Senior Staff Thermo Mechanical Design Engineer
Amperesand· startup· Energy Technology· Sep 15, 2026 · 1mo ago
Reno, Nevada, United States · San Francisco, California, United States
Hybrid
Full-time
Staff
$145K–$209K est.
Job description
Company Overview
Amperesand is reinventing how the world powers its most critical systems.
We are facing a once-in-a-generation opportunity for infrastructure disruption. Electricity demand is skyrocketing, driven by AI factories, electric vehicles, and modern industrial growth. Energy supply is shifting to incorporate a more diverse mix of resources – including solar, gas, and batteries – at a massive scale.
And yet the power infrastructure behind our latest mega-projects hasn’t meaningfully changed in nearly 100 years. Supply chains for today’s infrastructure equipment can’t match the pace and sophistication of critical energy projects. Amperesand is building hardware and software that rewrites this broken power infrastructure playbook to support a new era of energy abundance.
We’ve built a new class of intelligent, software-defined power infrastructure products leveraging a decade of advanced medium voltage Solid State Transformer research that’s now ready for commercial deployment.
Our products and solutions go far beyond the capabilities of traditional electrical equipment. We make power systems that are faster to deploy, dramatically smaller and more efficient, and capable of supporting modern, dynamic energy needs for tomorrow’s most demanding energy consumers.
Scalable in-house advanced manufacturing capability is our foundation for meeting timeline and quality expectation to serve infrastructure customers around the world.
Amperesand is led by breakthrough energy hardware development veterans and funded by top tier investors who share our vision of building a category-defining energy technology company.
With hubs in San Francisco, Reno, and Singapore, our global team is laser focused on building foundational technology to solve the most pressing problems in power infrastructure at scale.
Join us in building the power foundation of the future! Role Summary
Amperesand is looking for a Senior Staff Thermo-Mechanical Design Engineer to play a key technical leadership role in developing its next-generation medium-voltage solid-state power conversion platform. This is a highly hands-on, end-to-end role where you’ll own the architecture of our complete thermal system—from architecture and concept selection, system sizing and modeling, CAD and detailed design, thermal CFD simulation, coolant and airflow routing, design for manufacturing and assembly, thermal system validation, and troubleshooting.
You’ll work closely with mechanical, electrical, manufacturing, quality, suppliers, and factory teams to design, develop, and build the best system for a novel application, solve problems that don’t have established answers, with the opportunity to own thermal design. Thermal performance is key to the overall performance of our solid-state power converter and a key differentiator for Amperesand. We are looking for someone with deep thermal system design expertise, system modeling, detailed design experience, and a track record of independently leading complex technical work and solving novel problems. We are not looking for someone who simply executes to a defined specification. The role can be based in Reno, San Francisco, or the South Bay.
What You’ll Do
Own the complete thermal system for Amperesand’s solid-state power conversion platform from architecture into mass-production.
Select the architecture of our next-generation thermal system to meet and exceed product-level requirements.
Concept selection for how to implement the selected architecture.
Model the thermal system performance across our operating conditions and mission profiles.
Detailed design of the thermal system components, including CAD, and thermal CFD.
Partner with the manufacturing and quality teams on DFM/DFA activities to ensure the thermal system design is manufacturable.
Prototyping and validation of the thermal system.
Problem solving anywhere and everywhere between architecture and start of production.
What You’ll Bring
Years of experience: 8+
Master’s or PhD in mechanical engineering or related field, BS with evidence of exceptional accomplishment
Thermal system design, mechanical design, CAE expertise
Demonstrated ability to deliver a thermal system and solve novel engineering problems
Hands-on testing and validation experience
Ability for technical leadership of 1-3 junior engineers working under you on the thermal system
Nice to Have
Experience with Catia 3DX
Experience with Siemens Amesim or similar
Familiarity with high-voltage design
How We Work
Employment Type: • Full-time Location: [San Francisco/ Sunnyvale / Reno] Work Model: • Onsite Travel Requirements: Travel to the factory in Reno during builds will be required, ~20% for 1-2mo/yr Onsite Collaboration Rationale: Given the highly collaborative and cross-functional nature of hardware, embedded systems, and product development, in-person partnership across engineering and product teams is critical to enabling rapid execution, technical alignment, and successful development outcomes.
