FREYR Battery is on a mission to decarbonize energy and transportation systems globally by producing the world’s most sustainable battery cells.

The first step towards achieving our goals is building battery cell factories in Mo i Rana. We will soon be opening the doors to our Customer Qualification Plant – Norway's first industrial-scale lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facility. Here we will validate and improve technology, materials, and cell designs as we prepare for commercial production at our Gigafactories. FREYR intends to install 50 GWh of battery cell capacity by 2025, 100 GWh annual capacity by 2028, and 200 GWh of annual capacity by 2030.

We will build battery cell factories of increasing size in Mo i Rana and further globally as a significant contribution to the transition to a green economy. Without batteries, there can be no real change in the global energy system, the key to limiting global warming. These factories are a significant contribution to a more sustainable future.

We are looking for a Lead Cell Design Engineer who can take a pivotal role in our journey towards green energy storage.

FREYR is developing products for the growing demand of electrification of the transportation and the energy sector. The development and introduction of lithium-ion battery cells requires technical expertise as well as coordination of the work in various disciplines.

You will be expected to lead the technical development of lithium-ion battery cells from idea generation to series production according to FREYR’s New Product Development and Introduction process.

The ideal candidates have expertise in lithium-ion battery technology and experience in coordination of experts and engineers towards achieving development targets in an industrial context.

Your main tasks will include:

• Coordinate a team of cell technologists on the overall development and validation of electrochemical/mechanical design
• Owning the cell design and the responsibility of the technical readiness level (TRL) for one product, ensuring sales/customer’s requirements for the product are met
• Leading the technical risk assessment and mitigation activities (DFMEA)
• Coordinating the development work packages of FREYR’s technology partners (esp. 24M and raw material suppliers) and in-house R&D
• Technology lead role in FREYR’s New Product Development Introduction process for next-generation ESS cells
• Responsible for product technology in cross-functional group comprising of members from Business, Process, Quality and Supply Chain Teams to ensure cell quality in mass production
• Performing report to development project management
• Working closely with Pack and BMS teams as well as supporting other product development projects e.g., EV and E-mobility products
• Supporting future and early-phase cell technology R&D
• On-site troubleshooting in the industrialization phase
• Responsible role in failure root cause analysis and product improvement and verification processes
• Responsible for product technology and change documentation through PLM and enterprise quality management processes

We are looking for the following qualifications:

• Master’s Degree or PhD, in electrochemistry, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering or equivalent disciplines
• Minimum 5 years in lithium-ion cell design/development in an industrial context
• Proven expertise on the fundamentals of a lithium-ion battery and its application
• Excellent understanding of battery materials and mechanical structures of battery cells
• Experience and good understanding of design tools such as DFMEA, DOE, FTA etc.
• Hands-on experience in cell building, testing and analysis (lab-scale or industry-scale)
• Hands-on experience in battery material characterization (physical, chemical, electrochemical and mechanical)
• Fluent in spoken and written English
• Strong presentation and communication skills
• Experience with working in quality processes and systems (8D, Six Sigma, etc.)
• Experience with program / team / project management

The following qualifications are advantageous, but not a requirement:

• Experience from industrial product development
• Experience with mass production is a big plus
• Experience of working in an international company
• Experience in establishing and working with quality systems for new product introduction
• Experience with PLM
• Knowledge in modelling, simulation techniques (equivalent circuit, multi-physical finite element, etc) and CAD
• Knowledge in non-conventional cell design and manufacturing processes
• Able and willing to travel to FREYR factories (Mo i Rana and overseas), in-house laboratories (Trondheim and Japan), material suppliers (worldwide), customers (mainly Europe and US) and technical partners (esp. US and eastern Asia)

Desirable personal qualities to best succeed in the role:

• Highly motivated and willingness to take initiative and personal responsibility
• Proven problem-solving abilities
• Disciplined, structured, and organized
• Can lead working teams and delegate tasks
• Ambitious and creative approach
• Strong social and communicative skills
• Thrive in start-up environment

We offer the right candidate an important role in developing Norway's first battery cell production facilities. Energy storage is an important key to the world's switch to a sustainable, green economy. FREYR is a frontrunner in Europe's rush to build capacity in battery production. A shift from fossil fuel to electricity-from-renewables could deliver 75 - 90% of the CO2 emission reductions required.

Freyr has to move fast. The world needs both battery cells now, and ever better battery cells in the future. With us you will learn a lot and a lot will be expected of you. We aim to pick high performers that will slot in immediately.