Director, Battery Engineering

About Us We are Sila, a next-generation battery materials company. Our mission is to power the world’s transition to clean energy. To create this future, our team is building a better lithium-ion battery from the inside out today. We engineer and manufacture ground-breaking battery materials that significantly increase the energy density of batteries, while reducing their size and weight. The result? Smaller more powerful batteries that can unlock innovation in consumer devices and accelerate the mass adoption of electric cars to eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels. We're tackling one of the biggest challenges of our time every day, and together we're redefining what's possible. Are you ready to be a part of a team committed to changing the world? Who You Are You are a seasoned engineering leader who brings a proven track record of bridging technical customer engagement with cell design, high-volume manufacturing, and Contract Manufacturing (CM) execution. You bring the practical experience needed to see around corners, anticipate integration bottlenecks, and establish clear operational momentum. While you respect the deep domain expertise of your team, your focus is on creating the organizational structure, clarity, and leadership backing required for engineers to perform at their best. In this role, you will lead Sila’s Battery Engineering group across both Customer Application Engineering and Cell Scaling, guiding team operations, fostering career development, and ensuring technical execution aligns with Sila’s commercial goals. Responsibilities and Duties - Drive Customer Adoption & Cell Qualification: Provide leadership and oversight for team deliverables across customer application engineering, cell prototyping design transfer, and OEM qualification—ensuring Sila’s silicon anode materials and cell designs are successfully integrated into partner platforms. - Anticipate Scaling & Integration Challenges: Apply your background in physical product scaling to help the team spot technical risks early, resolve complex cell adoption/manufacturing bottlenecks, and navigate contract manufacturing handoffs. - Drive Commercial Results: Partner closely with Commercial, Business Development, and Product leadership to ensure battery engineering milestones directly support customer pipeline progression, joint development agreements, and revenue targets. - Develop People & Build a Scaling Org: Lead, mentor, and advocate for an engineering team spanning customer applications and cell engineering. Design clear career pathways, conduct constructive performance reviews, and structure the team for long-term scale. - Streamline Operations & Cross-Functional Alignment: Establish efficient team workflows and prioritization frameworks that maintain focus on high-impact goals while protecting team capacity. Serve as the functional bridge for Battery Engineering across R&D, Operations, Product, and Commercial leadership. Knowledge and Skill Requirements - People Leadership: 5+ years of direct people management experience leading engineering, science, or technical teams, with a track record of talent development, performance management, and building high-trust team cultures. - Lithium-Ion Battery Industry Depth: 10+ years (12+ preferred) of battery industry experience spanning lithium-ion cell development, OEM customer qualification cycles (e.g., A/B/C sample testing), design transfer, and commercial-scale cell manufacturing or CM execution. - Operational & Scaling Mastery: Proven success establishing team workflows, project prioritization frameworks, and cross-functional execution processes across cell development, scaling, or contract manufacturing environments. - Communication & Strategic Advocacy: Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, with a track record of advocating for team needs, communicating complex technical trade-offs, and building alignment across cross-functional commercial and technical partners. - Education: B.S. or advanced degree (M.S./Ph.D. preferred) in Engineering, Physical Sciences, or a related field. Physical Demands and Working Conditions - Anticipated travel up to 25% required, both domestic and international - Wear personal protective equipment including, but not limited to, a lab coat, gloves, safety glasses, and steel toe safety shoes - Operate a computer and other office equipment, such as a laptop, copier/printer, etc in a fixed location The starting base pay for this role is between $207,000 and $262,000 at the time of posting. The actual base pay depends on many factors, such as education, experience, and skills. Base pay is only one part of Sila’s competitive Total Rewards package that can include benefits, perks, equity, and bonuses. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. #LI-PL1 #LI-Onsite Working at Sila We believe that building a diverse team at Sila helps us amplify our individual talents. We are an equal opportunity employer and committed to creating an inclusive environment where good ideas are free to come from anyone. We are proud to celebrate diversity and all qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, national origin, or any other status protected by law.