Thermal energy storage jobs

Thermal energy storage teams build and run stores that hold heat for hours or days: brick and carbon "heat batteries" that turn cheap electricity into factory steam, molten-salt tanks at solar plants, and hot-water tanks in district heating. Most openings here come from two Californian heat-battery makers, Antora Energy and Rondo Energy, as they move from prototypes to factory production.

What the jobs involve

• Mechanical and process engineers design the hot side: piping, pressure vessels, heat exchangers, and steam generators running above 400 °C.
• Manufacturing engineers set up module assembly lines, with tooling, fixtures, and process failure analyses (PFMEAs).
• Plant technicians operate the battery and its boiler on site and handle lock-out, hot-work, and confined-space permits.
• Compliance engineers take a new product through certification while NFPA, ASME, and UL are still drafting the codes for it.
• Product managers run the techno-economic studies that set the next product's targets.

Utility hot-water stores sit under district heating.

Who is hiring

Antora Energy builds its carbon-block batteries in San Jose and staffs plant sites such as Pratt, Kansas. Rondo Energy, based in Alameda, builds brick heat batteries and is installing them in Europe and Asia. The Norwegian maker Kyoto Group has recruited process engineers and plant designers in Seville, asking for experience in concentrated solar power plants with molten-salt storage.

Skills and qualifications

Engineers need a mechanical, chemical, or manufacturing degree and the pressure codes: ASME BPVC and B31 in the US, the Pressure Equipment Directive in Europe. Experience with creep, thermal cycling, boilers, or solar thermal plants counts, as do ANSYS or COMSOL for thermal stress.

Technicians need no degree: Antora asks for a high-school diploma or vocational training, three years of plant operations with DCS, SCADA, or PLC controls, and boiler and water-chemistry experience. Graduates start in internships, such as Rondo's in process and thermal performance. The energy storage career guide compares salaries across the sector.

What is changing

In May 2026 Antora commissioned a battery with POET in South Dakota; in October it announced a 5.8 GWh system for Pratt Energy's biorefinery in Kansas, with a paid internship at Pratt Community College and local hiring for operations (ESS News). In Germany, Rondo broke ground in January 2026 on a 100 MWh heat battery at Covestro's Brunsbüttel site, due to run by the end of 2026 (Rondo). Openings are shifting from lab research to manufacturing, commissioning, and plant operations.