Contract Process Safety Engineer Jobs in California

Process Safety Engineer 

Rondo is accelerating industry's transition to lower-cost, zero-carbon heat and power. 

Our Rondo Heat Batteries turn low-cost renewable electricity into continuous, high-temperature heat and power, enabling industrial facilities to replace fossil-fired boilers without costly process changes. The result is lower-cost, zero-carbon industrial energy delivered safely, reliably, and at 98% efficiency. 

Rondo is commercially deployed and rapidly scaling, today. Backed by world-class industrial leaders and investors - including Breakthrough Energy, Energy Impact Partners, Rio Tinto, Aramco, SABIC, SCG, TITAN, Microsoft, H&M, and John Doerr - Rondo is building the next generation of industrial energy infrastructure at global scale. 

We are looking for a Madrid-based Principal Process Safety Engineer to own and lead Rondo's global risk-based process safety management program. This person will serve as the company's principal technical authority for hazard evaluation across all sites (US, Germany, Portugal, Thailand, Australia), set the global process safety standard with local adaptation, personally lead the highest-risk and most complex studies, and build and qualify distributed facilitation capability so the program runs across geographies without depending on a single person. This is an opportunity to stand up a world-class PSM program at a fast-scaling, first-of-a-kind energy technology company. 

What You Will Do (key responsibilities for this role include but are not limited to): 

• Own and scale Rondo's global risk-based PSM program, including periodic re-determination of regulatory applicability across jurisdictions (OSHA PSM / CalARP in the US; Seveso III in the EU; Major Hazard Facility / WHS regimes in Australia; applicable Thai requirements) so program rigor tracks actual process risk and inventory as each site grows
• Own the global PHA methodology and standard (HAZID, HAZOP, LOPA); personally facilitate high-risk and complex studies, and calibrate, and oversee local facilitators at each site so quality is consistent worldwide
• Own the global PHA action register and governance; drive closure by assigning accountability to line/engineering owners, tracking to completion, and escalating overdue high-risk actions to leadership
• Serve as the mandatory process safety reviewer within the Management of Change process, ensuring changes are screened for process safety impact and trigger PHA revalidation where required; own Pre-Startup Safety Review (PSSR) and maintain Process Safety Information (PSI) as the system of record
• Build process safety competency across the global organization - develop and deliver HAZOP/PHA leader and team-member training, and establish a qualified network of local facilitators and process safety champions so the program is not single-threaded 

What You Will Bring: 

• BS in chemical, mechanical, process, or related engineering; ~10-15+ years of process/process-safety engineering experience with a demonstrated record independently facilitating full HAZOP/PHA studies
• Multi-site or international process safety experience; working command of PSM elements (PHA, PSSR, PSI, MI interface, incident investigation); willingness to travel internationally (est. 25-40%)
• Ability to apply hazard-evaluation and risk-ranking methods (HAZID, HAZOP, what-if, LOPA) and translate findings into risk-based, prioritized recommendations
• Knowledge of process safety hazards specific to thermal energy storage - high-temperature stored thermal energy, high-voltage/arc-flash, pressure/steam systems, and stored-energy isolation
• Ability to apply functional safety lifecycle practice (IEC 61511; SIF/SIL determination and verification) and select and justify appropriate RAGAGEP
• Ability to evaluate program effectiveness using process safety leading and lagging indicators (e.g., API 754-style tiered metrics), audit findings, and global action-closure data
• Ability to harmonize multi-jurisdiction regulatory and corporate requirements into a single global standard with defensible local adaptation, rather than running disconnected per-site programs
• Track record of independently challenging designs and operating plans on a risk basis, including the authority to flag and halt unacceptable risk - without being the author of the controls under review
• Experience leading cross-functional hazard-evaluation teams across cultures and time zones; ability to drive consensus on risk and safeguards in geographically distributed settings
• Ability to prioritize the highest-risk processes and overdue safety-critical actions for resources and attention globally
• Strong ability to influence and escalate across line and leadership without direct authority; experience mentoring engineers and serving as a principal technical reviewer 

Bonus Points! 

• First-of-a-kind / novel-technology hazard analysis - you've evaluated processes where no established RAGAGEP exists and had to reason from first principles
• Energy storage, batteries, power generation, or high-temperature/molten-media background
• Hands-on functional safety - FMEDA, SIL verification, SIS design, not just IEC 61511 awareness
• Human and Organizational Performance fluency - treats "human error" as the start of a system-design question, not a root cause
• Functional safety experience (IEC 61511) or TUV Functional Safety Engineer certification
• CCPSC (CCPS Certified Process Safety Professional)
• Experience harmonizing process safety programs across jurisdictions (Seveso, WHS MHF, etc.) 

What We Offer: 

• Comprehensive Medical Benefits
• Dental & Vision Benefits
• Life Insurance and ADD
• Up to 13 paid holidays per year, in addition to a company week-long holiday in December
• Flexible time off policy
• Catered lunches on-site
• 401(k) plan with company match
• Rondo HQ is close to Oakland airport - one block from the Bay - and has stunning Bay views!

This role is a hybrid role and necessitates being on-site at our Alameda HQ 3 days per week, with frequent travel to project sites. The estimated annual salary range for this role is $150,000 and $180,000 it would be eligible for Rondo's excellent benefits listed above plus additional compensation in the form of equity. Please note that some pay bands may have wide ranges of compensation to accommodate candidates' diverse sets of skill levels and experience. 

Rondo Energy is an equal opportunity employer. We strive to create a supportive and inclusive workplace where contributions are valued and celebrated, and our employees thrive by being themselves and are inspired to do their best work. We seek applicants of all backgrounds and identities, across race, color, ethnicity, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or parental status, or disability. Applicants will not be discriminated against based on these or other protected categories or social identities.  

Rondo is committed to the full inclusion of all applicants. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the interview process, please let our recruiting team know. 

We proactively work to design hiring processes that promote equity and inclusion while mitigating bias.  

Rondo may use AI-assisted tools to help screen and evaluate applications as part of our hiring process. All hiring decisions are made by humans.   

Note to Recruitment Agencies: Rondo does not accept unsolicited agency resumes. Furthermore, Rondo Energy does not pay placement fees for candidates submitted by any agency other than its approved partners.