Sr. Electrical Engineer - Power Systems
Company websitearbor.co (Arbor Energy, opens in new tab)
Base salary $165K to $185K
Employer-published annual base salary, USD. Advertised base range in El Segundo, CA
You apply on the employer's own site. Six Figure Work does not handle applications.
- LocationEl Segundo, CA
- WorkplaceWorkplace not stated
- Status at last checkSource accepting applications when checked
- Last checked (3 h ago) · observed since
About this job
About Us
At Arbor Energy & Resources Corporation ("Arbor Energy"), we’re creating technology to power our lives while protecting the planet that sustains them. Our advanced power systems deliver clean, reliable baseload electricity with zero operating emissions—modular, fuel-flexible, and engineered for the realities of today’s energy demand. At the core is a supercritical CO₂ turbine with integrated carbon capture, designed to bring carbon-neutral power online quickly at meaningful scale.
Our team includes aerospace engineers, combustion experts, and systems thinkers with a shared goal: to build technology worthy of the world we want to live in. While many of us began our journeys looking to the stars, we’re applying that expertise here at home to deliver dependable, emission-free baseload power and a future of lasting abundance.
If you share our values and are drawn to rigorous work with lasting impact, we’d love to learn more about you. Come build what the future will run on.
Steward our planet: We build for tomorrow, ensuring every bolt we tighten and every hand we lend leaves our environment stronger than we found it.
Lead with Love: We champion the success of our people, partners, and planet, nurturing excellence through camaraderie and rigor.
Explore the Uncharted: We embrace the unknown with curiosity, using courage and discipline to transform uncertainty into opportunity.
Role Overview
We're looking for a Senior Electrical Engineer – Power Systems to own the electrical architecture of Arbor's supercritical CO₂ power plants—from the first conceptual one-line through generator selection, synchronization and protection design, utility interconnection, procurement, installation, and first synchronization to the grid. As Arbor's first electrical engineer, you will set the architecture for multi-unit plants of 10–50 MW turbine-generators, both grid-tied at transmission level and in islanded behind-the-meter configurations. This is a hands-on role: you will design, specify, procure, and commission the equipment yourself, and bring in third-party engineering when the schedule demands more hands, not because the work is outside your reach. You'll partner closely with turbomachinery, controls, process, and test engineers in a fast-paced, first-of-a-kind hardware environment, building the electrical discipline that delivers carbon-neutral baseload power.
Responsibilities
- Own the power system architecture for multi-unit grid-tied plants and islanded microgrid configurations: single-line diagrams, generator step-up and medium-voltage distribution topology, auxiliary power, and DC/UPS systems.
- Lead generator, excitation, synchronization, and load-sharing design, including system behavior during load steps, faults, breaker operations, motor starting, and loss-of-generation events.
- Develop the protection philosophy and coordination strategy for generators, transformers, medium-voltage switchgear, and large motors, and produce or review relay settings and time-current coordination.
- Own utility interconnection from feasibility screening through interconnection agreement and compliance, including NERC MOD-026/027 and PRC-019/024 and IEEE 2800 requirements.
- Perform and direct load-flow, short-circuit, arc-flash, motor-starting, and transient stability studies in ETAP, PSCAD, PSS®E, or equivalent.
- Specify and procure major electrical equipment—generators, step-up transformers, switchgear, medium-voltage motors and VFDs, MCCs, and UPS—and manage vendor design reviews, factory acceptance tests, and installation.
- Own or direct hazardous-area classification, grounding, and lightning protection design for facilities handling natural gas, oxygen, and high-pressure CO₂.
- Define scope for and review third-party electrical engineering when additional capacity is needed, and lead electrical commissioning through first fire, full-speed no-load, and synchronization.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering or related engineering field.
- 8+ years of experience in power-generation, industrial, or utility electrical systems, including medium-voltage generation and distribution and transmission-level interconnection.
- Hands-on commissioning or startup experience with a generating plant or large industrial electrical system.
- Demonstrated ability to take electrical equipment from concept through specification, procurement, installation, and energization.
