Lead - Techno-Commercial (BESS)

Job Purpose:

The Techno-Commercial Lead owns the bridge between technical choices and commercial outcomes ensuring cell technology, system architecture, and supplier terms translate into competitive cost/kWh, protected margins, and execution ready manufacturing.

This role is the BUs techno-commercial interface for external sourcing:

• Select the right cell/critical components for India conditions and project duty cycles
• Convert technical realities (degradation, throughput, thermal limits, safety) into defensible contracts (warranty, guarantees, back to back terms, claim evidence)
• Enable repeatable scale by enforcing a standard product catalog and supplier qualification gates (avoid bespoke, one-off commitments)

Key Responsibilities

1) Cell Technology Strategy & Technical Benchmarking

• Evaluate LFP and alternates (as applicable) on performance, degradation, safety margins, thermal behavior, and lifecycle cost for Indian site conditions and duty cycles.
• Benchmark global suppliers on cost stability, safety margins, throughput capability, and Indian operating suitability; Track global cost curves and technology shifts (cell format, chemistry, safety features)
• Define a cell selection strategy tied to cost-per-kWh and lifecycle margin (incl. implications for augmentation, warranties, and availability commitments)

2) Supplier Technical Engagement & Commercial Negotiation

• Lead the technical-commercial front end of supplier engagement: build structured RFQs with technical scope, compliance matrices, test evidence, and commercial guardrails
• Create supplier comparison dashboards across: price stability, lead time, capability, quality systems, traceability, warranty strength, and support model
• Partner with Wind Procurement to close defensible LTAs with:

- pricing protections / indexation logic

- FX risk structure

- delivery safeguards (lead times, penalties, buffer strategy)

- audit rights / change notification requirements

- warranty claims support commitments

• Validate supplier claims before scale through sample builds / data review / factory audit inputs (with CTO + Manufacturing)

3) System Architecture & Cost Integration

• Translate cell-level decisions into system configuration logic (module/rack/container sizing, electrical topology, thermal strategy) optimizing manufacturability, yield, safety, and cost-per-kWh
• Align integration philosophy for BMS/PCS/EMS with commercial commitments (no hidden integration risks that become LD/warranty triggers)
• Drive standardization + modularization of container platforms to support repeat bids and faster engineering cycles, consistent with BUs standard catalog principle

4) Warranty Structuring & Lifecycle Risk Translation

• Decode and negotiate supplier warranty structures: throughput warranties, degradation caps, cycle/calendar assumptions, operating window limits, claim evidence requirements
• Quantify degradation and augmentation assumptions into commercial exposure; ensure whats guaranteed is technically defensible
• Ensure back-to-back alignment between supplier warranties and customer commitments (hardware supply, EPC performance guarantees, O&M SLAs), partnering with Commercial/Finance for provisioning and with OMS for workflow design
• Define standard warranty clause library and claim playbook (evidence, data logs, traceability, test records, RCA governance)

5) Customer technical support & bankability

• Support Wind BD/Sales and bid desk with technical-commercial inputs for tenders (compliance responses, performance assumptions, clarifications)
• Participate in customer technical discussions and lender/bankability reviews: articulate safety baseline, reliability logic, warranty coverage, and supplier support model

6) Market Competitiveness & Strategy

• Track global storage cost curves, chemistry innovation, and competitive positioning
• Support commercial team in customer technical discussions and bankability reviews
• Develop technology roadmap aligned to 1.5 GWh manufacturing ramp

Experience & Background

• 6 to12+ years in lithium-ion batteries, BESS, EV battery systems, or adjacent power-electronics/storage domains
• Proven experience in supplier technical evaluation + techno-commercial negotiations (cells and/or critical subsystems)
• Comfort with cross-border sourcing (including China/Asia supplier ecosystems), logistics/FX considerations, and quality evidence expectations
• Experience supporting EPC/grid-scale storage deployments or utility tender requirements is strongly preferred

Domain Expertise

• Strong command of LFP degradation behavior, thermal safety fundamentals, and lifecycle economics
• Deep understanding of pack architecture and containerized BESS system integration (BMS/PCS/EMS interfaces)
• Working knowledge of warranty structures (throughput, degradation, operating window constraints, availability/claim mechanics)
• Practical understanding of manufacturing yield, traceability requirements, and quality governance (PFMEA/control plans level familiarity)
• Supply-chain risk awareness: FX exposure, lead-time volatility, geopolitical concentration risk, and mitigation levers

Commercial Acumen

• Able to negotiate price, warranty, and risk-sharing structures - grounded in technical realities
• Strong analytical ability in cost modelling and lifecycle economics; structured documentation mindset (RFQ discipline, nomination packs)
• Comfortable leading supplier/customer discussions

Education

• B.E./B.Tech in Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical, Energy Engineering
• Postgraduate specialization in Energy Systems / Power Electronics preferred
• MBA (Strategy / Technology) is a plus