Why Join Amperesand
Work on next-generation power infrastructure systems • High ownership and visibility • Cross-functional collaboration • Opportunity to shape future products and infrastructure • Fast-moving startup environment
Pay Disclosure & Benefits
Compensation will be determined based on experience, location, and other factors permitted by law.
The benefits outlined below apply exclusively to employees located in the United States.
Competitive Salary + Incentive Stock Options
Medical, vision, and dental benefits for employees and their dependents, effective from the start of hire
Company paid Basic Life, AD&D, short-term and long-term disability insurance
401k retirement savings plan through Empower
Employees receive paid time off (PTO), paid sick days, and paid company holidays
Commuter Benefits
100% paid maternal leave (12 weeks) and paternal leave (6 weeks)
Candidate Confidentiality & Information Protection
As part of our commitment to protecting confidential and proprietary information, candidates should not disclose or provide Amperesand with any confidential, proprietary, or trade secret information belonging to a current or former employer or any other third party during the application or interview process.
Please do not submit or present employer-owned source code, schematics, designs, technical documentation, internal presentations, customer information, prototypes, or other confidential materials. Candidates should discuss their experience and accomplishments at an appropriate level and use only information and materials they are authorized to share.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Amperesand is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information or characteristics, physical or mental disability, marital/domestic partner status, age, military/veteran status, medical condition, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Amperesand is also committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. Please let your recruiter know if you need an accommodation at any point during the interview process.
SF Pay Range $200,000 — $250,000 USD Reno Pay Range $170,000 — $210,000 USD Please note : This role requires working on-site 5 days a week. We do not offer hybrid or remote options.
While this role is listed for the location above, we may consider candidates in other locations on a case-by-case basis.
Onsite Collaboration Rationale:
Given the highly collaborative and cross-functional nature of hardware, embedded systems, and product development, in-person partnership across engineering and product teams is critical to enabling rapid execution, technical alignment, and successful development outcomes.
Why Join Amperesand
Work on next-generation power infrastructure systems
High ownership and visibility
Cross-functional collaboration
Opportunity to shape future products and infrastructure
Fast-moving startup environment
Pay Disclosure & Benefits
Compensation will be determined based on experience, location, and other factors permitted by law.
The benefits outlined below apply exclusively to employees located in the United States:
Competitive Salary + Incentive Stock Options
Medical, vision, and dental benefits for employees and their dependents, effective from the start of hire
Company paid Basic Life, AD&D, short-term and long-term disability insurance
401k retirement savings plan through Empower
Employees receive paid time off (PTO), paid sick days, and paid company holidays
Commuter Benefits
100% paid maternal leave (12 weeks) and paternal leave (6 weeks)
The benefits outlined below apply to employees located in Singapore :
Competitive Salary + Incentive Stock Options
Group medical, hospitalisation and surgical insurance, outpatient or GP coverage, group term life, dental and personal accident insurance
Employer and employee Central Provident Fund contributions in accordance with the CPF Act (for Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents)
Annual leave, paid sick leave, hospitalisation leave, and all Singapore public holidays, in line with or exceeding the Employment Act
Commuter Benefits
Government-paid maternity, paternity, shared parental, and childcare leave in accordance with prevailing Singapore statutory entitlements
Additional benefits may be available depending on the role and employment type. Benefits are subject to the terms of applicable company policies and plans.
Candidate Confidentiality & Information Protection
As part of our commitment to protecting confidential and proprietary information, candidates should not disclose or provide Amperesand with any confidential, proprietary, or trade secret information belonging to a current or former employer or any other third party during the application or interview process.
Please do not submit or present employer-owned source code, schematics, designs, technical documentation, internal presentations, customer information, prototypes, or other confidential materials. Candidates should discuss their experience and accomplishments at an appropriate level and use only information and materials they are authorized to share.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Amperesand is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information or characteristics, physical or mental disability, marital/domestic partner status, age, military/veteran status, medical condition, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Amperesand is also committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. Please let your recruiter know if you need an accommodation at any point during the interview process.
Application prep
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Keywords to mirror
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Benefits
Benefits detected in the listing.
Dental
Vision
401k
Pto
Paid Time Off