Senior Mechanical Design Engineer

Calix Group; Sydney; Hybrid; AUD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Calix Group in Sydney/Pymble is seeking a hands-on design engineer to own Calix calciner hardware from first principles. You’ll stay with the design through fabrication, site, and operation, bringing field learnings back into next-generation designs.

You’ll design, prove with hand calculations and FEA, and work with OEMs and vendors on manufacture and FAT plans, while remaining accountable for the package on site.

Job description

Pymble (Sydney) with hybrid working model | Travel to sites, workshops and vendors as required

Design it from first principles. Stay with it until it's proven in the field.

Most mechanical design roles hand over the drawings and move on. This one doesn't.

You'll design Calix calciner hardware from first principles, then follow it into the fabrication shop, onto the site and into operation and bring what the plant teaches you back into the next design.

Why this role is different

You design from first principles, not from a precedent unit. The technology is being scaled and applied in ways that aren't yet proven, so you'll set the design basis yourself rather than adapt something off the shelf.

You stay with the design. The engineer who sets the tolerances is the one resolving fit-up on site and troubleshooting it in operation. Few roles give you that whole loop.

Your learnings land. As-operated versus as-designed findings become design improvements and reusable standard parts, not a lessons-learned document nobody reads.

You decide without perfect information. Making and documenting defensible engineering calls where the technology isn't yet proven is the job, not an occasional inconvenience.

The work

You'll own a complete hardware package such as the calciner tube, furnace, expansion-joint system, feed and discharge modules – across four stages:

Design. Set the design basis, tolerances and specifications. Produce CAD models, fabrication-ready drawings, BOMs and industry-standard documentation.

Prove. Validate with first-principles hand calculation and FEA, selecting materials for high-temperature, abrasive, bulk-solids duty.

Build. Work with OEMs, fabricators and vendors on design-for-manufacture, weld and NDE requirements and FAT plans, anchoring cost and lead time on real quotes.

Prove it again, in the field. Develop ITPs and commissioning plans, resolve fit-up and alignment issues on site as the engineer accountable for the package, then troubleshoot it in operation.

Safety comes first at every stage. You'll act as Responsible Engineer for assigned packages and coach others on live work. You'll report to the Chief Engineering & Projects Officer and work closely with the Chief Technology Officer.

About you

You've worked the full lifecycle – designed, built, installed and supported real industrial equipment in operation, not design office only – and you've made the final call on designs, not just the analysis.

What will make you successful here:

Heavy-industrial best practice: fabrication, welding and NDE, tolerancing, materials selection, structures and bulk solids

First-principles hand calculation plus FEA and CAD, and comfort with high-temperature and thermo-mechanical problems

The ability to progress real work where the technology and market aren't fully defined – documenting assumptions and comfortable being corrected

Steadiness with vendors, customers and colleagues when things get pressured

Credibility on a workshop floor and on a plant, not just at a desk

Desirable, not essential: pyro-processing (calciners, kilns, furnaces); first-of-a-kind scale-up; cement, lime, magnesia, minerals, iron and steel, lithium or DAC; ANSYS and Inventor/AutoCAD.

What good looks like

In your first year:

A design scope delivered end-to-end with CEPO and CTO sign-off, plus a complete as-designed versus as-built documentation set

Ownership of a hardware work-package across multiple lifecycle stages, with vendor RFIs and rework reduced through clearer specifications

Designs frozen and decisions owned, with risk assessed and documented quickly rather than analysed indefinitely

Recognition as the go‑to design engineer for a defined equipment area, with a design improvement traced back to a plant learning

About us

We are an environmental technology company addressing urgent global challenges in industrial decarbonisation and sustainability.

We apply our patented technology to decarbonise cement, steel and alumina, enable sustainable processing of critical minerals, deliver removal of atmospheric CO₂, and develop sustainable environmental products.

Because there is only one Earth. Mars is for quitters.

Own hardware end to end, across design, fabrication and operating plants

Be trusted with meaningful work and the autonomy to make an impact from day one

Be part of a collaborative, down-to-earth team that values expertise, initiative and practical problem solving

Enjoy flexible working arrangements, competitive benefits and participation in our employee incentive scheme

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