Development Engineer - Electric Heating Systems

Hyca Heat; United States; Hybrid; USD 81,000 - 138,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work arrangement

VSOP participation

Competitive compensation

Job summary

Hyca Heat is seeking an experienced Development Engineer to design and develop electric high-temperature heating systems for process gas heaters. You will own the electric resistance heating core, where the conductor also serves as the catalyst support, blending heating, heat transfer, and catalytic combustion in one component.

The role demands deep thermomechanical knowledge, material selection under real atmospheres, and collaboration across R&D to move from prototype to series production.

Qualifications

• Degree or technician qualification in mechanical/energy/materials engineering or related field.
• Several years of industry experience in electric resistance heating design or related heating systems.
• Experience with heating conductor structures and their impact on surface load, flow, and life.
• Strong materials and thermomechanical understanding for high-temperature components.
• Fluent German (C1/C2) and very good English.

Responsibilities

• Design electric resistance heaters and process gas heaters, focusing on surface load, conductor temperature, resistance and heat transfer in gas-flow systems.
• Select materials under real atmospheres (FeCrAl, NiCr alloys) for oxidation, carburization, corrosion and sulfur/steam effects.
• Design heating conductor structures to support catalysts, considering coating adhesion and aging.
• Address thermomechanics: thermal expansion, creep, fatigue, and hot-spot avoidance.
• Plan testing, run rigs, analyze failures, and support commissioning and customer acceptance.
• Oversee development from prototype to series production and manage suppliers.

Skills

Electric heating design

Heat exchanger design

Materials understanding

Thermomechanics knowledge

FEM/CFD simulation

Python/MATLAB for calculations

English proficiency

German language proficiency

Education

Bachelor/Master or Techniker in mechanical/energy/materials engineering

Tools

FEM/CFD

CAD

Job description

Development Engineer – Electric Heating Systems / Process Gas Heaters (m/f/d)

Design the resistance heaters that decarbonize industrial process heat.

About Hyca Heat

Hyca Heat is a German deep-tech startup at the forefront of the industrial energy transition. We are developing a globally unique, patented heating technology that combines highly efficient catalytic combustion with electric heating, decarbonizing the process-heat industry. Our team of experienced engineers, entrepreneurs and scientists works in Jülich on one of the greatest challenges of our time.

Your mission

We are looking for an experienced engineer for the design and development of electric high‑temperature heating systems (m/f/d) to join our team in Jülich. This is a hybrid position with typically 1–2 home‑office days per week.

You will own the core of our systems: the electric resistance heating of our process gas heaters. What makes our technology special: the heating conductor is at the same time the support structure of the catalyst – electric heating, heat transfer and catalytic combustion all take place in a single component. Geometry, material, temperature profile and coating cannot be optimized independently of one another. That is exactly what makes this role demanding.

Your responsibilities

• Design of electric resistance heaters and process gas heaters: surface load, heating conductor temperature, resistance and power design as well as heat transfer in gas‑flow systems.

• Material selection under real atmospheres: FeCrAl and NiCr/nickel‑based alloys against the actual gas composition – oxidation, carburization, nitriding, sulphur and steam effects.

• Design of the heating conductor structure as a catalyst support: the interplay of geometry, surface and temperature profile with the catalytic coating – coatability, coating adhesion and ageing.

• Thermomechanics and mechanical integration: thermal expansion and expansion compensation, creep, cyclic durability, flow guidance and avoidance of hot spots.

• Testing and system trials: test rigs, measurements and failure analyses – including during commissioning and acceptance at the customer – as well as the design tools and specifications we use to develop future systems.

• Development from prototype to series production, including the selection and management of suppliers.

What you definitely should bring

• A degree or technician qualification (Bachelor/Master or Techniker) in mechanical engineering, process engineering, energy engineering, materials engineering, electrical engineering or a related field.

• Industry experience with electric resistance heating: several years in the design, development or engineering of electric heating systems – for example at a heating conductor or heating element manufacturer, in electric heater manufacturing, or in industrial furnace and thermal process plant engineering.

• Experience with heating conductor structures: wires, strips, metal foils, meshes, knitted structures or foams – you know how the design affects surface load, flow, pressure drop and service life. With us, this very structure additionally carries the catalytic coating.

• Materials and thermomechanical understanding: you know how process gases attack heating conductor materials, and you treat thermal expansion, thermal stresses, creep and cyclic loading as design parameters.

• Languages: fluent German (C1/C2) and very good English.

• Openness to integrating and using AI tools.

What else excites us

• Experience as a project manager or in commissioning at the customer.

• Professional experience with burner/heating systems, catalytic coatings (washcoat), honeycomb structures or metallic catalyst supports.

• Knowledge of instrumentation and control technology and power control (thyristor controllers, phase‑angle control, burst firing).

• Simulation and calculation: FEM/CFD, CAD as well as Python or MATLAB for design calculations and measurement data analysis.

• Experience with high‑temperature corrosion or with failure analyses on thermally loaded components.

What we offer you

• Maximum impact: your work is not a small part of a big whole – what you do really matters.

• A unique challenge: deep‑tech hardware at the interface of energy engineering, materials science and catalysis.

• Responsibility and growth: take on responsibility from day one and grow with the company.

• A strong team: highly motivated, experienced and with a clear vision.

• An attractive compensation package: competitive salary plus the option to participate in the company's success (VSOP).

*Please note that this is a hybrid role requiring partial on‑site presence in Jülich.*

Our application process

We take the process seriously – in a small team every single person matters and the team fit has to be right.

• Intro call (10 min, online)

• Job interview (45 min, online)

• On‑site meeting in Jülich with a practical task (2 h)

• Meet the team and reference check

• Decision

We value inclusive ways of working and diverse teams, and we explicitly encourage applications from underrepresented groups.