Mechanical Engineer (BF0035)

Charm Industrial

San Francisco, CA, United States

Posted on: 2024-12-04

Category: renewables

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Employment type:

Full time

Experience required:

Intermediate

Salary

Salary not provided

About the company:

Charm Industrial is working to return the atmosphere to 280 ppm CO₂. We design, build and operate a fleet of mobile fast pyrolyzers that convert ag and forest biomass residues into bio-oil for use in carbon removal and direct-reduced-iron steelmaking.

In 2020 our Chief Scientist and co-founder Shaun Meehan had two breakthroughs (bio-oil intermediate and bio-oil sequestration) that kickstarted the company. Within 10 months we completed our first carbon removal injection and in 2021 we completed more than 5,000 tons of CO₂e removal for customers like Stripe, Shopify and Microsoft.

About Charm

Our mission is to return the atmosphere to 280 ppm CO₂. We convert excess inedible biomass into carbon-rich bio-oil and inject it into underground storage for permanent carbon removal. At scale we can use bio-oil to make fossil-free iron.

Our carbon removal pathway took off in 2020 with initial purchases from customers like Stripe, Shopify & Microsoft. Since then we’ve scaled to thousands of tons of carbon removal, over a hundred employees, and now have three locations in San Francisco, Colorado, and Kansas. Come join us in 2024 as we aim to become one of the first companies to put 10,000 tons of carbon back underground!

We're looking to expand our team of ambitious creative and hands-on forward-thinking humans. We value psychological safety and collaboration. We take calculated risks and don't sweep mistakes under the rug; instead, we pin them to the wall and learn from them. We value that everyone’s unique backgrounds and perspectives shape their work. We encourage you to read our company values.

Come help us reverse climate change. Gigatons or bust!

About the Role

We’re looking for a mechanical engineer who can support our efforts towards designing an optimally performing pyrolyzer, the backbone to Charm Industrial’s operations.

The pyrolysis system consists of several subsystems, which you will master through your time at Charm. Some of the subsystems include a gas condensing system, a char extraction and cooling system, and a heat recovery system. Each of these subsystems have extreme complexity in their design due to the challenging conditions of the system.

This role will work closely with other design engineers, electrical engineers, and automation engineers to turn their designs into the most user-friendly systems possible for our budding operations team.

Designing these systems requires that the engineer can effectively research and source many different types of processing equipment and instrumentation, design and build prototypes, and design and execute testing procedures to effectively evaluate and optimize pyrolysis equipment. The dynamic nature of this role lends itself to someone comfortable working with their hands more than sitting behind a desk.

This engineer needs to know how to design complex systems that include a mix of custom designed components with off-the-shelf equipment.

This role would also serve as a resource to other mechanical engineers on the team. It wouldn’t be uncommon for another engineer to ask for a design review, or brainstorm actively with anyone on our engineering team; this would be no exception!

What We Offer

· Stock options

· Health benefits (medical, dental, vision)

· Traditional and Roth 401(k) with a 50% match on contributions up to 6%

· Paid time off, including parental leave

· A yearly professional development stipend

· Healthy snacks and lunches for onsite employees

· A chance to pivot into a role in climate!

Visa Sponsorship Policy

Since we are a small startup, certain accommodations for visa sponsorship may not be within our capability. At this time, Charm Industrial is only sponsoring E3 and TN visas.

Our Commitment

Charm Industrial is an equal opportunity employer with a firm commitment to growing our team in an inclusive way, regardless of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, medical condition, age, or veteran status. The consequences of climate change inherently affect some more than others, and we need a diverse team to help us save our little planet most effectively & justly. We are excited about all of those who choose to apply, and for those who end up joining us, to see how you better us as a team and company. We are more than the sum of our parts.

Your Responsibilities:

You’ll serve as a vital part of our Pyrolysis Engineering team, which is currently responsible for designing and building an optimal pyrolysis system to maximize the tons of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere.

You will also be responsible for designing, commissioning, and writing design documentation for the pyrolysis systems and test stands. You will also be responsible for the testing and continuous improvement of your designs while they’re still in testing before releasing them to operations through a thorough handoff process to our team in CO.

You will be responsible for the design, build, and quick, efficient testing of mock ups of critical key pieces of equipment used in understanding our pyrolyzers.

You will work closely with our test engineers and fabricators in order to drive projects quickly to key milestones and deliverables.

Like every member of our engineering team, you will occasionally be supporting our 24/7 operations via 2-3 weeks of after-hours support throughout the year.

You Bring:

Strong mechanical engineering experience with a really firm understanding of first principles and safety forward design.

Hands-on experience, including rapid prototyping and creative thinking to answer critical design questions.

CAD knowledge is a must, we use Solidworks!

Familiar with GD&T principles, and familiar with basic fabrication techniques. An ability to work with in house and out of house fabrication to take your idea and turn it into a prototype, and eventually a production-ready system.

Familiarity with electromechanical systems and automation of these systems. Specifically, you’re comfortable with specifying the right instrumentation to verify that your designs are functioning as intended.

Ability to communicate priorities and work cross functionally.

An excitement for scaling up hardware that has the potential to positively impact climate change!

Bonus, if You Bring:

Solids and fluids handling experience

Thermal conversion process experience, including the ability to design for harsh environments (high temperature, pressurized, corrosive).

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