Product Development Engineer - Direct Air Capture

ORE ENERGY; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Ore Energy in Amsterdam is seeking a Product Development Engineer – Direct Air Capture to lead air-processing subsystem design, prototyping, and validation for our iron-air battery platform. You will bridge process concepts with mechanical reality, ensuring safe, efficient gas handling within a fast-paced hardware scale-up environment.

The role demands hands-on experience in Direct Air Capture or gas-adsorption technologies, strong experimental skills, and excellent communication in English.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering (strongly preferred).
• Direct Air Capture (DAC) or gas-adsorption experience is required or highly advantageous.
• Prototyping and plumbing mastery; comfortable with pumps, pneumatic valves, fittings, tubing, vessels, and gas sensors.

Responsibilities

• Design and size active air-treatment, gas-separation, and conditioning subsystems; perform mass balances and flow calculations.
• Select and source sorbents, filters, membranes, reactors, valves, pumps, and blower systems.
• Build lab-scale proof-of-concept units and pilot-scale air-handling rigs from scratch.
• Design and execute test campaigns to evaluate adsorption capacity, pressure drops, regeneration, and energy efficiency.
• Diagnose issues and translate data into engineering design improvements.
• Collaborate with mechanical, electrochemical, and controls teams to integrate air systems with modules and housings.
• Document system architecture, P&IDs, concepts, and validation outcomes.

Skills

System design

Component selection

Hands-on prototyping

Experimental testing

Root-cause analysis

Subsystem integration

Technical documentation

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

MATLAB

Python

Automated control systems

Job description

At Ore Energy, we are on a mission to fundamentally expand the amount of energy society can reliably harness and use, helping move civilization toward a more abundant energy future. We are doing this by developing long-duration, utility-scale iron-air batteries that provide safe, low-cost, multi-day energy storage for electricity grids and data centers.

We are expanding our product development capabilities and are looking for a Product Development Engineer – Direct Air Capture to join our team in Amsterdam. Our iron-air batteries "breathe" air, meaning that conditioning and purifying incoming air and managing gases internally is a critical subsystem of our product. In this role, you will lead the design, process calculation, prototyping, and validation of our air-processing and gas-management support systems.

We are looking for a highly resourceful, hands-on Mechanical Engineer who has practical experience in Direct Air Capture (DAC) or advanced gas-adsorption technologies. You will bridge the gap between process concepts (mass balance, pressure drop, sorbents) and physical mechanical reality, building functional physical systems that protect and optimize our battery chemistry.

• System Design & Sizing: Design and develop active air-treatment, gas-separation, and humidity/temperature conditioning subsystems. Perform key process calculations, mass balances, flow dynamics, and system sizing.
• Component Selection: Evaluate, specify, and source active mechanical components, including sorbents, filters, gas membranes, reactors, valves, pumps, and blower systems.
• Hands-on Prototyping: Build, plumb, and wire laboratory-scale proof-of-concept units and pilot-scale air-handling rigs from scratch.
• Experimental Testing: Design and execute test campaigns to evaluate gas-adsorption capacity, pressure drop across beds, regeneration behavior, and thermal/energy efficiency.
• Root-Cause Analysis: Diagnose technical issues, trace failure modes in air/gas handling loops, and convert experimental data into clear mechanical design improvements.
• Subsystem Integration: Collaborate closely with mechanical, electrochemical, and controls teams to integrate air systems with cell modules, sensors, and structural housings.
• Technical Documentation: Document system architecture requirements, piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs), process concepts, and validation outcomes.

• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering (strongly preferred) or a highly related discipline (such as Process/Chemical Engineering with a heavy, proven focus on physical machine design and plumbing).
• Direct Air Capture (DAC) Background: Practical, hands-on experience in Direct Air Capture (DAC), gas-adsorption systems, or closely related gas-purification technologies.
• Prototyping & Plumbing Mastery: Strong physical troubleshooting and assembly skills. You must be completely comfortable working with pumps, pneumatic valves, compression fittings, tubing, vessels, and gas sensors in a workshop or laboratory environment.
• Analytical Skills: Strong ability to interpret process data, model flow behaviors, and perform thermodynamic or mass-transfer calculations. Experience with MATLAB, Python, or automated control systems is an advantage.
• Pragmatic and Autonomous: Highly self-directed, resourceful, and excited to build experimental setups from scratch in a fast-paced hardware scale-up environment.
• Communication: Flawless professional English. Able to explain complex air-processing dynamics clearly to cross-functional battery development teams.