Staff Mechanical Engineer: Piston & Ring Sealing

Mainspring Energy, Inc.; Menlo Park (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Mainspring Energy, Inc. is seeking a Staff Mechanical Engineer to own a major portion of the Rings team's challenging piston and ring system development. You will lead design efforts, advance from concept to production, and tackle multi-domain problems with a systems approach.

The role requires strong CAD/FEA skills, 2D drawings with GD&T, and a track record of delivering high‑quality precision parts in R&D-to-production cycles. Excellent collaboration in a dynamic team is essential.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering or PhD with relevant experience.
• 8+ years of industry experience (5+ years if PhD) in related field.
• Experience designing high‑performance, precision parts from R&D to production.
• Proficient in SolidWorks; familiarity with FEA tools (Ansys a plus).
• Ability to generate 2D drawings for manufacturing with GD&T.

Responsibilities

• Lead ring and piston development, including setting requirements and scope, developing designs, reviewing colleagues' work, and planning production introductions.
• Design complex moving parts for piston and ring systems from concept to detailed design and testing.
• Root cause analysis of failures involving thermal, structural, materials, and fluids interactions.
• Design and run test campaigns using benchtop rigs and in-generator experiments to validate designs.
• Define requirements on subsystems to improve performance and collaborate with the team to implement solutions.
• Work in a fast-paced, iterative environment with cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Skills

Collaborative work style

Designing precision parts

Systems thinking

Structural mechanics

Heat transfer

Problem solving

Education

Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

SolidWorks

Ansys

GD&T

Job description

Mainspring Energy, Inc. is seeking a Staff Mechanical Engineer to own a major portion of the Rings team's challenging piston and ring system development. You will lead design efforts, advance from concept to production, and tackle multi-domain problems with a systems approach.

The role requires strong CAD/FEA skills, 2D drawings with GD&T, and a track record of delivering high‑quality precision parts in R&D-to-production cycles. Excellent collaboration in a dynamic team is essential.