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Senior Mechanical Engineer

Heirloom

Heirloom

Brisbane, CA, USA
Posted on Dec 11, 2024

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.

The Role

In this role, you will be joining the scaled systems mechanical design team and will be focused on architecting the next-generation carbonation equipment. The carbonation equipment is part of Heirloom’s core technology and requires a low-cost, scalable, and reliable design to meet our goal of removing 1 billion tons of CO2 by 2035. In this role, you will be expected to constantly challenge our assumptions and push the limits of design and manufacturing to achieve our ultimate targets.

As part of the team, you will independently lead the development of an automation design module within an integrated line through its entire product lifecycle with cost and reliability as key drivers. You will select and integrate automation equipment like motors, actuators, and sensors into your subsystem designs. You will design parts for a number of manufacturing processes including but not limited to sheet metal stamping, injection molding, and thermoforming. Working with suppliers and our supply chain team, you’ll provide in-depth design for manufacturing and assembly feedback required to ensure that our designs are cost-efficient, robust, and capable of high-quality results at scale.

What you will bring

Whether you’re working solo at a small start-up, or owning projects on a larger team, this much is clear: you will be an experienced (8+ years) Mechanical Design Engineer with a background in automation equipment design. You will bring creative solutions to the table to design parts that are optimized for structural integrity, cost, and modularity. Having taken product(s) through the entire product lifecycle (EVT/DVT/PVT) process has taught you to solve technically complex problems using mechanical fundamentals and data-driven methodologies. You have experience with tools & methods like or similar to FEA, fatigue analysis, root cause analysis, and GD&T and you bring leadership experience either through project leadership and/or managing a team.

Bonus points (but not required!) if you have experience with manufacturing equipment design, powder handling equipment, and/or driving best practices and standards within a team.

You don’t have to have every listed requirement and skill to be a great fit - you may even teach us something about what we should be looking for! If you are passionate about this opportunity and think you have the skills to succeed, please apply!

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.