Reports to Chief Engineer - Charging Hardware
This role requires a full-time onsite presence in Durham, NC
We are only able to consider candidates who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents (green card holders) and who do not require current or future visa sponsorship of any sort.
Position Summary The Principal Charging Software Engineer owns charger software end-to-end: firmware quality, the charging-software roadmap, cross-cutting software architecture, and the full software development lifecycle (SDLC) with our charger vendor. As the charger portfolio grows and on-board software becomes increasingly complex, this role ensures software stops being the constraint on reliability, directly defending the uptime and first-plug-success metrics that drivers, OEMs, and third-party raters judge us on.
The successful candidate brings a strong software-engineering background, deep familiarity with EV charging technology, and a proven track record leading software architecture and managing a vendor's software delivery lifecycle at the scale of a public charging network.
Key Responsibilities Charging Software Architecture & Roadmap - Own the architecture and technical direction for charger software and firmware across the EVSE portfolio, including functional safety, software FMEA, APIs, and state-machine design.
- Define and maintain the charging-software roadmap and align it with the vendor's roadmap; lead gap analysis to sequence features, quality improvements, and platform changes against IONNA's KPI targets.
- Ensure the charger software is fully interoperable across the broader IONNA ecosystem, embedding the V2G communications and OCPP stack to integrate seamlessly with IONNA's CPMS, payment systems, and Plug & Charge, keeping the stack scalable, maintainable, and reliable as the portfolio expands.
Charging System Vendor SDLC Leadership - Lead the full charger software development lifecycle: requirements, design reviews, release planning, acceptance criteria, quality gates, and release notes and documentation.
- Drive predictable, on-time software deliveries from the vendor; hold release governance and improve delivery cadence and quality.
- Serve as the primary technical owner of the charger software relationship, partnering with the Charging Hardware Lead on combined HW/SW releases.
- Maintain and manage a comprehensive set of charging-software requirements and acceptance criteria.
Quality, Reliability & Release Governance - Own charger software/firmware quality outcomes, driving regressions and escaped defects toward zero and protecting uptime and 1st attempt success.
- Partner with the Testing & Technology Evaluation team to gate releases, validate firmware, and ensure testability is designed in from the start.
- Lead root-cause analysis on software-driven field issues and support Tier-3 obligations to resolution.
- Make major contributions to go/no-go release decisions and shape pilot strategy; manage, measure, and continuously improve software-related KPIs for the charging systems.
Cross-Functional Collaboration - Work closely with Hardware, Testing, Product, Program Management, and Operations to align charger software with the broader roadmap and deployment plans.
- Translate technical software findings into clear, actionable insights for engineering, product, and executive stakeholders.
- Stay current with the EV charging landscape and evolving standards, driving vehicle interoperability and proactively adapting the software roadmap and architecture.
Required Qualifications - A minimum of 8 years in software or embedded-systems engineering, including technical or team leadership.
- Proven experience owning the software development lifecycle (SDLC) with a hardware or firmware vendor: requirements, releases, and quality gates.
- Demonstrated ability to lead software/firmware architecture for connected hardware (chargers, embedded devices, or comparable systems).
- Deep technical understanding of EV charging protocols: OCPP, ISO 15118, and DIN 70121.
- Detailed understanding of the current public fast-charging landscape.
- Strong command of Agile/Scrum, modern release management, and CI/CD practices.
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer/Electrical Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).
- Exceptional communication and program-management skills to progress discussions with vendors and senior stakeholders.
Preferred Qualifications - Direct experience in public DC fast charging at a charging network operator.
- Hands-on experience managing an EVSE/charger vendor's software relationship.
- Familiarity with firmware quality, OTA update systems, and charger field reliability.
- Familiarity with V2G coms, Plug-and-Charge, PKI, OCPP and relevant standards (e.g. ISO 15118).
- Experience partnering with automotive OEMs on vehicle-to-charger interoperability.
Compensation IONNA is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices through a competitive base salary, as well as offering bonus programs, comprehensive benefits such as medical, dental, vision, life, 401(K), and paid holidays. Actual base salaries are based on several factors unique to each candidate, including but not limited to skill set, experience, certifications, and specific work location.
