Staff Mechanical Engineer

Circularity Fuels; California (MO); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Circularity Fuels is seeking an experienced engineer to lead the design of novel chemical reactors from concept to Code-stamped hardware field deployment. Role emphasizes heat management, materials, joining, and ASME Section VIII, Division 1 compliance for high-pressure, high-temperature gases.

You will own end-to-end reactor mechanical design, select architectures, manage ASME processes, qualify joining procedures, perform thermal/structural analyses, and guide scale-up to commercial modules

Qualifications

• BS in Mechanical Engineering; MS or PhD valued.
• 8+ years designing and delivering pressure equipment, ideally reactors or compact heat exchangers for flammable gas service.
• Experience getting equipment through ASME Section VIII, Division 1, incl. working with an Authorized Inspector; non-welded construction is a plus.
• Experience developing and qualifying brazing or welding procedures under Section IX.
• Metallurgy grounding for high-pressure, high-temperature gas service.
• Proficiency in thermal-structural FEA (ANSYS, Abaqus) and heat transfer analysis.
• Record of taking hardware from concept through fabrication, test and operation.
• Comfort in a startup: rapid work with incomplete information; lab/shop floor hands-on.

Responsibilities

• Own reactor mechanical design end to end: pressure boundary, internals, headers and manifolds, catalyst handling, flow distribution, and modular skids integration.
• Lead design selection by evaluating heat transfer, manufacturability, Code path and cost; choose designs for production.
• Own the ASME Code path; coordinate through ASME Section VIII, Div 1; liaise with Authorized Inspector and fabricators’ quality programs.
• Develop and qualify joining procedures (brazing and welding) under ASME Section IX; run coupon programs, metallography, burst and leak testing.
• Run thermal and structural analysis: thermal stress, cycling and fatigue, pressure loading; tie to CFD models.
• Own materials selection and compatibility for hydrogen, CO, steam, and other gases; ensure compatibility with catalysts.
• Design for safe operation with flammable gas at pressure: relief, containment, leak detection, hazard reviews (HAZOP) with process team.
• Build the supply chain: write specs/drawings for vendors; manage domestic and international fabricators.
• Take prototypes from drawing to test: coupons, prototype modules, pressure/leak testing; instrumented testing on process gas.
• Design for scale: move designs from demonstration units to commercial modules with cost as a primary parameter.

Skills

ASME Section VIII Div 1 experience

Non-welded construction experience

Thermal-structural analysis

Design for flammable gas service

Leadership in design projects

Education

BS in Mechanical Engineering

MS or PhD valued

Tools

ANSYS

Abaqus

Job description

The Role

We are hiring an engineer to lead the design of novel chemical reactors, taking them from concept through to Code-stamped hardware running in the field. Our reactors handle flammable gases at high pressure and moderate temperatures (200 to 400°C). The central challenges are heat management, materials and joining, and pressure vessel qualification under ASME Section VIII, Division 1, all at a cost that works for commercial deployment. You will choose among competing design approaches and carry the best one into production.

What You Will Do

• Own reactor mechanical design end to end: pressure boundary, internals, headers and manifolds, catalyst handling, flow distribution, and integration into modular skids.
• Lead design selection. Evaluate competing architectures on heat transfer, manufacturability, Code path and cost, and settle on designs in time for each build.
• Own the ASME Code path. Take designs through ASME Section VIII, Division 1, including non-welded construction where it applies. Be our main technical contact with the Authorized Inspector and fabricators’ quality programs.
• Develop and qualify joining procedures (brazing and welding) under ASME Section IX, with coupon programs, metallography, and burst and leak testing.
• Run thermal and structural analysis: thermal stress, cycling and fatigue, and pressure loading, tied to our process, kinetics and CFD models.
• Own materials selection and compatibility for hydrogen, CO and other flammable gases, steam, and catalysts.
• Design for safe operation with flammable gas at pressure: relief, containment, leak detection, and hazard reviews (HAZOP) alongside the process team.
• Build the supply chain: material suppliers, finishing and forming vendors, braze shops and pressure vessel fabricators, domestic and international. Write the specs and drawings they build to.
• Take prototypes from drawing to test: coupons, prototype modules, pressure and leak testing, and instrumented testing on process gas.
• Design for scale. Carry designs from demonstration units to commercial modules built the same way in quantity, with cost treated as a primary design parameter.

What You Bring

• BS in Mechanical Engineering, or a related field. An MS or PhD is valued.
• 8+ years designing and delivering pressure equipment, ideally reactors or compact heat exchangers for flammable or high-pressure gas service.
• Hands‑on experience getting equipment through ASME Section VIII, Division 1, including working directly with an Authorized Inspector. Experience with brazed, diffusion‑bonded or other non‑welded construction is a strong plus.
• Experience developing and qualifying brazing or welding procedures under Section IX.
• A solid grounding in metallurgy and materials selection for high‑pressure, elevated‑temperature gas service, including joint failure modes.
• Proficiency in thermal‑structural FEA (ANSYS, Abaqus or equivalent) and in heat transfer analysis. You should be comfortable carrying a problem from a hand calculation all the way to a detailed model.
• A record of taking hardware from concept through fabrication, test and operation, not just analysis.
• Comfort working in a startup: moving quickly with incomplete information, running coupon tests to settle questions, and being hands‑on in the lab and on the shop floor.

Nice to Have

• Experience with Fischer‑Tropsch, methanol or other strongly exothermic catalytic reactors, especially packed‑bed or microchannel designs.
• Experience with boiling‑water or two‑phase cooled equipment.
• Familiarity with electroplating, photochemical machining, stamping or roll forming of thin sheet.
• Experience qualifying equipment for hydrogen or CO service.
• Experience managing international fabrication vendors.
• Prior work at a hardware startup or on a first‑of‑a‑kind process plant.