Renewable Energy, Environmental Services, Energy Consulting

Technical Project Lead

El Segundo, CAOnsiteFull TimeLead$175,000–$225,000 /yrPosted 15 days agoVisa sponsorship available

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Required skills

supercritical CO₂ power plant
process design
FEED
construction
commissioning
first power
module arrival
first fire
process safety
HAZID

Nice to have

first-of-a-kind
new-technology scale-up
project execution
gas turbine
combined-cycle plants
high-pressure rotating equipment

Role summary

Arbor Energy is seeking a Technical Project Lead to manage the engineering and execution of their novel supercritical CO₂ power plant. This role requires deep process or power plant engineering expertise, starting with hands-on process design during FEED and progressing to on-site leadership through construction, commissioning, and first power. Responsibilities include owning the integrated technical execution plan, directing process design, leading long-lead procurement, managing contractors, and ensuring process safety. The ideal candidate has 8+ years of experience in plant engineering, owner's-side project execution, and strong fundamentals in process design and safety. Preferred qualifications include experience with first-of-a-kind technologies, specific CO₂ systems, and process simulation.

About Us

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.

Role Overview

We're looking for a Technical Project Lead to drive the engineering and execution of Arbor's first-of-a-kind supercritical CO₂ power plant, from front-end engineering through construction, commissioning, and first power. Arbor acts as its own integrator, so this is an engineer's role first: someone with deep roots in process or power plant engineering who understands every dependency on a project and knows when to deploy each part of the team. You'll start hands-on authoring plant-level process design during FEED, then shift toward integration and field leadership, on site from module arrival through first fire before handing the plant to its operations team. This is a long-term leadership track: lead that plant through first fire, carry that experience into the first commercial project, then grow into a broader leadership role as the fleet expands. You'll work closely with the project manager and with turbomachinery, combustion, controls, electrical, and test engineers to deliver the plant that proves carbon-neutral baseload power at scale.

Responsibilities

Own the integrated technical execution plan: map dependencies across disciplines, permitting, and procurement, and sequence work by what each decision actually needs.

Author or direct plant-level process design (PFDs, heat and material balances, P&IDs, relief and utility design), integrating Arbor's core technology with balance-of-plant systems.

Identify critical-path equipment early and lead long-lead procurement: specifications, bid evaluations, vendor design reviews, and factory acceptance tests.

Scope, select, and manage engineering firms, fabricators, and construction contractors; review their work in depth and own the interfaces between packages.

Lead process safety (HAZID, HAZOP/LOPA, PSSR) and build constructability, modularization, and commissioning sequence into the design from the start.

Be the on-site technical authority from module integration through first fire and shakedown, resolving field issues with design authority alongside the construction manager and plant operations team.

Partner with project management and supply chain on estimates, schedule, and contracting strategy, and carry lessons into standardized designs for the units that follow.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Chemical, Mechanical, or related Engineering field.

8+ years of experience in process or power plant engineering, including carrying at least one pilot, demonstration, or commercial facility from front-end design through commissioning and startup with significant time on site.

Strong process engineering fundamentals—heat and material balances, P&IDs, equipment specification, relief design, HAZOP/LOPA—and working knowledge of ASME B31.3, BPVC Section VIII, and API 520/521.

Enough breadth across mechanical, electrical, controls, and civil disciplines to spot cross-discipline dependencies and critically review others' work.

Owner's-side experience directing engineering firms, vendors, and contractors, with a well-formed point of view on how contracting strategy and sequencing drive project cost and schedule.

Based anywhere in the U.S. near a major airport; no relocation required. Expect about 10 days a month of travel during engineering (headquarters and our engineering partner's office) and up to three weeks in four on site from module arrival through first fire, roughly eight months per plant.

Strong ownership mentality and sound judgment with incomplete information in a small, dynamic team.

Preferred Qualifications

First-of-a-kind or new-technology scale-up experience where you carried both process design and project execution.

Experience with gas turbine or combined-cycle plants, high-pressure rotating equipment, air separation, CO₂ compression, or supercritical CO₂ systems.

Experience with owner-integrated, EPCM, multi-package, or modular execution as alternatives to lump-sum EPC.

Operations or commissioning roots in a PSM-covered process facility or power plant.

Process simulation (Aspen HYSYS, Aspen Plus) and scripting (Python, MATLAB) skills.

Benefits & Compensation

Pre-IPO stock options

Medical, dental, and vision insurance (Arbor covers 90% for employees)

Basic life insurance fully covered

Health savings account (HSA) with matching

Flexible savings account (FSA)

Unlimited PTO

12+ company holidays, including Earth Day!

401(k)

Commuter benefits

Annual learning and development stipend

And more!

Base Pay: $175,000 - $225,000 USD/year. The salary is subject to the applicant's skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location.

Our Commitment

Arbor Energy is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. Solving global energy challenges requires a wide range of perspectives and experiences, and we are committed to building a team that reflects the world we serve.

Our hiring process is designed to be accessible, fair, and focused on the work that matters most for this role. Reasonable accommodations are available throughout the hiring process and employment—please let us know if you need one.

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