Rotordynamics Engineer

Approach Venture LLC; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity ownership

Sign-on bonus

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

On-site facilities

Job summary

Approach Venture LLC in El Segundo, CA is seeking a Rotordynamics Engineer to own the rotor, bearing, and seal system for next‑generation power hardware. You will build models, contribute to CAD, balance rotors, and correlate predictions to real hardware test data.

You will lead rotordynamic analysis, select and design bearing and seal architectures, create detailed CAD drawings, and collaborate with turbomachinery engineers to ensure robust packaging and test readiness.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in rotordynamics and/or bearing/seal design for high-speed machinery.
• Experience with rotordynamics software such as XLTRC², DyRoBeS, ARMD, MADYN, ANSYS.
• Ability to build CAD models and drawings and interpret test data.

Responsibilities

• Own rotordynamic analysis across startup, steady-state, and test conditions.
• Build and update rotor-bearing-seal models using test data.
• Design bearing systems and predict stiffness, damping, and load capacity.
• Create CAD models and drawings of rotors, seals, and related hardware.
• Coordinate with aerodynamic/turbomachinery teams on rotor packaging.
• Define balancing requirements and assembly procedures.
• Specify vibration instrumentation and set alarm/trip limits.
• Support spin testing and diagnose issues using orbit, waterfall, and Bode data.
• Work with suppliers on fabrication and balancing.
• Establish rotordynamics design standards and review practices.

Skills

Rotordynamics

Vibrations

CAD modelling

Technical communication

Test data analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Aerospace Engineering

Tools

Onshape

NX

Creo

SolidWorks

CATIA

Job description

Rotordynamics Engineer - Own the Rotor, Bearing, and Seal System Behind Next-Generation Power Hardware

El Segundo, California | On-site

Opportunity Summary

Join a well-funded, seed-stage energy hardware company building compact, megawatt-scale power systems for fast-growing industrial and compute infrastructure. Hardware is being assembled and tested in a new El Segundo facility, and the team is moving toward full-scale system demonstration. As Rotordynamics Engineer, you will own how the high-speed rotating machinery behaves dynamically, and you will carry that work into the mechanical design of the bearings, seals, and shafts that make the rotor work. This is not an analysis-only seat. You will build the models, put the design in CAD, help build and balance the rotor, and correlate your predictions to test data on real hardware.

About Us

We are a venture-backed energy technology company redesigning power generation around advanced thermodynamic cycles, high-speed turbomachinery, and factory-built hardware that deploys much faster than conventional infrastructure. Our platform is designed to work with several heat sources, from near-term conventional sources to future nuclear and renewable ones. We are a small, highly technical team with deep turbomachinery, thermofluids, controls, and test experience. Every engineer has a large effect on the product and on how the company is built.

Job Duties

• Own rotordynamic analysis of high-speed turbomachinery, including lateral and torsional critical speeds, Campbell diagrams, mode shapes, unbalance response, and stability margins across startup, steady-state, transient, and shutdown conditions
• Build, maintain, and refine rotor-bearing-seal models, and update them using test data
• Select, size, and design bearing systems, including gas foil, hydrodynamic, tilting-pad, rolling-element, or magnetic bearings as the architecture requires, and predict their stiffness, damping, and load capacity
• Design shaft seals and quantify leakage and seal-induced forces that affect rotor stability
• Create detailed CAD models and drawings of rotors, shafts, couplings, bearing housings, seal hardware, and thrust-management features, including fits, tolerance stack-ups, and GD&T
• Partner with aerodynamic and turbomachinery engineers on wheel and impeller attachment, axial thrust balance, and rotor packaging
• Define balancing requirements, runout specifications, and assembly procedures for rotor builds
• Specify vibration instrumentation (proximity probes, accelerometers, speed and phase references, bearing temperatures), and work with controls engineers to set alarm and trip limits
• Support spin testing, rig testing, and full-system testing, and use orbit, waterfall, and Bode data to diagnose and fix vibration issues
• Work with suppliers on fabrication, inspection, and balancing of bearings, seals, and rotor components
• Establish rotordynamics design standards, analysis methods, and design review practices as the company grows
• Contribute to broader turbomachinery mechanical design, assembly, and test work as program needs change

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field
• 5+ years of experience in rotordynamics and/or bearing and seal design for high-speed rotating machinery such as gas turbines, compressors, turbopumps, turboexpanders, turbochargers, microturbines, or high-speed motors and generators
• Hands-on experience with rotordynamics software such as XLTRC², DyRoBeS, ARMD, MADYN, ANSYS, or similar
• Strong fundamentals in vibrations, structural dynamics, tribology, and fluid-film or gas lubrication
• Ability to build detailed CAD models and drawings yourself in Onshape, NX, Creo, SolidWorks, CATIA, or similar
• Experience taking rotating hardware from analysis through build, balance, and test
• Experience reading vibration test data and updating models to match it
• Strong technical communication and comfort working with a lot of ownership on a small, hands-on team

Preferred Experience

• Gas foil bearings or other oil-free bearing systems
• Supercritical CO₂, real-gas, or high-pressuredense-fluid turbomachinery
• Labyrinth, brush, or dry gas seals, including seal rotordynamic coefficients
• High-speed integrated permanent-magnet motor or generator rotors
• Familiarity with API 617 and API 684 rotordynamic practices
• Rotor assembly, balance machine, or spin pit experience
• Graduate research in rotordynamics, tribology, or turbomachinery
• FEA of rotating components, including stress, fits, and thermal growth
• Early-stage startup or rapid hardware development experience

Why Join Us

• Own a technically critical subsystem that directly sets machine reliability, speed, and performance
• Work across analysis, CAD, hardware, and test instead of working only as an analyst
• Work directly with the founding team and experienced turbomachinery engineers
• Join at the point where first-of-its-kind hardware is moving into larger systems and customer deployment
• Meaningful equity ownership
• Company-sponsored medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Fully stocked kitchen with snacks, coffee, and lunch

Compensation Details

$170,000 - $230,000 + strong equity and sign-on bonus