Director of Mechanical Engineering

Mainspring Energy • Menlo Park, CA

1d • $237,000 - $267,000 • Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking a Director of Mechanical Engineering to lead a substantial portion of the team scaling the Linear Generator — a first-of-kind distributed power platform that converts a low-temperature, flameless reaction directly into electricity using high-frequency linear motion instead of rotating machinery. The system integrates reciprocating pressure-driven assemblies, air-spring return chambers, precision alignment systems, and linear electromagnetic machines within a modular 250 kW-class packaged unit. It operates under cyclic loads, tight sealing constraints, thermal gradients, structural dynamics, and grid-interactive performance requirements typical of commercial power generation equipment.

Reporting to the VP of Mechanical Engineering, this role is being created to expand leadership capacity, elevate risk visibility, and enable disciplined scaling of a growing hardware portfolio.

You will own ~40–50% of the mechanical organization’s active projects and lead ~25 direct and indirect reports, with scope expected to grow. Your teams will oversee multiple core subsystems that are tightly coupled and reliability-critical.

Success requires both deep mechanical intuition and strong organizational leadership. You will strengthen technical rigor, improve prioritization across 50+ active efforts, and build execution systems that allow the organization to scale without sacrificing engineering excellence.

Requirements

• 18+ years delivering complex industrial or energy hardware
• Experience in high-volume, at-scale environments
• Leadership of 15–30+ engineers (direct + indirect)
• Strong judgment around technical and program risk
• Ability to balance architecture evolution with production realities
• Management experience required; Director title not mandatory
• Senior-level design credibility to lead experienced engineers

Responsibilities

• Leadership of ~25 engineers (direct and indirect), including managers
• 40–50% of the mechanical project portfolio
• Accountability for multiple core subsystems
• Early identification and mitigation of subsystem and program-level risks
• Strong engineering review discipline (FMEA, DVP&R, tolerance analysis, ECO governance)
• Partnership with Manufacturing and Supplier Quality to support at-scale production
• Development of future engineering leaders

Benefits

• Along with the base salary, Mainspring offers pre-IPO stock options + benefits.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed