Mr. McDermott is the Senior Vice President Business Development & Sales for ESS Tech, Inc. An energy sector executive focused on growing energy infrastructure and advanced energy technology businesses primarily addressing utility, industrial and commercial sectors, Mr. McDermott has served in numerous executive and leadership roles throughout his career in high-growth start-up companies as well as executive roles in publicly listed enterprises.

Mr. McDermott is recognized throughout the energy sector for his deep domain knowledge of utility infrastructure development, smart grid/smart cities, commercialization of American clean energy technologies to address the impacts of climate change, energy storage, and electric vehicles. As a result of his extensive global network in the energy and utilities sectors, Mr. McDermott is a regular keynote speaker and presenter at premier industry forums in key markets throughout the world.

Prior to joining ESS, Inc., Mr. McDermott was the Vice President Sales for Silver Spring Networks where he successfully led the company’s market-building presence and key partnership development for Smart Grid and Smart City business across the APAC region. As Global Head of Business Development at Better Place, Mr. McDermott created the world’s first smart charging commercial offering which leveraged networked electric vehicle charging infrastructure to provide dynamic load management and energy storage services to utilities, grid operators and energy traders. While at Silver Spring Networks, Mr. McDermott also served as a private sector member of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Energy and Energy Services Industry Trade Advisory Committee. Mr. McDermott is a Hokie from VA Tech where he earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering in Power Systems.