Staff Mechanical Engineer - Exhaust System

Company Overview

Mainspring Energy is revolutionizing power generation with the world’s most flexible and adaptable local power generation technology, the Mainspring Linear Generator. Commercial, industrial, and utility leaders are choosing Mainspring over traditional options like engines, turbines, and fuel cells to quickly and reliably deliver local power for EV charging, commercial facilities, data centers, and grid-scale operations. The Mainspring Linear Generator is fuel flexible, ramps up and down to meet demand, and utilizes a flameless reaction with near-zero NOx emissions.

Backed by top-tier investors including Khosla Ventures, Bill Gates, American Electric Power, Lightrock, and General Cayalyst Mainspring designs, manufactures and delivers its products to customers across the U.S. today, and we’re quickly scaling for international expansion.

Inspired by our vision of the affordable, reliable, net-zero carbon grid, Mainspring is rapidly expanding within the $816B global electricity equipment market, and we’re hiring the best talent to meet growing customer demand around the globe. We welcome a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, and talents to bring fresh perspectives and ongoing innovation to our customers.

We are looking to build relationships with people who share our values:

Pragmatic Optimism.

Building a new category of world-class power generation requires the optimism of ambition and creativity, balanced with practicality to solve problems efficiently. The challenges that arise are opportunities for growth.

Excellence without Ego.

We bring expertise and commitment to creating the best customer experience, from sales to deployment and service, just as we apply deep technical rigor to building and delivering world-class products. We strive for excellence and behave as leaders with the humility to acknowledge our challenges, both collectively and as individual contributors.

Proactive Collaboration.

The integration and cross-disciplinary nature of Mainspring’s business requires intentionally seeking out others who bring different skills, perspectives, and priorities. Our culture of inclusion and respect extends beyond our team to interactions with our partners and customers.

More information can be found at

www.mainspringenergy.com

Job Overview

Are you an experienced engineer ready to lead critical projects that will accelerate the transition to a sustainable energy grid? Mainspring Energy is seeking a visionary Staff Mechanical Engineer to spearhead the design and development of the exhaust system for our revolutionary Linear Generator technology. This is a high-impact role where you will use your deep technical expertise to solve complex challenges in performance, acoustics, and structural dynamics. If you're a leader who loves to mentor, innovate, and drive projects from architecture to production, join us in making a significant contribution to a cleaner world.

Responsibilities

- Architect and Lead:

Own the technical vision and development lifecycle for our low-emission exhaust subsystems. You'll guide architectural decisions, lead advanced design and analysis (FEA/CFD), and drive projects from concept to completion.

- Pioneer New Solutions:

Drive innovation in our exhaust system technology. You'll develop creative solutions for extreme temperature materials, robust strategies for vibration and durability, and novel techniques for acoustic silencing and emissions control.

- Mentor and Guide: L

ead and inspire a talented, cross-functional team, mentoring junior engineers and defining best practices. You'll foster a collaborative environment to optimize system integration and performance.

- Define and Validate:

Architect and execute comprehensive validation campaigns to ensure your designs exceed the highest standards for performance, reliability, and safety in the most demanding conditions.

- Shape Our Technology Roadmap:

Stay on the cutting edge of power generation and exhaust system technology, championing new ideas and strategies that enhance performance, reduce cost, and increase reliability for our clean energy solution.

Qualifications

- Deep expertise in designing for

high-temperature and high-vibration environments

and a strong intuition for failure analysis.

- A mastery of engineering fundamentals in

thermo-fluid system design and structural mechanics

, backed by extensive experience in thermal management, stress, and vibration analysis.

- A proven ability to design for

long-term durability and reliability i

n harsh operating conditions.

- Areas where you can make a major impact include

acoustic analysis and muffler design

, or architecting and integrating

emissions control systems.

- Expertise with a 3D CAD package (we use Solidworks) and a deep understanding of GD&T and PDM systems.

- Advanced knowledge of materials and manufacturing processes (sheet metal, welding) and the ability to anticipate complex DFM challenges.

- A strong background in defining test requirements and interpreting complex data to drive design.

What You Bring to the Table:

- A degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field.

- An extensive background in mechanical design and a track record of technical leadership, typically demonstrated by 8+ years of experience. We value your demonstrated impact and leadership qualities.

- Significant experience leading complex hardware projects from concept to production, preferably in demanding fields like power generation, industrial equipment, or engine systems.

- A strategic mindset and a passion for turning ambitious ideas into functional, real-world solutions.

Does your experience not meet all of our posted requirements? Studies have shown that some people are less likely to apply to positions unless they meet every listed requirement. At Mainspring, we are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, flexible, and collaborative environment, so if you want to help us transition the world to clean and affordable electricity, and don’t meet all posted requirements for a particular role, we’d still love to hear from you. Mainspring can sometimes be flexible enough to shift responsibilities for the right person, or otherwise identify open or upcoming roles that may better fit your professional background.

In more traditional words, Mainspring Energy, Inc is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.

This compensation and benefits information is based on Mainspring Energy's estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future. We generally do not negotiate on salary once we have made an offer. The level of pay within the range will depend on a variety of job-related factors that may include location, relevant prior experience and/or education, or particular skills and expertise. New hires joining the company tend to be paid within the starting base pay range noted above, with opportunities to increase pay over time based on development of additional skills, competencies, and company-specific knowledge.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

This position is 

onsite

at our Menlo Park HQ. The salary will be adjusted to reflect local market conditions based on employee location as well as the experience of the employee. Along with the base salary, Mainspring offers pre-IPO stock options + benefits.