Senior Mechanical Systems Engineer

Skyven Technologies; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 130,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible PTO

Stock options

Medical, dental, and 401(k) benefits

Job summary

Skyven Technologies is seeking a Senior Mechanical Systems Engineer to design innovative thermal-fluid systems in a remote-first environment. This role involves collaborating with the CTO and the technical team to translate concepts into realizable designs. Candidates should possess a Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, 8+ years of experience in energy systems, and CAD skills, particularly in SolidWorks. The position offers flexible PTO, stock options, and a salary range of $130,000 to $160,000.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of relevant experience in industrial equipment or energy systems.
• Strong instincts for print review and mechanical design packages.
• Ability to engage with hardware and field constraints.

Responsibilities

• Help develop industrial thermal-fluid systems with focus on performance.
• Contribute to mechanical arrangements and system layouts.
• Create and review CAD models and drawings.
• Work across disciplines: mechanical, electrical, and controls.

Skills

Understanding of mechanical design

Strong CAD capability (SolidWorks)

Ability to communicate engineering concepts

Experience with thermal-fluid systems

Education

Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering

Tools

SolidWorks

Python

Job description

About Skyven

At Skyven Technologies, we have developed a revolutionary high-temperature heat pump that produces industrial steam at a lower cost than traditional fuel-fired boilers. We give our customers two options to deploy the heat pump: (A) a traditional CAPEX purchase, and (B) an innovative Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) model with zero CAPEX and savings from day one. Either way, customers save money and reduce emissions while minimizing risk.

About The Role

We are looking for a Senior Mechanical Systems Engineer who exemplifies strong engineering judgment combined with practical mechanical engineering capability. The role entails working closely with the CTO and the technical team to translate ambitious product concepts into designs that can be built, commissioned, operated, and maintained. It is an individual-contributor position, but we expect the engineer to grow into a technical lead role over time.

Ideally, you are energized by understanding how an entire system works, not just producing drawings or sourcing parts. You will spot weaknesses, ask hard questions early, and improve a system’s performance, operability, reliability, and cost. You will move between first-principles thinking and practical design decisions, working across process, mechanical, electrical, controls, and field considerations.

What You’ll Do

• Help develop and refine industrial thermal-fluid systems with a strong eye toward buildability, operability, maintainability, and cost.
• Contribute to and improve P&IDs, system layouts, piping concepts, mechanical arrangements, and equipment designs.
• Create CAD models, assemblies, and drawings where needed, not just review them.
• Critically review prints, layouts, and design packages and catch issues before they reach fabrication or the field.
• Work across process, mechanical, electrical, controls, and field considerations rather than staying narrowly inside one discipline.
• Develop technical specifications for major mechanical equipment and supporting components.
• Drive portions of the design from concept through vendor engagement, detailed design, fabrication, and field feedback.
• Work directly with suppliers and fabricators to clarify requirements, review designs, answer RFIs, and make sound judgments on open-ended engineering questions.
• Identify opportunities to standardize or automate parts of the design process, including engineering tools, design workflows, drawing generation, or CAD workflows.
• Help raise the technical level of the team through strong review, clear reasoning, and high standards while keeping an eye on speed and pragmatism.

The Kind Of Engineer Who Will Thrive Here

• Thinks from first principles and wants to understand how the system really works.
• Has strong intuition for mechanical design, field realities, and failure modes.
• Can move between concept-level system thinking and detailed execution.
• Likes startup speed, but still cares deeply about engineering rigor.
• Takes ownership, notices what others miss, and is comfortable speaking up.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or equivalent practical experience.
• 8+ years of relevant experience in industrial equipment, process equipment, thermal-fluid systems, energy systems, rotating equipment, or related product development.
• Strong mechanical engineering fundamentals across piping, pressure vessels, materials, heat exchangers, rotating equipment, skidded systems, bearings, and fabrication.
• Skill creating and modifying P&IDs and translating system intent into practical hardware.
• Strong CAD capability, ideally in SolidWorks, including ability to create models and drawings directly.
• Strong print review instincts and the ability to find issues, inconsistencies, and bad assumptions in mechanical design packages.
• Ability to make sound engineering judgments in ambiguous, first-of-a-kind, or cross-disciplinary situations.
• Ability to communicate clearly with engineers, vendors, fabricators, and leadership.
• Willingness to engage with real hardware, real field constraints, and real operating problems.

Especially Valuable

• Experience in an industrial startup or fast-moving product development environment.
• Hands-on field, commissioning, startup, troubleshooting, or plant support experience.
• Experience with pumps, compressors, turbomachinery, steam systems, thermal systems, or fluid systems.
• Working knowledge of relevant codes and standards such as ASME and API.
• Experience reviewing or developing piping layouts, supports, stress/life considerations, material selections, and fabrication details.
• Experience improving engineering workflows through scripting, automation, design tools, or model-based approaches.
• Ability to use Python or similar tools for engineering analysis or automation.

What We Value

We value engineers who are curious, rigorous, hard to fool, and hard to impress. We look for people who want to understand what is actually going on in a system, who care whether a design will really work, and who are willing to challenge assumptions when something does not look right. We are especially interested in people who combine first-principles thinking with practical mechanical depth, independent thinking, and high ownership.

Benefits

• Flexible PTO
• Stock options
• Medical, dental, and 401(k) benefits
• Salary range: $130,000 to $160,000

Location

• We are a remote-first organization; this role is fully remote.
• The candidate must be currently based in and have the right to work in the United States.