Senior Mechanical Engineer, Prototype
Heirloom
About Us
All across the world, from the azure pools of Turkey and Oman to the travertine terraces of Yellowstone, our planet quietly pulls carbon dioxide from the air and turns it to stone. For eons, Earth has relied on this process to balance its carbon cycle. What if it could be harnessed? What if we could do it faster, in larger quantities, and at a low enough cost to make it an effective tool in the fight against climate change?
At Heirloom, we are turning that into reality. We use the natural carbon capture properties of abundant minerals to pull CO2 from the air, and store it permanently underground. We come to work every day to slow climate change, and are united behind a single, common goal - to remove 1 billion tons of CO2 from the sky by 2035, and to not stop before we get there.
We bring together the precise recipe of science, technology, know-how, and strategy necessary to make low cost, high quality carbon removal a reality. If we’re successful, we will directly mitigate climate change, build a world we can proudly hand over to our children and grandchildren, and catalyze an industry that will rival the largest the world has ever seen. If you want to change the planet, come join us.
Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
As temperatures continue to rise, individuals from marginalized communities will face the harshest impacts of climate change. We believe wholeheartedly that building a diverse company is critical to Heirloom’s success. To accomplish this, we’ve put recruiting, hiring and retaining individuals from underrepresented groups at the top of our priority list.
We encourage you to apply if you identify as Black, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Hispanic or Latino, LGBTQ+ – or with any other underrepresented group – even if you don’t tick all the boxes in the description below.
About the Role
A Senior Mechanical Engineer in this role will lead design projects, mentor team members, and help establish engineering standards and resources. They will focus on designing and sourcing valves, structures, and machinery that can handle powders in high-heat and elevated-pressure environments. Successful candidates will innovate solutions for handling powder efficiently, build prototype fixtures to accelerate testing, and iterate based on findings to reduce the design cycle. They will design with a holistic approach, ensuring compatibility of components and systems and incorporating feedback from fabrication, maintenance, and operations teams. Additionally, they will mentor the broader engineering organization, showing leadership by example and ownership of larger projects all while sharing insights to enhance collective expertise.
About You
You hold a mechanical engineering degree with 7-10+ years of experience, particularly in component design, prototyping, and some fabrication. You bring a strong foundation in mechanical engineering principles, hands-on experience with building prototypes of their own designs, and proficiency in Solidworks or similar CAD tools. Experience in creating technical drawings using GD&T, along with knowledge of material selection for temperatures ranging from cold to very hot (up to 1100°C), is essential. You demonstrate a system-level approach to problem-solving, quickly adapting to available resources to implement solutions efficiently. Additionally, you are able to learn, iterate rapidly to reduce downtime, and document these learnings in a digestible way for the larger engineering population.
Our Principles
Radical Honesty means we are open, transparent, and inclusive in everything we do. We aren't scared to challenge each other, but bring clear motives and our best intentions when we do.
Persistent Optimism means we carry an infinite amount of optimistic energy with us on our journey, constantly chipping away at what may seem insurmountable.
Maximize our learning rate means we're always in discovery mode. Compounding knowledge is our key to victory - we continuously hone our crafts, seek the fastest paths to new learning, and are quick to absorb new knowledge.
Why you should join Heirloom
We are solving the engineering problem of our generation. Climate change is an existential threat, and we need as many of the world’s motivated minds as possible to help. There is no greater challenge or opportunity than fighting climate change.
We have done this before. We’re engineers, scientists, and concerned humans from a variety of backgrounds and experiences who are pooling our knowledge and skills to collectively build a more equitable, prosperous future for all.
We are a united, resilient, and optimistic bunch. We are all here for the same reason - to slow climate change. We recognize the magnitude of the challenge ahead of us, and believe we can solve it. We can see a hopeful future where we eventually reverse climate change. It won’t be easy, but we won’t quit.
We are backed by the best climate partners in the world. We’re well funded by investors from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Ahren Innovation Capital, Carbon Direct, Microsoft, Lowercarbon Capital, ARPA-e and the National Science Foundation. Our early customers include Stripe, Shopify, and Klarna, and we’re building durable partnerships that enable us to tackle this decades-long problem.
Perks and Benefits
Robust health coverage. Excellent health, dental and vision insurance covered up to 100% by Heirloom. FSA option.
Generous parental leave. 16 weeks paid leave for all Heirloom employees, regardless of primary/secondary caregiver status.
Generous stock options.
Flexible time off. Unlimited PTO for exempt (salaried) employees & 120 hours for full time non-exempt (hourly) employees.
401(k).
Stay healthy. Monthly health and wellness reimbursement.
Learn on the job. Robust annual education and conference budget, including airfare and hotel costs.
Physical Demand Description
The following requirements also apply to any roles which will spend any time working in our plants or construction sites (all technician and operations roles, most engineering roles, and many other roles):
Ability to work in outdoor environments (example: hot sun, cold, wind, rain, crawl spaces, etc.). Stop work will be called when it is unsafe to work.
Position may require working at heights including; climbing ladders/equipment, stairs, elevators, and working on scissor lifts.
Capable of performing repetitive duties including; lifting up to 50 lbs., bending, pushing, pulling, and standing for long periods of time.
Experience using basic hand and power tools safely.