Engineer II

Make a Difference for Climate and Equity — Join Slipstream as an Energy Engineer II

Apply your technical skills to make a real impact in the fight against climate change and the inequities of its impacts. We are seeking an Energy Engineer to join our Research and Innovation team at Slipstream. We are a national, mission-driven nonprofit that accelerates climate solutions. For everyone.

We inspire bold ideas to tackle big energy challenges. Our work spans energy efficiency, community energy planning, equitable building decarbonization, emerging technologies, and green financing. We collaborate with governments, utilities, and community-based organizations to discover, test, and scale solutions that work for real people in real communities. We are optimistic, inclusive, and ambitious about our impact—and we’re looking for someone who shares that drive.

Our Research & Innovation Team is a national leader in understanding the real-world impacts of new solutions for addressing climate change. We study, develop, and test the next generation of energy solutions across multiple sectors of the economy.

Our ideal Energy Engineer is highly organized and thrives in a collaborative, project-team environment. You have strong technical experience with energy systems in buildings and communities. You are an analytical thinker with the ability to solve complex engineering problems and quantify energy impacts. You want to creatively address climate change using your technical expertise and curiosity. You enjoy a dynamic workplace and embrace self-motivation in your work. Show us how you lead, collaborate, and bring diverse perspectives to drive better ideas.

We encourage candidates from all backgrounds. You are key to our success by demonstrating our values, engaging in our mission, and creating results that produce enduring economic and environmental benefits for all. While we’re mostly remote, Slipstream can only hire in select states (outlined in the application). Since much of our current work is in the Midwest and Northeast, being based in those regions is a plus. Salary may be adjusted to account for cost-of-living differences across major cities where Slipstream employees live and work.

What You’ll Do:

- Deliver innovative solutions that improve communities and buildings based on data and analysis.

- Lead and conduct analysis of energy systems and improvement strategies in communities and buildings, with a strong focus on HVAC and building controls, and additional opportunities in renewable energy, battery energy storage, and/or vehicle charging.

- Manage research and development projects and tasks, including coordinating with cross-functional teams, and reporting results internally, to clients, and to the broader industry. Responsible for all aspects of projects/tasks from inception to delivery.

- Conduct field research by visiting buildings and facilities to gather information and data, which may include hands-on measurement of energy, user satisfaction, comfort, and other outcomes.

- Recommend designs and strategies to integrate and coordinated proven and emerging climate technologies such as efficiency measures, heat pumps, and DERs and other emerging technologies into buildings.

- Support efforts to seek and secure new research funding, including developing proposals and collaborating with partners.

What You’ll Need:

- Project experience or strong understanding of HVAC and controls, and their relation to building energy performance. Some experience with energy auditing, energy analysis, program design, and educational training.

- Ability to manage projects both independently and collaboratively; maintain organization amid complexity.

- Analytical thinking with the ability to solve complex engineering problems and conduct energy and power systems analysis.

- Strong communication skills, with the ability to engage diverse energy stakeholders including researchers, utilities, building owners/decision makers, community members, and supply chain personnel.

- Curiosity to investigate new approaches to address climate change and equity challenges.

- Ability to work collaboratively with a diverse set of researchers.

- Ability to clearly convey complex concepts, ideas, and solutions through meeting facilitation, strong report writing, and engaging information sharing.

Nice to Have (or what you’ll learn here)

- Measurement and verification, and observation of energy systems through commissioning or verification.

- Experience with building design, construction, or retrofit processes and partnerships.

- Experience with energy modeling and energy auditing.

- Experience cleaning and analyzing data sets using Python, VBA, R, or equivalent tools.

- Knowledge of relevant building energy codes and standards (e.g., ASHRAE, IECC).

Qualifications

- Bachelor’s or advanced degree in mechanical, electrical, or architectural engineering, physics, or professional equivalent.

- 5–8 years of related work experience.

Work Environment

- Fully remote position with the ability to work from home or another suitable location with reliable internet access.

- Flexible schedules, meetings generally occurring 9–4 in Central Time zone.

- Requires a quiet and professional workspace for virtual meetings and collaboration.

- Hybrid work is available if located in Madison, WI or Chicago, IL. If in-office, expect a moderate noise level.

- Travel up to 10% for in-person meetings, conferences, client visits, etc.

Physical Requirements

- Primarily a sedentary role, with tasks typically performed while sitting or occasionally standing.

- Ability to operate a computer and standard office equipment.

- Ability to ascend and descend stairs, ladders, and into/out of vehicles as required.

- Tasks demand visual focus for reading and working on screens.

- This position frequently communicates via phone and video conferencing, with in-person interactions as applicable.

Slipstream is an equal-opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all individuals feel valued, respected, and supported. We center community in everything we do and strongly encourage people of all backgrounds to apply and join us in our mission. We welcome applicants regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or any other protected status or characteristic under federal, state, or local laws.

Slipstream will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities to enable them to perform the essential functions of their position unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on Slipstream, or if it would pose a direct threat to the health or safety of the individual or others that cannot be mitigated. Questions or accommodation requests should be directed to Human Resources.

Please note that Slipstream will only contact candidates via the Paycom portal. We will never ask a candidate for payment of any kind as part of the hiring or onboarding process or send payment to any candidate prior to completing the hiring and onboarding process.