About the role

Pay Range: £75k-£200k (salary + equity), based in London, UK.

We are hiring a Power Systems Engineer to join Squid as one of our first engineers.

You will work closely with the founders and engineering team to shape Squid’s approach to power system modelling, validation, benchmarking and engineering assurance.

You will work directly with utilities and industry stakeholders to understand complex grid workflows, define robust technical approaches and help turn them into scalable products.

This is a high-ownership role based in our central London office, with the opportunity to influence Squid’s product direction, engineering methodology and position within the power systems industry.

What you'll do

• Establish Squid’s technical approach to power system modelling, validation, benchmarking and engineering assurance.
• Develop frameworks for assessing model quality, consistency, completeness and fitness for engineering use.
• Define methodologies for validating power system data, models, studies and AI-generated outputs.
• Work with grid planners, operators and engineers to understand requirements and define technically credible solutions.
• Define benchmarks and evaluation methods for testing AI models and agents on real power systems tasks.
• Contribute to industry discussions, technical standards and Squid’s thinking on the future of power systems engineering.
• Work closely with software engineers to turn engineering methods and frameworks into reliable production tools.
• Communicate technical findings, methodologies and recommendations clearly to customers and industry stakeholders.

Qualifications

You do not need to meet every requirement. We are looking for someone with strong power systems knowledge who can help define how modern software and AI should be applied responsibly within the industry.

You may be a strong fit if you have:

• Professional experience in power systems engineering, electrical engineering, grid modelling or energy networks.
• Experience with load flow, short-circuit analysis, contingency analysis, grid connections, network planning or operational studies.
• Strong understanding of power system models, their limitations and how they should be validated and assured.
• Experience developing engineering methodologies, technical standards, validation processes or assurance frameworks.
• Familiarity with tools such as PowerFactory, IPSA, PSS®E, ETAP, pandapower, PyPSA, GridCal or OpenDSS.
• The ability to turn unclear technical problems into structured methods, frameworks and practical recommendations.
• Experience working directly with utilities, network operators, engineering teams or technical customers.
• Strong technical judgement and the confidence to challenge assumptions, methods and results.
• An interest in how AI can support power systems engineering while maintaining appropriate human oversight and engineering rigour.
• The ability to communicate complex engineering concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• High ownership, intellectual curiosity and a willingness to learn quickly.

Experience with model validation, GIS, SCADA, ADMS, DMS, EMS, regulatory standards, technical governance or industry working groups would be valuable, but is not required.

About Squid (www.squid.energy)

AI and data centres are booming, electrification is accelerating, and trillions in generation, storage, and connection projects are queued - but the real bottleneck is the grid.

Grid planning and operations are becoming a national-scale systems problem: complex network models, messy legacy data, strict governance, overloaded teams, and high-stakes decisions that affect real infrastructure.

Squid is building the agentic modelling platform for power grids: a versioned, auditable source of truth where network models, data, changes, assumptions, and decisions can be tracked - and where humans and AI agents can safely work together.

We unify legacy planning models, operational data, and grid workflows into software that helps teams run checks, compare models, explain changes, validate assumptions, and move faster without losing engineering rigour.

Based in London, Squid is backed by premier investors like Y Combinator and partners with industry leaders including National Grid and Northern Powergrid. 🦑