Battery Technician / Battery Engineer – Whiplash Platform
[Surge Marine | Valkenburg, NL (On-site)]
Join the Surge
At Surge Marine, we are pushing the limits of maritime speed and autonomy with the Whiplash platform. To go faster and stay out longer, we need more than just "off-the-shelf" batteries; we need a sophisticated, high-density energy heart that can handle extreme discharge rates and brutal ocean conditions.
We are looking for a hands-on Battery Technician / Battery Engineer to build and maintain the energy core of our fleet. You will be the authority on taking raw cells and transforming them into rugged, high-performance battery packs. If you want to physically build the power systems that drive the "Formula 1 of the ocean," you belong here.
The Mission
As our Battery Technician/Engineer, you are responsible for the physical assembly, configuration, and testing of our custom energy storage. You will spot-weld cells, integrate and wire advanced Battery Management Systems (BMS), and ensure our power packs are safely insulated to survive high-speed maneuvers and harsh saltwater environments.
Your Impact:
- Pack Assembly: Build high-performance Li-ion/LiFePO4 battery packs from the ground up, handling everything from cell sorting and spot welding to busbar integration and final enclosure.
- BMS Configuration: Wire, configure, and tune Battery Management Systems to ensure perfect cell balancing, strict safety limits, and accurate State of Charge (SoC/SoH) reporting.
- Testing & Quality Control: Run charge/discharge cycles, perform capacity testing, and aggressively debug power delivery issues down to the individual cell level before the pack ever sees the water.
- Safety & Insulation: Apply potting, thermal interfaces, and physical thermal runaway prevention measures to ensure packs are completely vibration-proof and marine-ready.
- Field Testing & Maintenance: Take your power stacks to the water. You'll be on-site in Valkenburg and out at sea, swapping packs, monitoring real-time performance, and executing field repairs in real-world conditions.
Who You Are
You are a builder who respects the massive power you work with. You understand the delicate balance of assembling high-energy-density packs safely, especially when they are destined for a saltwater environment. You are most comfortable with a spot welder, a soldering iron, and a multimeter in hand, and you take immense pride in clean wiring and perfectly balanced cells.
The Essentials:
- Education: Technical degree or vocational training (e.g., MBO/HBO or equivalent) in Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Automotive technology, or a related field.
- Experience: Proven hands-on experience building custom battery packs (e.g., Electric Vehicles, Drones, Formula Student, or e-bikes/marine applications).
- Technical Stack:
- Expertise in safe battery assembly techniques (spot welding, soldering heavy-gauge wire, working with busbars).
- Direct experience wiring and configuring BMS parameters.
- Familiarity with basic diagnostic tools and communication protocols (CANbus).
- Knowledge of high-voltage safety standards and handling procedures.
- Communication: Clear communication in English.
- Nationality: Due to the nature of our maritime defense and infrastructure projects, Dutch or NATO-country nationality is required.
The Surge Offer
We offer a high-intensity environment where your work is the literal "spark" that brings our machines to life.
- Competitive Salary: Depending on your seniority and hands-on "power wizardry".
- Equity/Options: We want you to have a stake in the success of the platform you help build.
- On-site Hub: Work in our specialized Valkenburg workshop, surrounded by the hardware and the team.
- No Red Tape: We move fast. If you find a better way to assemble a pack or improve our power-to-weight ratio, we implement it.
- Adventure: Real-world testing. You'll see your power systems perform in the North Sea, not just on a lab bench.
Ready to build?
Skip the formal cover letter. Send us your CV and a brief description (or photos!) of the most challenging battery pack you have ever physically built. We want to hear about how you wired the BMS, the trade-offs you made in assembly, and how you ensured it didn't catch fire.
Contact: career@surgemarine.eu
