Senior Mechanical Engineer - Thermophotovoltaic Hardware & Manufacturing

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.

You will own the design, sourcing, and manufacturing of the structural and thermal hardware interfacing with Antora's thermophotovoltaic (TPV) modules. Our Heat-to-Power team builds TPV heat engines that convert stored high-temperature radiant heat into electricity, and we need an engineer who can turn our working TPV assembly into a product we can build reliably at low cost. Your first project is designing, prototyping, and testing our next-generation TPV assembly: large extruded cold plates with removable TPV modules on direct bonded copper (DBC) substrates. After that, you will carry each new generation of TPV hardware into production by building our supplier base, driving DFM and cost-down, and improving performance and reliability. You will partner with our architecture lead, who owns system concept and analysis, and work closely with thermal, electrical, and test engineers at our R&D facility.

Roles & Responsibilities

• Own the mechanical design of TPV hardware from concept through production release.

• Design, prototype, and test our next-generation TPV assembly, including large extruded aluminum cold plates and a reversible attachment for DBC-based TPV modules.

• Frame thermal simulation requests for our thermal engineers (the question, inputs, boundary conditions, and the decision each result informs), and run first-order thermal models yourself to screen options before committing to hardware.

• Use AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, or similar) throughout the work, from supplier packages and cost models to analysis scripts and first-order thermal models.

• Produce release-ready detailed drawings with GD&T and tolerance stack-ups, and set the standard for drawing quality on TPV hardware.

• Build and manage our supplier base of machine shops, extruders, and fabricators: run RFQs, evaluate capability and cost, manage lead times, own first-article inspection and supplier quality issues.

• Drive DFM/DFA and cost-down: own the BOM and cost model, and reduce part count, assembly steps, and failure points such as coolant connections.

• Get hardware built through hands-on prototyping, assembly, and fixture design.

• Plan and run thermal, pressure, leak, and reliability tests with our test team to qualify designs.

• Carry each new generation of TPV hardware into production, including sourcing, qualification, and continuous improvement.

• Document designs, assembly procedures, and inspection criteria so hardware can be built and serviced repeatedly.

Key Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional mechanical engineering experience, including hardware you carried from prototype into production.

• Deep, practical knowledge of manufacturing processes such as CNC machining, extrusion, brazing, welding, and sheet metal, and of what drives cost, lead time, and yield.

• Extensive direct work with machine shops, fabricators, and contract manufacturers: RFQs, supplier selection, first-article inspection, and resolving quality issues.

• Expert at release-ready detailed drawings, including GD&T and tolerance stack-up analysis.

• Proficient in 3D CAD and PDM/PLM release workflows.

• Hands-on