Senior Mechanical Engineer

Interested in mechanical engineering involving machinery and mechanisms instead of just putting circuit boards in enclosures? Beyond The Dome is looking for a highly talented Senior Mechanical Engineer to join our rapidly growing team. With your extensive experience and expertise, you will lead projects from conception through to production and own major design areas of our first generation water purification system. Your work will encompass high pressure systems, mechanism design, structures, motors, generators, and other disciplines. This is an opportunity to make a significant individual contribution to solving the world's environmental and water quality problems.

This job is based in Petaluma CA, and will require some travel to support field deployments.

Company

Beyond The Dome is developing a modular system that destroys contaminants in water in seconds. We enable industries dealing with wastewater to meet their climate commitments, produce clean water, and generate power. Our ultra‑efficient, supercritical water oxidation process (ultra‑SCWOTM) destroys over 99.9% of organic contaminants within seconds, including PFAS, microplastics, and pharmaceuticals. We use the energy within the waste not only to power the process but also to generate a surplus to send to the power grid. Our long‑term goal is to deploy a global network of ultra‑SCWOTM systems giving people access to the best possible wastewater treatment and stopping the flow of hard to remove organic pollutants into our environment.

Team

We are a group of highly talented, collaborative, and innovative people dedicated to technical innovation. As much as we joke about the unsexiness of sludge and biosolids, we are solving a critical environmental problem with a billion‑dollar plus market opportunity, where customers are urgently demanding solutions. Join Beyond the Dome and you will join our stimulating environment of creative freedom where we replace micromanagement with responsibility and opportunity to get stuff done. We are a well‑funded startup pioneering a new product within a space that is ripe for innovation.

What you’ll do

Design, build, debug, and optimize a wide range of SCWO subsystems including high pressure systems, structures, reactors, heat exchangers, and power generation.

Take designs from concept generation through prototyping, development, testing, and validation, ensuring products meet all technical and operational requirements.

Collaborate with cross‑functional teams, including R&D, manufacturing, and quality assurance, to ensure seamless integration and alignment with project objectives.

Shepherd designs through field deployment, commissioning, and testing, engaging in troubleshooting until all problems have been resolved.

Drive continuous improvement, identifying areas for cost reduction and efficiency gains.

Generate CAD, technical drawings, BOMs, and assembly instructions.

Your background

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or Chemical Engineering.

10+ years of experience in mechanical engineering, with a proven track record of leading successful projects.

Experience designing machines, components, and systems such as engines, reactors, heat exchangers, pumps, and instrumentation.

Experience with pressurized systems over 3000 psi - pumps, valves, high pressure fittings, sealing, etc...

Solid background in fabrication methods such as machining, sheet metal, rapid prototyping, laser cutting, and welding.

Excellent 3D CAD modeling skills in Autodesk, SolidWorks or equivalent.

Good documentation skills such as creating and maintaining BOMs, assembly instructions, and hand‑offs to manufacturing.

Excellent communication, collaboration, and technical leadership skills.

Welcome additions

An advanced degree in Mechanical Engineering or closely related field

P.E. license (any state, but ability to get license in California)

Experience with pressurized and/or hot systems, e.g., SCWO, rockets, oil and gas, nuclear

Hands‑on shop experience with equipment such as manual/CNC mills, lathes, hand tools, etc…

Hands‑on operation of equipment such as reactors, heat exchangers, pumps, and instrumentation

Experience with software programming for simulation, control, or data acquisition, e.g., Python, MATLAB, LabJack/Kipling

Experience with FEA or fluid simulations in tools such as Ansys

Compensation and Benefits

Beyond The Dome offers competitive salary, equity, generous benefits, and a great work environment. We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.