Senior / Staff Field Engineer

About the role

Antora Energy is seeking a Senior Field Engineer to join our Operations & Maintenance team at the POET Big Stone thermal energy storage (TES) facility in Big Stone City, SD. This role is central to improving and maintaining the performance of our deployed HeatCore thermal battery modules and balance-of-plant systems.

What You'll Do

• Maintain sustained on-site presence at the POET Big Stone facility to develop comprehensive, ground-truth knowledge of plant performance, equipment behavior, and failure modes across HeatCore modules and BOP systems.
• Identify, document, and prioritize major and recurring field issues/priorities — including module efficiency, gas consumption, equipment failures, environmental impacts on instrumentation, and power delivery performance — and own those issues through to verified resolution.
• Lead end-to-end resolution of identified issues: scope the problem, develop or coordinate engineering solutions, drive procurement of required parts and materials, and manage field implementation through to closure.
• Conduct and facilitate formal root cause analysis (RCA) for field incidents and systemic issues, leveraging structured methodologies (e.g., 8D, 5-Why) and coordinating cross-functional input from controls, mechanical, EHS, and product development.
• Partner closely with the O&M TPM, Product Development Reliability Engineer, and Responsible Engineers to ensure field learnings are systematically captured, prioritized, and fed back into the broader engineering roadmap.
• Serve as a technical resource and escalation point for on-site maintenance and operations staff; support the maintenance team in executing complex corrective and preventive work orders.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of commissioning, maintenance, and operating procedures based on direct field experience; support knowledge transfer for new O&M personnel.

What We're Looking For

• B.S. in Mechanical, or Chemical engineering, Electrical, or related engineering discipline.
• 7+ years of field engineering, commissioning, or plant operations experience in an energy, industrial, or process environment.
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead technical troubleshooting and issue resolution from identification through implementation.
• Familiarity with SCADA/controls systems and the ability to interpret process data and alarm logs.
• Hands-on experience with formal RCA methodologies (e.g., 8D, 5-Why, fault tree analysis).
• Ability and willingness to work predominantly on-site in a construction or operating plant environment, including outdoor and confined-space settings.
• Occasional travel to Antora HQ in San Jose, CA.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to translate field observations into clear engineering documentation and stakeholder updates.
• Proficiency with engineering work management systems (e.g., CMMS, PLM, issue tracking platforms).

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience with thermal energy storage, heat transfer fluids, or high-temperature industrial systems.
• Familiarity with SCADA/controls systems and the ability to interpret process data and alarm logs.
• Experience with SPCC, EHS compliance, or environmental incident response in an industrial plant setting.
• Prior experience with first-of-kind or early-stage technology deployment where standard procedures are still being developed.
• Experience working cross-functionally with product development or R&D teams in a field engineering capacity.

Work Location

Onsite in Big Stone City, South Dakota

Pay Range

$123-150k USD