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

As a Systems Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in developing Heirloom’s carbonation and regeneration technology. Your primary responsibility will be to design experiments and models to drive improvements in Heirloom’s carbonation and thermal decomposition process. This role requires a strong fundamental physics background to design models which are complex enough to capture the desired phenomena but simple enough to parameterize and experimentally determine values for each parameter. You will also create system models to predict how Heirloom’s technology will perform in scaled deployments.

You will design experiments to investigate the reaction of Ca(OH)2 and CO2 to form CaCO3, as well as the thermal decomposition of CaCO3 into CaO. You will meticulously instrument and monitor your experiments, ensuring accurate data collection and analysis. Utilizing your expertise in data analysis and modeling, you will interpret the results and extract critical parameters governing the performance of these processes. By combining your fundamental understanding of Heirloom’s process with the unique factors present in each system deployment, you will predict the cost and performance of Heirloom’s direct air capture system.

What You Will Bring

While a preference is given to candidates with a PhD, your strong background in Engineering, Science, or a related field at the MS or BS level will also be considered. Your proven experience in designing, instrumenting, and analyzing complex experimental setups is crucial for this role. Additionally, your proficiency in data analysis and modeling, preferably with knowledge of Python, or other modeling software, is highly valued.

Ideally, you would have experience predicting system level behavior of technology deployments incorporating factors such as local clean power supply, plot layout restrictions or other unique factors which can impact the cost and performance of individual deployments.   A hands-on approach, coupled with acute attention to detail in experimental work, is essential. Furthermore, your ability to troubleshoot effectively when experimental data does not align with expectations is a key attribute for success in this position.

Target compensation for this role is between $145,000 and $180,000 depending on level and experience.

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 & 80 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.