Mechanical Engineer

Overview

Lydian is developing the lowest cost sustainable fuels from waste CO2, water, and renewable electricity to decarbonize the aviation industry. Our breakthrough technology replaces oil and gas refining with fully electrified, modular, and flexible reactor systems that produce fuel with 95% lower emissions than traditional jet fuel. Since our founding in 2021, Lydian has achieved key milestones in record time, including the production of our first liquid fuel from our pilot system.

Lydian is backed by the world's top energy transition investors including Congruent Ventures, Galvanize Climate Solutions, Union Square Ventures, Voyager Ventures, Grok Ventures, and more. We have also earned support from the US Department of Energy, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and have been recognized by Forbes 30u30 and by Silicon Valley Bank's 50 by 2050 List which recognizes the top fifty energy transition companies based on potential impact and scale.

Lydian is looking for an early-career Mechanical Engineer to work on scaling our Pilot-scale reactor to achieve our first Commercial-scale demonstration.

• Own the design, prototyping, & testing of syngas reactor components/improvements, with the goal of using day-to-day testing and engineering work to improve our Commercial-scale reactor system. In short, try to make an awesome reactor.
• Interface with R&D and operations teams to collaborate in making process & manufacturing improvements. Understand and act to eliminate their bottlenecks by making proposals that will scale with our reactor.
• Be the bridge between hardware testing and R&D teams. Ensure that we are running tests that gather good data, and follow up by proposing solutions that will work as our technology scales.
• Assist in budgeting and planning the implementation of new systems & processes. Help to implement and train others in new processes.

Required:

• BS or MS in Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or similar.
• Be awesome. Be someone who is incredible to work with, and keeps people wanting to engage with them.
• Strong fundamentals. A history of approaching engineering problems with a physics-first approach.
• Scrappiness. Be someone who is comfortable in a timeline & bandwidth-limited environment.
• Breadth. Be someone who can take an idea from inception to execution, with the drive to own the full process of design, analysis, fabrication/sourcing, and testing.
• Experience designing parts and systems from a blank sheet.
• Alignment with our mission, vision, and virtues

• Proficiency with machining, metal fabrication, and 3D printing.
• Work experience with firmware, coding, and data acquisition tools.
• Catalysis and process engineering experience are big pluses.

• Challenging, collaborative, and meaningful work and an important voice in company development
• Competitive salary commensurate with experience
• Meaningful equity compensation
• Flexible PTO and expectation that all employees take significant time off to rest, recharge, and enjoy life outside work
• Excellent health insurance with 100% of healthcare, vision, and dental premiums covered
• 401(k) with company match