Senior Engineer - Energy Systems

Stircor; Chattanooga (TN); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Stircor is seeking a deeply experienced energy systems engineer to own the thermal and energy-reuse backend of its biosolids processing plants, including gasification, thermal oxidation, heat recovery, and energy conversion. This role requires a practitioner who can design, analyze, and troubleshoot in the field without supervision.

Located in Chattanooga, TN, with field time at operating and startup sites, the candidate should bring 15+ (20+ welcome) years in thermal/energy process engineering

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in thermal/energy process engineering.
• Hands-on plant commissioning and operations experience.
• Strong modeling and equipment specification skills.
• Experience in biosolids, waste-to-energy, or wastewater sectors preferred.

Responsibilities

• Design and optimize gasification, thermal ducting, oxidizers, heat exchangers, and energy-recovery systems.
• Model thermal and mass balances, throughput, and emissions for plants.
• Specify equipment and interface with gasifier, dryer, and ORC vendors.
• Support commissioning, startup, and performance testing of energy systems.
• Troubleshoot field performance and drive root-cause fixes into design standards.
• Support permitting and emissions compliance with engineering analyses.
• Document design rationale and operating envelopes for institutional knowledge transfer.
• Mentor mid-level engineers across disciplines.

Skills

Thermal energy engineering

Field troubleshooting

Mentoring

Thermal/mass balance modeling

Job description

Chattanooga, TN — with field time at operating and startup sites

POSITION SUMMARY

Stircor is hiring a deeply experienced energy systems engineer to own the thermal and energy-reuse backend of its biosolids processing plants: gasification, thermal oxidation, heat recovery, and energy conversion. This role is for a seasoned practitioner who has spent a career around thermal process equipment and can carry design, analysis, and field troubleshooting without supervision.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Design & Analysis

• Design and optimize gasification, thermal ducting, oxidizer, heat exchanger, and energy-recovery (ORC) systems.
• Model thermal and mass balances, throughput, and emissions performance for new and operating plants.
• Specify equipment and interface with gasifier, dryer, and ORC vendors.

Field & Operations

• Support commissioning, startup, and performance testing of energy systems.
• Troubleshoot field performance and drive root-cause fixes into the design standards.
• Support permitting and emissions compliance with defensible engineering analysis.

Knowledge Transfer

• Document design rationale and operating envelopes so knowledge is institutional, not personal.
• Mentor mid-level engineers across disciplines.

QUALIFICATIONS

• 15+ years (20+ welcome) in thermal/energy process engineering: gasification, combustion, drying, waste-to-energy, heat recovery, or power systems.
• Hands-on plant experience through commissioning and operations, not design-desk only.
• Strong thermal/mass balance modeling and equipment specification skills.
• Biosolids, waste-to-energy, or wastewater sector experience preferred.
• Open to relocating to (or being based near) Chattanooga; travel to sites in FL, GA, and TN.

SUCCESS IN THE FIRST 12-18 MONTHS

• Energy-side design basis for the next plant validated and documented.
• Measurable improvement in thermal efficiency or uptime at an operating site.
• Vendor packages (gasifier, oxidizer, ORC) specified and procured without schedule slip.