Principal Thermal Mechanical Engineer, Compute Payloads

About the Company

We are a renewable energy and ocean technology company committed to rapidly developing and deploying technologies that will ensure a sustainable future for Earth by unlocking the vast energy potential of its oceans. Our focus is on capturing civilizational levels of ultra-low-cost renewable energy for applications including computing and affordable renewable fuels delivered to shore.

The company is a public benefit corporation headquartered in Portland, Oregon and backed by leading venture capitalists, philanthropic investors, university endowments, and private investment offices. We operate as an idea meritocracy in which the best ideas change the company’s direction on a regular basis.

About the Job

We host compute payloads on our power-producing nodes.  These payloads need protection and cooling to operate reliably for years in the open ocean.  You will be the primary mechanical engineer for these payloads, defining the mechanical and thermal architecture, designing and testing the electronics chassis, and collaborating closely with customers both internal and external.  You will need to be creative, analytical, hands-on, and customer-facing.

Responsibilities 

• Define, document, and maintain the mechanical and thermal sections of our customer-facing payload interface specification
• Act as primary mechanical and thermal point of contact for customers and payload hardware partners, collaborating with them as needed
• Collaborate with electrical engineers (payload designers and power engineers), mechanical engineers, structural analysts, technoeconomic analysts, and a highly skilled technician workforce
• Select and develop the payload cooling architecture
• Design the payload electronics chassis and enclosure interface, including necessary cooling features
• Build and perform thermal simulations and analyses
• Validate thermal models through test
• Produce detailed drawings compliant with ASME Y14.5 GD&T standards
• Coordinate fabrication and/or procurement of components
• Coordinate and contribute to assembly and test of development and early production articles
• Contribute to scale production planning, ensuring your designs can be produced in significant quantities at low cost

To succeed in this role, you will have: 

• A degree in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Physics, or another discipline that includes foundational elements of mechanics and heat transfer
• Extensive experience designing components, structures, and assemblies from a variety of materials (steel, aluminum, titanium, plastics, composites, etc)
• 6+ years designing packaging and cooling solutions for electronics
• 6+ years 3D CAD modeling experience
• 5+ years thermal analysis experience, including both FEA and CFD
• Deep understanding of and experience employing a variety of active and passive cooling techniques for high-power-density electronics
• Experience with structural FEA
• Strong written and verbal communication skills - comfortable receiving as well as providing guidance and technical material from/to engineers, designers, technicians, and suppliers
• Confidence in working independently to drive a project forward

Preferred skills and experience:

• Experience designing cooling solutions for high-scale computing environments such as datacenters
• Confidence presenting technical content to customers or partners
• 10+ years experience with mechanical design for electronics
  

Compensation and Benefits:

If hired for this full-time role, you will receive:

• Cash compensation of $240,000- $280,000
• Equity in the company. We’re all owners and if we’re successful, this equity should be far and away the most valuable component of your compensation.
• A benefits package that helps you take care of yourself and your family, including:
  • Flexible paid time off
  • Health insurance (the company pays 100% of gold level PPO plan for full time employees, their partners, and dependents)
  • Dental insurance (the company pays 33% for full time employees and 100% for their partners and dependents)
  • Vision insurance (the company pays 100% for full time employees, their partners, and dependents)
  • Disability insurance (the company pays 100% for a policy to provide long term financial support if you become disabled)
  • Ability to contribute to tax-advantaged accounts, including 401(k), health FSA, and dependent care FSA
• Relocation assistance to facilitate your move to the Seattle area (if needed).

Location:

This position is ideally located in the Greater Seattle, WA area. However, we are also open to candidates located in the Greater Portland, OR area.