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Mainspring Energy is seeking a Staff Mechanical Engineer to lead development of the piston and ring sealing system for their Linear Generator—a critical component that enables low-emissions, low-maintenance power generation without liquid lubricants.
The Rings team owns one of the most technically demanding problems in the product: designing a piston and ring system that seals reliably under complex thermal and pressure conditions while managing material performance and system behavior simultaneously. Progressing the ring service interval is a top development priority, and this role will take ownership of a significant portion of that challenge.
You will lead ring and piston development projects end-to-end: setting requirements and scope, originating novel designs, conducting detailed design reviews of colleagues' work, and building production introduction plans. You'll design complex moving parts from concept through detailed design, build, test, and performance evaluation. The role involves assessing and root-causing failures that couple thermal, structural, materials, and fluid interactions, balancing rigorous analysis with hands-on physical intuition.
You will design and execute effective test campaigns using both benchtop rigs and in-generator experiments to validate designs and accelerate learning. You'll also discover and define requirements on surrounding subsystems to optimize ring and piston performance, collaborating closely with a talented engineering team in a fast-paced, iterative R&D environment.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering or equivalent with at least 8 years of experience, OR Ph.D. with at least 5 years of experience
- Proactive, collaborative work style suited for dynamic R&D where priorities evolve; comfort with cross-team and cross-disciplinary problems
- Experience designing high-performance, precision parts from R&D through production release
- Fluency in SolidWorks or comparable CAD package; comfortable using structural and thermal FEA as a design tool (Ansys preferred)
- Ability to generate 2D manufacturing drawings with GD&T proficiency
- Excellent physical understanding and intuition in structural mechanics and heat transfer; strength in tribology, fluid mechanics, or thermodynamics is a plus
- Systems-level problem-solving approach; preference for examining whole systems to identify negative interactions and improvement opportunities
BONUS QUALIFICATIONS:
- Deep understanding of thermodynamics and experience with complex thermodynamic systems; power generation, energy storage, and aerospace (especially turbomachinery or propulsion) experience highly relevant
- Experience designing for high-cycle fatigue and high-pressure, high-temperature environments; superalloy experience is a plus
- Python fluency for data analysis; experience developing and validating simplified system/subsystem models to inform failure analysis and design
