Engineering Manager - Turbomachinery

Arbor Energy•El Segundo, CA

8h•Onsite

About The Position

At Arbor Energy & Resources Corporation ("Arbor Energy"), we’re creating technology to power our lives while protecting the planet that sustains them. Our advanced power systems deliver clean, reliable baseload electricity with zero operating emissions—modular, fuel-flexible, and engineered for the realities of today’s energy demand. At the core is a supercritical CO₂ turbine with integrated carbon capture, designed to bring carbon-neutral power online quickly at meaningful scale. Our team includes aerospace engineers, combustion experts, and systems thinkers with a shared goal: to build technology worthy of the world we want to live in. While many of us began our journeys looking to the stars, we’re applying that expertise here at home to deliver dependable, emission-free baseload power and a future of lasting abundance. If you share our values and are drawn to rigorous work with lasting impact, we’d love to learn more about you. Come build what the future will run on. Steward our planet: We build for tomorrow, ensuring every bolt we tighten and every hand we lend leaves our environment stronger than we found it. Lead with Love: We champion the success of our people, partners, and planet, nurturing excellence through camaraderie and rigor. Explore the Uncharted: We embrace the unknown with curiosity, using courage and discipline to transform uncertainty into opportunity. We are seeking a hands-on Turbomachinery Engineering Manager to lead the design, development, and delivery of rotating equipment for next-generation energy systems. This role requires a technically deep leader who thrives in a fast-paced, resource-constrained environment and is comfortable owning both the engineering details and team execution. You will lead a small-to-mid-sized team responsible for turbomachinery development—from early concept through detailed design, build, test, and productization. Arbor’s team of world-class engineers and scientists are developing a scalable, low-cost approach to Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) based on modern rocket engine technology. BECCS is a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) approach that uses biomass to produce energy and remove CO₂ from the atmosphere and store it permanently underground, while ensuring food security, rural livelihoods, and biodiversity are not affected. Our modular technology leverages the power density of supercritical CO2 to enable compact gasification, oxy-combustion, and high-pressure turbo-expansion to convert abundant waste biomass into clean electricity, water, and high-purity CO2, capturing and sequestering all emissions from the process. Our team brings together a passion for science, technology, and global stewardship to make low-cost, high-quality carbon removal and baseload power a reality.

Requirements

10–15+ years of experience in turbomachinery or rotating equipment (e.g., compressors, turbines, pumps, expanders)
Proven experience managing and developing engineering teams (minimum 3–5 direct reports)
Demonstrated track record of bringing hardware products from concept through testing and into production
Strong background in at least one core discipline (aero, thermal, mechanical, or rotordynamics), with working knowledge across others
Experience working in hands-on hardware environments (build, test, iterate)
Ability to operate effectively in a “scrappy” environment with limited resources and evolving processes
Strong systems thinking and ability to interface across multiple engineering functions

Nice To Haves

Experience in small teams, startups, or skunkworks-style programs
Background in high-speed turbomachinery, novel cycles (e.g., sCO₂, hydrogen), or tightly integrated systems
Familiarity with design for manufacturability and supplier engagement
Experience setting up or scaling engineering processes in a growing organization
Prior ownership of a turbomachinery module or full machine

Responsibilities

Lead, grow, and manage a turbomachinery engineering team (typically 5–15 engineers across disciplines such as aero, thermal, mechanical, and rotordynamics)
Own the end-to-end development of rotating equipment, including compressors, turbines, and supporting systems
Drive product development from concept through validation and release, ensuring performance, cost, and schedule targets are met
Provide technical leadership across key areas: aerodynamics, heat transfer, structural/mechanical design, rotordynamics, and clearances
Establish and maintain design processes, technical rigor, and documentation practices (e.g., design reviews, analysis workflows, validation plans)
Work cross-functionally with systems, combustion, controls, manufacturing, and test teams to ensure successful integration
Support hardware build, test execution, and troubleshooting—this is not a purely desk-based role
Mentor and develop engineers, setting clear expectations while fostering a high-performance, ownership-driven culture
Balance speed and rigor—making pragmatic decisions in an environment without large-company support structures