- Working fluency in generator protection, excitation, and synchronization, and in power system studies (load flow, short circuit, arc flash, motor starting, coordination) using ETAP, SKM, PSCAD, or equivalent.
- Knowledge of NEC, NFPA 70E, NESC, IEEE, and NERC standards applicable to generating facilities.
- Proven ability to own technical development of complex hardware from concept through validation in fast-paced settings.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with islanded power systems, load shedding, and generator paralleling in oil & gas, LNG, industrial-gas, or microgrid applications.
- Gas-turbine or reciprocating-engine generator package experience, including static excitation, generator protection panels, and neutral grounding.
- Utility interconnection studies and RTO/ISO or CAISO/WECC process experience.
- Advanced degree (M.S.) in Electrical Engineering with a power systems emphasis.
- Background in startup environments or first-of-a-kind hardware development.
Benefits & Compensation
- Pre-IPO stock options
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance (Arbor covers 90% for employees)
- Basic life insurance fully covered
- Health savings account (HSA) with matching
- Flexible savings account (FSA)
- Unlimited PTO
- 12+ company holidays, including Earth Day!
- 401(k)
- Commuter benefits
- Annual learning and development stipend
- And more!
Base Pay: $165,000 - $185,000 USD/year. The salary is subject to the applicant's skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location.
Our Commitment
Arbor Energy is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. Solving global energy challenges requires a wide range of perspectives and experiences, and we are committed to building a team that reflects the world we serve.
Our hiring process is designed to be accessible, fair, and focused on the work that matters most for this role. Reasonable accommodations are available throughout the hiring process and employment—please let us know if you need one.
Source: Arbor Energy on Greenhouse · View original posting (opens in new tab)
Pay in context
This role's base floor ($165,000) is above 66% of the 2,068 Engineering (non-software) roles in California listed on this site; 26 others list the same floor. Their median floor is $146,900; the middle half runs from $125,000 to $175,000.
Only jobs on this site count, and each one publishes a base salary of $100,000 or more, so this compares six-figure jobs with each other, not with the whole market. Computed Nov 6, 2026.
This listingSr. Electrical Engineer - Power Systems$165K to $185K
Sr. Thermodynamics Performance Engineer$165K to $180K
Sr. Heat Exchanger Engineer$165K to $180K
Lead Combustion Engineer$170K to $185K
Technical Project Lead$175K to $225K
Sr. Combustion Engineer (Syngas Oxyfuel)$150K to $175K
Sr. Mechanical Engineer (Gasification)$150K to $175K
Chart as a table
| Role | Published base |
|---|---|
| Sr. Electrical Engineer - Power Systems (this listing) | $165K - $185K |
| Sr. Thermodynamics Performance Engineer | $165K - $180K |
| Sr. Heat Exchanger Engineer | $165K - $180K |
| Lead Combustion Engineer | $170K - $185K |
| Technical Project Lead | $175K - $225K |
| Sr. Combustion Engineer (Syngas Oxyfuel) | $150K - $175K |
| Sr. Mechanical Engineer (Gasification) | $150K - $175K |
Observed changes
- First observed on the employer's board
- Began meeting the published-salary criteria
- Observed since
- Employer-stated posting date
- 2026-10-23
Where this pay comes from
Location as the employer wrote it: El Segundo, CA
Base Pay: $165,000 - $185,000 USD/year. The salary is subject to the applicant's skills,
- Method
- Employer text, read with fixed rules and re-verified
- Checked
- Rule set
- us-base-v2
The pay passage appears in the employer's own job text. Fixed, deterministic rules located it, and the passage below was checked against the stored copy of the posting.
What we verified
- The pay figures come from the employer's own listing, quoted exactly above.
- The pay is an annual base salary in US dollars with a minimum of at least $100,000.
- The role was publicly listed on the employer's job board when last checked.
We do not verify what the employer will actually offer, whether the employer is still recruiting for the role, or anything beyond what the employer published. Full methodology.
