Senior/Principal Turbomachinery Engineer

Endurance Energy
Seattle, WA
On-site

Who this role is best for

Geared toward engineers comfortable with high-performance turbomachinery design and numerical simulation, working in a startup environment with global fieldwork opportunities.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with 3+ years of turbomachinery design and testing experience in high-speed rotating equipment
    — “3+ years of experience in the design, analysis, and testing of high speed rotating machinery
  • Individuals who can bridge theoretical design with hands-on hardware validation and optimization
    — “Take turbomachinery designs from initial 1D sizing all the way to testing production designs in subsea deployments
  • Engineers with a deep understanding of thermodynamics and fluid mechanics for compact power cycles
    — “Strong fundamentals in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer
  • Professionals who thrive in fast-paced, agile environments with cross-functional integration
    — “Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, 'scrappy' startup environment
  • Candidates with a background in CFD, FEA, or turbomachinery-specific tools like AxStream or CFTurbo
    — “Experience with turbomachinery design tools such as AxStream, CFTurbo etc.

Things to consider

  • This role demands a strong commitment to travel and fieldwork in remote oceanic locations
    — “Travel to fascinating deployment sites along oceanic ridges in locations like the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, and the Azores
  • The compensation structure heavily relies on equity, which may be a consideration for candidates with different financial priorities
    — “equity is a significant portion of every full-time employee's compensation

How to stand out

  • Highlight your ability to lead design and optimization of turbines and pumps in your application materials
    — “Lead Aero-Thermal Design: Own the design and optimization of turbines and pumps for power generation cycles
  • Showcase your hands-on experience with test rigs and hardware validation in your interview narrative
    — “Hands-on experience setting up and operating high-speed rotating equipment test rigs
  • Demonstrate your proficiency in CFD and FEA by including relevant projects or tools used in your background
    — “Conduct high-fidelity 3D CFD analysis and structural FEA to ensure component performance and reliability
  • Include any programming experience with Python, MATLAB, or C++ for design automation or data analysis
    — “Programming skills (Python, MATLAB, or C++) for automated design optimization and data analysis
Pace · Fast PacedCollaboration · MediumAutonomy · HighDecision Impact · TeamLevel · Senior

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • designing and testing turbomachinery components
  • optimizing power generation cycles
  • developing internal modeling processes
Typical background
mechanical engineeringaerospace engineeringturbomachinery design

Skills & requirements

Required

Turbomachinery DesignCFD AnalysisStructural FEATesting And ValidationRotor Dynamics

Preferred

Supercritical CO2 CycleOrganic Rankine CycleHigh-pressure Seal Design

Stack & domain

CFDFEACADPythonMatlabC++Problem SolvingTeamworkTurbomachineryGeothermal PowerSubsea Deployments

About the role

Original posting from Endurance Energy via Ashby

ABOUT ENDURANCE

Endurance is building the world's first modular subsea geothermal power plants, converting vast thermal resources under the ocean into gigawatts of baseload power. Backed by Founders Fund, Felicis, First Round Capital, and Point72 Ventures, our founding team includes veterans from SpaceX, Helion, Blue Origin, and Apple. We have completed multiple deep-ocean deployments to subsea volcanoes and are launching a long-term demonstration project this fall. By leveraging modular design, manufacturing scale, efficient drilling, and latent cooling on the seafloor, we are pioneering a new category of energy that outperforms traditional sources on environmental impact, deployment speed, and cost.

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING

As a Senior or Principal Turbomachinery Engineer at Endurance, you will be the critical technical member of the team responsible for the core of our seafloor power plants. You will lead the design, analysis, and optimization of high-performance turbines and pumps specialized for compact power cycles.

This role requires a combination of strong first principles understanding of turbomachinery and a first principles hands-on approach to hardware. You will take turbomachinery designs from initial 1D sizing all the way to testing production designs in subsea deployments.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Lead Aero-Thermal Design: Own the design and optimization of turbines and pumps for power generation cycles.
  • Rapid Iteration: Use 1D/2D modeling tools for rapid sizing, trade studies, and system-level integration.
  • Numerical Simulation: Conduct high-fidelity 3D CFD analysis and structural FEA to ensure component performance and reliability.
  • Testing & Validation: Lead test campaigns to validate turbomachinery performance, correlate analytical models with experimental data, and identify failure modes.
  • Mechanical Integration: Integrate rotors, housings, bearings, and seals into robust, field-ready assemblies.
  • Tool Development: Establish internal modeling processes, design standards, and documentation to enable the team to scale.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

  • Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering (Master’s or PhD preferred).
  • 3+ years of experience in the design, analysis, and testing of high speed rotating machinery (pumps, compressors, or turbines).
  • Strong fundamentals in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer.
  • Experience with CAD software (e.g., Siemens NX) and rapid prototyping.
  • Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, "scrappy" startup environment.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

  • Experience with turbomachinery design tools such as AxStream, CFTurbo etc.
  • Proficiency in CFD and numerical simulation tools (e.g., ANSYS CFX/Fluent, OpenFOAM, or Numeca).
  • Experience with supercritical CO2 or organic Rankine cycle (ORC) turbomachinery.
  • Knowledge of high-pressure seal design and rotor dynamics.
  • Hands-on experience setting up and operating high-speed rotating equipment test rigs.
  • Programming skills (Python, MATLAB, or C++) for automated design optimization and data analysis.

COMPENSATION, BENEFITS, & PERKS

As a pre-revenue startup, Endurance Energy offers competitive base salaries and generous equity packages for full-time employees. Final base salary will be determined by an array of factors including internal equity, job-related knowledge, skills, and work experience.

A key aspect of our compensation philosophy is that value creation should be aligned with rewards. Right now this means equity is a significant portion of every full-time employee's compensation. As the company matures, there will be continued evolution and changes to the total rewards and total compensation package. What will always be true is that if we win, we win together. Equity is granted to every full-time employee as a meaningful piece of ownership. We believe the people building the company should share directly in the value they create.

In addition to a competitive base salary and equity, employees will receive all of our other great benefits and perks, including:

  • Benefits: Health, Dental, and Vision insurance coverage
  • Time Away: Flexible PTO including 12 paid company holidays
  • Global Fieldwork: Travel to fascinating deployment sites along oceanic ridges in locations like the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, and the Azores
  • Hands-on Experience: Participate in sea trials and deployment operations in partnership with leading oceanographic institutions
  • Cutting-edge Development: Work with technology that spans high-power electronics, marine systems, and clean energy
  • Impactful Work: Help solve one of the world's most pressing challenges
  • Dive Certification: Company-sponsored recreational dive certification
  • Other Perks: Access to the company boat, free meals and snacks, and the list goes on!

If you’re selected for consideration, a recruiter will be able to discuss in greater detail.

Source: Endurance Energy careers (Ashby)

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