Chief Hydrogen Engineer
ZeroAvia, United States
Job Description
ZeroAvia is a leader in zero-emission aviation, flying the world’s largest hydrogen-electric aircraft since September 2020. Our focus is the design and commercialization of hydrogen-powered aviation solutions to address a variety of markets. We work with leading airports, utilities, fuel service providers, and technology partners and we are building the future today.
ZeroAvia’s powertrain development focuses on tightly integrating H2 fuel cell power systems and storage, along with electric drivetrain components, to deliver a unified solution that is both environmentally friendly and economically superior to traditional aircraft drivetrain solutions.
Our Infrastructure Team is focused on supporting the decarbonization of airports through novel electrolytic operations and fueling transportation through liquid hydrogen. It is a small, highly talented, focused, and motivated team and we believe it will be possible to accelerate the productization of liquefaction, grid stabilization, and electrolyzer technologies within this decade.
We are seeking an experienced Chief Hydrogen Engineer to join our Infrastructure Team. This position involves close collaboration with product delivery, project management, and aircraft hydrogen teams, and plays a key role in driving hydrogen and energy infrastructure via a compelling use-case, namely airports as energy hubs, and aircraft as a primary off-taker. The successful candidate will possess excellent creative engineering skills, project management expertise, strong leadership qualities, and organizational abilities to oversee a diverse and expanding set of complex programs involving liquid hydrogen, gaseous hydrogen, and conversion technologies.
Although project sizes may be modest initially, we anticipate that they will become larger and more complex over the next 12-24 months, with multiple stakeholders and eventual scaling to multi-million dollar investments. Initially, this role will involve opportunities in the US, UK, and EU.
Responsibilities
- Lead the hydrogen infrastructure frontend engineering process: from concept and design, through execution and startup
- Design and integrate electrolyzers and liquid hydrogen or other cryogenic systems
- Evaluate chemical equipment and processes to optimize performance and ensure compliance with safety and environmental regulations
- Create measurement and control systems for hydrogen infrastructure based on data collection
- Manage the development, design, or construction of energy conservation projects to ensure the acceptability of budgets and timelines, conformance to federal and state laws, or adherence to approved specifications
- Assist in solving operating problems and confer with technical personnel to resolve design, research, and testing problems
- Hands-on approach scaling the team going forward with an emphasis on design, thermodynamic, and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) packages
Minimum Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities):
- 10+ years of experience in Process Chemical Engineering
- Master’s degree in science or engineering
- Possess expertise in process engineering, gas technology (bonus for H2), rotating equipment, maintenance/reliability, and power engineering
- Quantifiable ability to deliver results while working under pressure, with experience in various roles encompassing gas technologies, cryogenics, operations (such as refining or chemicals), and engineering
- Ability to come up the curve on H2 codes, standards, and best practices, which is a must
- Proficient in using ANSYS and SolidWorks (or similar software)
- Excellent interpersonal skills, as well as good written and oral communication skills
Preferred:
- Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering or equivalent
- Experience in building Liquid Hydrogen systems or other cryogenic systems is a bonus
- Have operational exposure to a variety of disciplines leading to design integration roles
- Expertise in process safety
Diversity and Inclusion
ZeroAvia is an equal-opportunity employer. As a young company in the aviation industry, we value diversity and need people of different backgrounds that bring many skills, perspectives, and mindsets to the table that can spur originality, imagination, and creativity. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.
The wage scale or salary range for this position is between $120,000 - $150,000. In addition to the foregoing base compensation, additional compensation and benefits are available to employees and eligible family members (as applicable) including the following:
- Bonus: An