Meet Qnetic’s Chief Commercial Officer
- joyce0676
- Jan 25
- 2 min read
Qnetic is pleased to welcome Hugh McDermott as Chief Commercial Officer and President of the Americas , strengthening our leadership team as we scale commercial operations and prepare to go to market.
Hugh has been working with Qnetic for most of 2025 as Business Development Director, where he played a pivotal role in shaping our commercial strategy and securing our pilot projects. His impact was immediate and material, underscoring the importance of his leadership as Qnetic enters its next phase of growth.
He brings deep experience commercializing grid-scale energy storage technologies, most notably from his leadership role at ESS, where he helped bring flow battery technology to market, guiding the company through multiple successful private investment rounds and a NYSE IPO. Earlier in his career, Hugh spent eight years with early-stage companies commercializing EV battery swap and smart grid technologies. Both experiences are directly applicable as Qnetic advances toward commercial deployment.
Across his career, Hugh has worked at the intersection of emerging energy technologies, utilities, and global markets, spending roughly half of his professional life living and working abroad. He is known for a hands-on, collaborative leadership style aligned with Qnetic’s culture and values, and for his ability to translate strategy into execution as organizations scale.
“Early in my career, I worked on one of the world’s first efforts to commercialize flywheel energy storage. That experience gave me a deep appreciation for the technology’s unique strengths.”
After more than 15 years advocating globally for grid-scale energy storage, Qnetic’s approach to clean, long-duration kinetic storage represents a natural next chapter.
In his new role, Hugh will lead all Americas-based functions, with full P&L ownership and responsibility for driving revenue and market growth across business development, sales, marketing, partnerships, and customer engagement.
We’re excited to have Hugh step into this role and help lead Qnetic’s next chapter.
🌍 Global expertise.
⚡ Scalable impact.