Sr. Mechanical Design Engineer

Antora Energy delivers affordable, reliable energy to industry, data centers, and the grid. Our thermal batteries turn low-cost electricity into always-on heat and power, without supply-constrained critical minerals or multi-year construction timelines. We are growing our company with people who put team and mission first, value connection through laughter and joy, and work with humility and openness. We are committed to building a diverse, passionate, and creative team dedicated to a future powered by abundant, clean, low-cost energy.

Position Summary

Antora is scaling production while preparing the newest generation of our product and a new gigafactory to build it in. We are looking for an engineer who can take a product concept and carry it all the way to a running process: define the build sequence, design the process, stations, and custom tooling that enable it, develop the work instructions, and integrate it all on the floor, working closely with design engineering, production, and the technicians who build with what they create. What sets this role apart is the design bar. You will personally design, analyze, and release the fixtures, workcells, and safety-critical lifting and handling equipment that production runs on: working from first principles, with hand calculations and FEA carrying designs from load path through proof load. The tooling and processes you design will set production rates, enable new product launches, and shape the next-generation build process before the factory around it is committed.

Roles & Responsibilities

Design the next-generation tooling, equipment, and production process

• Lead process, tooling, and workcell design for your subsystems, carrying designs from requirements and concept through structural analysis, detailed design, release, fabrication, and proof load
• Partner with design engineering to define the build sequence from the product concept
• Review product designs early, from concept reviews onward, and drive manufacturability into them before designs harden
• Develop the associated work instructions and PFMEAs

Support the new gigafactory launch

• Translate the production process into facility requirements: layout, material flow, workstation footprints, and tooling and equipment needs
• Partner with factory planning and capital equipment owners through launch

Own station scope and strengthen the current line

• Own your stations through production support and as products evolve through new versions
• Develop and integrate production test processes and rigs: implement design-defined test requirements on the line while maintaining takt, line balance, and rework access
• Share in the team's standing work: EVT build support, process plan and work instruction releases, change incorporation, issue triage and root cause, tooling upkeep, and equipment commissioning
• Improve safety through partnership with production and EH&S

Contribute to Antora's culture

• Put team and mission first
• Invite critique early and treat feedback as material that strengthens the work
• Be someone technicians and engineers want building next to them

Key Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent practical experience

• 7+ years in manufacturing, NPI, or equipment design engineering, including personally designing tooling and equipment for a production environment. Exceptional candidates with 5+ years and a deep design record will be considered

• Proven ability to take products from concept to build sequence to running process, with designs carried through detailed design, GD&T, and formal change control

• First-principles structural design capability: FEA verified by hand calculations, with sound judgment on loads, load paths, and factors of safety, especially for safety-critical lifting and handling equipment

• Proficiency in 3D CAD (SolidWorks preferred), and hands-on fluency with machining, welding, and sheet metal well enough to design for them

• Grounded in DFM, lean manufacturing principles, and PFMEA and work instruction development

• Strong cross-functional collaborator, decisive with incomplete information, and comfortable in a fast-moving startup environment

• Ability to travel domestically as needed, up to approximately 25% during factory launch periods, with typical travel expected to be significantly lower

Additional Qualifications Desired

• Experience designing ground support equipment, heavy handling fixtures, test systems, or custom production machines
• Experience with welding process development or qualification: procedure development, weld DOE, mechanized or robotic welding systems
• Experience specifying, integrating, or commissioning automated production equipment and custom machinery, vendor built or in house
• Experience launching a new factory or production line from the ground up, including capital equipment specification and vendor-built tooling
• Experience developing production test systems and validation methods
• Experience with MES/PLM systems, BOM structuring, and formal change management in a production environment
• Experience with battery, energy storage, or other thermally or electrically demanding hardware products

Work Location: Onsite - San Jose, CA Salary Range: $142,000 USD - $190,000 USD Salary Basis: Annual Please note that the salary range listed above reflects Antora Energy's estimated pay for this position. The actual salary offered will be within the posted range and determined based on several factors including but not limited to a candidate's experiences, credentials and expertise, as they pertain to the position's requirements. In addition to a competitive base salary, Antora Energy’s Total Rewards program includes equity compensation in the form of stock options, a premium health benefits package with life and disability insurance, a 401K plan with employer contributions, flexible spending accounts, and an industry leading paid-time-off policy that features flexible and inclusive holiday observance, as well as paid volunteer time off. #LI-Onsite When it comes to stopping climate change, we need everyone. We believe that having a diversity of backgrounds and experiences strengthens all of us, and we strive to create an environment where every one of us is empowered to create meaningful change.