Senior Development Engineer (80-100%)

• Collector Concepts Development: As part of the Concepts & Innovation team, you invent, design, and develop new CO₂ collector system architectures that integrate sorbent and process requirements into practical, manufacturable equipment. 

• Prototyping: You prototype and test your concepts and sub-systems, taking a hands-on approach from early proof of concept to final acceptance testing. You design and execute experiments to validate concepts, troubleshoot issues, and optimize designs. 

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: You work closely with our in-house sorbent and process experts, as well as system engineers, to align material and process properties with mechanical implementation. By developing a deep understanding of sorbent and process performance, you invent new ways of implementing them into collectors. You contribute to the scale-up from lab to pilot to industrial scale, balancing performance, reliability, and CAPEX. You also collaborate with the Industrialisation team on detailed engineering, manufacturing, compliance, and scaling, creating a strong feedback loop that ensures innovative concepts evolve into robust, market-ready equipment. 

• Stakeholder & Project Management: You document designs, learnings, and failures to accelerate the team’s innovation cycle. 

• Intellectual Property: You keep a close eye on the industry state of the art and actively contribute to generating new intellectual property. 

• Engineering: You contribute to the scale-up of collectors from lab to pilot to industrial scale, balancing performance, reliability, and CAPEX. You collaborate with the Industrialisation team responsible for detail engineering, manufacturing, compliance, and scaling. You create a strong feedback loop to ensure that innovative concepts evolve into robust, manufacturable, and market-ready equipment. 

• Stakeholder & Project Management: You drive efficient collaboration within the team and across functions and ensuring alignment, managing both technical and non-technical risks, and setting clear priorities. You document designs, learnings, and failures to accelerate the team’s innovation cycle.  

• Education & Engineering Expertise: Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering, or a related field; advanced degree preferred. At least 7 years of experience in equipment development, ideally with systems involving steam, vacuum, and thermal management. Strong expertise in industrial equipment design, prototyping, and testing. 

• Approach to Innovation: Hands-on experience in building and validating lab-scale or pilot-scale hardware. Proven track record of innovation and rapid prototyping, with the ability to creatively solve engineering challenges under uncertainty. 

• Technical Knowledge: In-depth knowledge of detail design, design-for-manufacture, industrialisation, and scaling hardware concepts from lab to industrial applications. Proficiency in CAD software (preferably SolidWorks) for designing parts and systems. Familiarity with sorbents, adsorption/desorption processes, or thermal separation technologies is considered a plus. 

• Communication & Teamwork: Comfortable working in multidisciplinary teams, bridging material science, process engineering, mechanical design, and industrialisation. Strong communication skills with an entrepreneurial mindset and a fail-fast, learn-fast approach. 

Our promise: At Climeworks, you are accepted for who you are, and we are committed to building an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued. We encourage all qualified applicants to apply – regardless of background, identity, or experience. Studies show that women and individuals from minority backgrounds often only apply for jobs when they meet 100% of the listed criteria. If this sounds like you, don’t hold back. If you think you’d make a great fit for this role, we’d love to hear from you, even if you don’t check every single box. Let’s tackle one of humankind’s greatest challenges together. 

What we offer: 

• Time Off: Enjoy 25 paid vacation days every year, plus public holidays. 

• Flexibility: Work how it suits you best. We offer a hybrid work setup and up to 4 weeks of remote work annually within any EU country. 

• Ownership: Fair base pay paired with an equity package – because your contributions matter. 

• Family Support: Inclusive parental leave. 

• Continuous Learning: Dedicated budget to invest in your professional growth. 

• Referral Rewards: Help us grow our team and earn bonuses for your successful referrals. 

Salary: At Climeworks, salary ranges are assigned to a job based on the level of seniority and the location specific market median of similar jobs according to external benchmark surveys. Individual compensation depends on your skills, experience, and the value you bring to the team. 

Formalities:  

• This position is based in Zurich, and we ask that you work onsite at least three days per week. 

• The percentage in the job title means flexibility – choose full-time or part-time based on what works for you. 

• We do not accept candidate profiles through recruitment agencies. 

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