Staff Mechanical Engineer - Thermal / Fluids Design
Menlo Park, CA
Mechanical Engr – Mechanical Engr /
Salary /
On-site
Company Overview
Mainspring Energy is revolutionizing power generation with the world’s most flexible and adaptable onsite power generator, the Mainspring Linear Generator. Commercial, industrial, and utility leaders are choosing Mainspring over traditional options like engines, turbines, and fuel cells to quickly and reliably deliver local power for EV charging, commercial facilities, data centers, and grid-scale operations. The Mainspring Linear Generator is fuel flexible, ramps up and down to meet demand, and utilizes a flameless technology with near-zero NOx emissions.
Backed by top-tier investors such as Khosla Ventures, Bill Gates, American Electric Power, and Lightrock, Mainspring designs, manufactures and delivers its products to customers across the U.S. today, and we’re quickly scaling for international expansion.
Inspired by our vision of the affordable, reliable, net-zero carbon grid, Mainspring is rapidly expanding within the $816B global electricity equipment market, and we’re hiring the best talent to meet growing customer demand around the globe. We welcome a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, and talents to bring fresh perspectives and ongoing innovation to our customers.
We are looking to build relationships with people who share our values:
Pragmatic Optimism. Building a new category of world-class power generation requires the optimism of ambition and creativity, balanced with practicality to solve problems efficiently. The challenges that arise are opportunities for growth.
Excellence without Ego. We bring expertise and commitment to creating the best customer experience, from sales to deployment and service, just as we apply deep technical rigor to building and delivering world-class products. We strive for excellence and behave as leaders with the humility to acknowledge our challenges, both collectively and as individual contributors.
Proactive Collaboration. The integration and cross-disciplinary nature of Mainspring’s business requires intentionally seeking out others who bring different skills, perspectives, and priorities. Our culture of inclusion and respect extends beyond our team to interactions with our partners and customers.
More information can be found at www.mainspringenergy.com
Job Overview
Mainspring is seeking Staff Level Mechanical Engineers with a focus on designing systems that require thermal and fluids analysis. In this role, you will design system architecture and hardware for air and liquid handling systems. The Engineer will develop new concepts and manage existing concepts through development, deployment, and manufacturing. Mainspring is a great place for engineers with a variety of areas of deep expertise, who like to solve challenging cross-functional problems with a mix of computational analysis, hands-on engineering and team effort. Core responsibilities will include the following.
Responsibilities
- Take full ownership of the design, optimization, and execution of key thermal systems, balancing cost reduction, safety improvements, and system-level reliability
- Lead projects, and project teams, within the thermal subsystems and contribute to projects in other subsystems
- Lead the development cycle of thermal systems, including requirements development, prototyping, testing, iteration, and tooling, ensuring project milestones are met and resources are allocated effectively
- Collaborate cross-functionally with manufacturing engineering, NPI, and external suppliers to rapidly deploy new designs into production
- Lead brainstorming and technical review sessions to develop innovative solutions that enhance the performance and cost-efficiency of the Linear Generator and thermal subsystems
- Mentor and support junior engineers, guiding them through technical challenges, offering advice on design strategies, and helping to develop their skills while working towards project goals
- Proactively prioritize activities, balancing project timelines, resources, and risks to ensure consistent delivery on critical engineering initiatives
Qualifications
- BS Degree in Mechanical Engineering or a similar engineering field from an accredited institution + 10 years of relevant industry experience or MS Degree + 9 years of relevant industry experience
- Proven experience taking ownership of thermal systems design, including architectural decisions and managing cross-functional teams or guiding team efforts across disciplines
- Demonstrated engineering fundamentals in thermo-fluid system and component design
- Fluent in SolidWorks or comparable CAD package. Experience with using PDM or a similar CAD version control system is preferred
- Experience with finite element analysis (structural, thermal, or fluids)
- Familiarity with 1D or 3D thermal systems design simulation tools
- Experience working with suppliers to develop and qualify new components
- Experience with various manufacturing processes such as sheet metal forming, machining, and plastics molding and forming.
- Demonstrated ability to manage complex technical decisions, influence the direction of designs, and coordinate with teams to achieve successful outcomes
- Excellent problem-solving, creative thinking, communication, and collaboration skills for effective cross-functional teamwork.
- Ability to work independently, manage multiple projects in a fast-paced environment, and demonstrate leadership and mentoring abilities
- Experience leading multiple projects through a full design lifecycle from concept through manufacturing support is preferred.
- Interest in developing creative and cost effective solutions to enable the deployment of zero carbon energy technology at large scale
$150,000 - $170,000 a year
This position is onsite at our Menlo Park HQ. The salary will be adjusted to reflect local market conditions based on employee location as well as the experience of the employee. Along with the base salary, Mainspring offers pre-IPO stock options + benefits.
Does your experience not meet all of our posted requirements? Studies have shown that some people are less likely to apply to positions unless they meet every listed requirement. At Mainspring, we are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, flexible, and collaborative environment, so if you want to help us transition the world to clean and affordable electricity, and don’t meet all posted requirements for a particular role, we’d still love to hear from you. Mainspring can sometimes be flexible enough to shift responsibilities for the right person, or otherwise identify open or upcoming roles that may better fit your professional background.
In more traditional words, Mainspring Energy, Inc is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.
This compensation and benefits information is based on Mainspring Energy's estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future. We generally do not negotiate on salary once we have made an offer. The level of pay within the range will depend on a variety of job-related factors that may include location, relevant prior experience and/or education, or particular skills and expertise. New hires joining the company tend to be paid within the starting base pay range noted above, with opportunities to increase pay over time based on development of additional skills, competencies, and company-specific knowledge.
