Vice President of Engineering (San Francisco)

TheZero is an exciting startup company with an ambitious vision to enable affordable transitions to net-zero-emissions economies. It is built on breakthrough technologies developed at Stanford University to convert organic waste feedstock from agricultural and food ecosystems into biochar. The key innovation is the reduction of biochar processing cost by a factor of 10 compared to traditional approaches, making the economics both compelling and scalable to about 15 billion tons of CO2 per year, equivalent to approximately one-third of global emissions. This transformative technology also creates the lowest cost solid biofuel that can economically replace coal in energy generation as well as in steel and chemical production, including oil, hydrogen and plastics. We are a fast-moving, expert team dedicated to scaling this impactful solution globally.

TheZero was co-founded by Stanford faculty leaders Arun Majumdar and Yi Cui, and innovator Divya Chalise. Their vision fuels our mission to radically reduce carbon emissions by enabling affordable net-zero-emissions technology.

We are currently building our core team, whose leadership and expertise will guide TheZero into its next phase of scaling and expansion. We value your contributions as central to this journey and offer an environment that encourages innovation, ownership, and collaboration. At TheZero, you will work closely across disciplines, including R&D scientists, to drive cross-functional teamwork and deliver breakthrough climate solutions at scale.

The Role

As VP of Engineering at TheZero, you will play a pivotal role in translating breakthrough carbon sequestration technology into commercial impact. You will drive the scale up of the entire manufacturing process, from component design and selection to integration and iteration of the full process and balance of plant. This includes robust and cost-effective engineering systems, optimizing equipment throughput, ensuring safety and quality at scale, integrating process control and automation, and developing the infrastructure for deployment at multiple global sites with digital connectivity. You will oversee all aspects of the transition from prototype to large-scale production, integrating systems for reliability, performance, and cost-efficiency, and will lead cross-functional teams responsible for both hardware and software/process controls central to plant operations. Your leadership will be crucial to achieving our ambitious CO2 sequestration targets and fueling TheZero’s next phase of growth and expansion.

What You’ll Do

• Lead the scaling of processing equipment initially from lab (at ton/day) to 100s of tons/day, then to 10s of kilotons/day and eventually to fully scaled global manufacturing at MTons/day.
• Transition equipment from prototype into production and deploy to at least 10 sites globally.
• Responsible for equipment Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S), including in-house manufacturing/assembly line and customer sites.
• Manage equipment maintenance across global operations and customer sites; including field support training, manuals and product literature, spare parts stocking, logistics, and customer relations.
• Oversee creation and management of assembly lines for 10+ units per year of complex capital equipment.
• Lead and oversee software development for user interface and process control.
• Implement and manage an assembly line Quality Control (QC) program.
• Focus on key process areas including wetting and drying process control.

Who You Are

• 10+ years of progressive experience in chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, materials science with proven manufacturing scale-up responsibilities, preferably with international experience.
• Demonstrated success transitioning lab or pilot line equipment to large-scale commercial manufacturing.
• Strong track record in EH&S, QC, and international equipment deployment.
• Leadership experience in capital equipment manufacturing, including cross-functional and field support teams.
• Experience working in fast-paced, high-growth environments.

Compensation

• Salary: $180,000–$220,000/year, plus equity (based on experience with milestone-based vesting aligned to key company growth targets)
• Benefits: Health, dental, and vision insurance, mission-driven culture, and early-stage ownership.