Sr. Mechanical Engineer - Turbomachinery

Arbor EnergyEl Segundo, California, United States · Posted 3 months ago

Full-timeEst. 162,500 USD

Description

About Us

At Arbor Energy & Resources Corporation ("Arbor Energy"), we’re creating technology to power our lives while protecting the planet that sustains them. Our advanced power systems deliver clean, reliable baseload electricity with zero operating emissions—modular, fuel-flexible, and engineered for the realities of today’s energy demand. At the core is a supercritical CO₂ turbine with integrated carbon capture, designed to bring carbon-neutral power online quickly at meaningful scale.

Our team includes aerospace engineers, combustion experts, and systems thinkers with a shared goal: to build technology worthy of the world we want to live in. While many of us began our journeys looking to the stars, we’re applying that expertise here at home to deliver dependable, emission-free baseload power and a future of lasting abundance.

If you share our values and are drawn to rigorous work with lasting impact, we’d love to learn more about you. Come build what the future will run on.

Steward our planet: We build for tomorrow, ensuring every bolt we tighten and every hand we lend leaves our environment stronger than we found it.

Lead with Love: We champion the success of our people, partners, and planet, nurturing excellence through camaraderie and rigor.

Explore the Uncharted: We embrace the unknown with curiosity, using courage and discipline to transform uncertainty into opportunity.

Role Overview

We are seeking a Mechanical Design Engineer to lead the design and analysis of rotors and casings for turbomachinery in a supercritical CO₂-based power cycle. This role involves conceptual design, assembly architecture selection, material selection, and structural analysis, ensuring high-performance, reliable operation under demanding conditions. The ideal candidate has expertise in bolted joint and seal design, finite element analysis (FEA), and thermomechanical analysis, with preferred experience in creep analysis and rotordynamics.

Arbor’s team of world-class engineers and scientists are developing a scalable, low-cost approach to Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) based on modern rocket engine technology. BECCS is a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) approach that uses biomass to produce energy and remove CO₂ from the atmosphere and store it permanently underground, while ensuring food security, rural livelihoods, and biodiversity are not affected. Our modular technology leverages the power density of supercritical CO2 to enable compact gasification, oxy-combustion, and high-pressure turbo-expansion to convert abundant waste biomass into clean electricity, water, and high-purity CO2, capturing and sequestering all emissions from the process.  Our team brings together a passion for science, technology, and global stewardship to make low-cost, high-quality carbon removal and baseload power a reality.

This is an onsite opportunity in our El Segundo, CA office.

Responsibilities

Design and optimize rotors and/or casings for high-performance turbomachinery using NX.
Select assembly architectures and materials to meet performance and reliability requirements.
Size and analyze bolted joints, seals, and piping flanges for structural integrity.
Perform static and transient thermomechanical analysis using ANSYS.
Conduct modal analysis of both stationary and rotating systems to evaluate dynamic behavior.
Perform thermal analysis to assess the effects of temperature gradients and thermal expansion.
Ensure designs meet operational, thermal, and mechanical performance requirements.
Collaborate with combustion and systems teams.
Support manufacturing, assembly, and testing efforts to validate designs.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, or a related Engineering field.
3+ years of experience in turbomachinery design or mechanical system engineering.
Proficiency in ANSYS FEM software for stress, thermal, and thermomechanical analysis.
Strong understanding of bolted joint, seal, and flange design.
Experience with static, transient, and thermal structural analysis of rotating systems.
Familiarity with materials selection for high-stress and high-temperature applications.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience in creep analysis for high-temperature applications.
Knowledge of rotordynamics and vibration analysis of rotating machinery.
Familiarity with bearing design, damping, and balancing of rotating components.
Experience working with supercritical CO₂ or high-density working fluids.
Proficiency in NX CAD software
Experience in startup or R&D environments.

Compensation & Benefits

Pre-IPO stock options
Medical, dental, and vision insurance (Arbor covers 90% for employees)
Basic life insurance fully covered
Health savings account (HSA) with matching
Flexible savings account (FSA)
Unlimited PTO 
12+ company holidays, including Earth Day! 
401(k)
Commuter benefits
Annual learning and development stipend
And more!

Base Pay: $150,000 - $175,000 USD/year. The salary is subject to the applicant's skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location.

Our Commitment

Arbor Energy is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. Solving global energy challenges requires a wide range of perspectives and experiences, and we are committed to building a team that reflects the world we serve.

Our hiring process is designed to be accessible, fair, and focused on the work that matters most for this role. Reasonable accommodations are available throughout the hiring process and employment—please let us know if you need one.