and will not discriminate against an applicant or employee based on race (inclusive of traits associated with race, including hair texture and protective hairstyles), color, religion, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding), age, veteran or military status, marital status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, reproductive decision-making, or any other legally recognized protected class under federal, state, or local law.  We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.. Applicants with disabilities may be entitled to reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), and local laws. A reasonable accommodation is a change in the way things are normally done which will ensure an equal employment opportunity without imposing undue hardship on 1AI Energy or 1st Avenue Power. Please inform the company's personnel representative if you need assistance completing an application or to otherwise participate in the application process. 

Join our team and make a real difference in the world.

[1: Additionally, 1st Avenue is in the business of acquiring projects where there has been a final notice-to-proceed or financial close.]

California Pay Range

$237,000—$257,500 USD