Process Development Engineer

COMPANY OVERVIEW Lydian is developing the lowest cost sustainable fuels from waste CO2, water, and renewable electricity to decarbonize the aviation industry. Our breakthrough technology replaces oil and gas refining with fully electrified, modular, and flexible reactor systems that produce fuel with 95% lower emissions than traditional jet fuel. Since our founding in 2021, Lydian has achieved key milestones in record time, including the production of our first liquid fuel from our pilot system, capable of producing ~10,000 gallons of fuel per year for a fraction of the capital and time of alternative approaches. Lydian is backed by top climate investors including Congruent Ventures, Galvanize Climate Solutions, Union Square Ventures, Voyager Ventures, Grok Ventures, and Overture. We are building a motivated, diverse, and collaborative team that is passionate about addressing the growing climate crisis and is committed to excellence in their work. In particular, we look for tenacious people who are energized by solving the hardest, highest impact problems that come their way. POSITION OVERVIEW We are looking for a Process Development Engineer to help bring a new ceramic production process in-house. Today, key steps in producing our ceramic components are split between external vendors and manual, still-maturing internal workflows. You will own much of the hands-on production of these assemblies today while designing and building the automated, repeatable process we will run in-house tomorrow. This is a hands-on role built for someone who wants to learn a process by doing it. For the first 6–12 months you will be on the floor performing the manual production work, developing deep intuition for what drives yield and reliability. In parallel, you will use that intuition to design and build fixtures, test stands, and automation (via CAD and hands-on fabrication) that make the process fast, repeatable, and ready to scale. Over time, your role shifts from running the process to engineering it. RESPONSIBILITIES - Own day-to-day production: Perform the full manual workflow for ceramics processing today including material prep, fixturing, joining, high-temperature thermal processing, and in-process quality control. Hitting build schedules while the process matures - In-house the process: Lead the transition of critical processes from external vendors to internal production. Map current vendor and manual workflows, identify what to bring in-house first, and stand up the equipment, fixtures, and procedures to run them reliably - Design test stands & fixtures: Design, build, and validate mechanical test stands, fixtures, and tooling for part and assembly characterization, taking them from CAD models and 2D drawings through hands-on fabrication and commissioning - Automate & instrument: Design and implement automation and automated data collection for the process, including upgrading measurement systems and building programmatic interfaces to test and process equipment - Define the long-term process: Translate what you learn on the floor into a scalable in-house process. Defining process parameters, work instructions, tooling, and in-process quality checks that make builds repeatable and yield predictable - Characterize & troubleshoot: Characterize sub-components and assemblies, run root-cause analysis on defects and yield loss, and drive measurable process improvements - Document & standardize: Write and maintain SOPs, calibrate measurement equipment, and manage inventory (stock, ordering, incoming QC, non-conformity) for the assemblies you produce - Build-Test-Learn: Foster a culture where every failure is documented and results in a concrete improvement to the process, tooling, or design QUALIFICATIONS - B.S. or M.S. in Mechanical, Materials, Chemical, or a related engineering field - 3+ years of hands-on experience in a manufacturing, process development, or hardware build environment - Demonstrated ability to take mechanical hardware (test stands, fixtures, or tooling) from concept and CAD through fabrication, assembly, and commissioning. You have personally designed and built working setups, not just specified them - Experience transferring a process from an external vendor or R&D setting into repeatable internal production - Proficiency in 3D CAD and the creation of clear 2D production drawings - Comfort doing hands-on production work in a lab or shop environment, including high-temperature processing, and a genuine willingness to run the manual process for the first 6–12 months to learn it deeply - Attention to detail in experimental design, execution, and documentation, including lab notebooks, data analysis, and technical reporting - Curiosity, proactiveness, being a team player, eagerness to learn, and a focus on quickly finding a path to results PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS - Experience with high-temperature materials (ceramics, superalloys, refractory materials, coatings) and joining processes such as brazing, bonding, or diffusion joining - Experience with high-temperature vacuum or furnace processes (thermal profiles, fixturing, atmospheres, yield troubleshooting) - Programming interfaces to measurement or process equipment for automated data collection (Python, LabVIEW); experience with PLCs, sensors, or motion control - Familiarity with materials characterization methods (microscopy, microstructural analysis, mechanical testing, oxidation/corrosion testing) - Hands-on fabrication skills: manual/CNC machining, welding, or 3D printing COMPANY CULTURE AND BENEFITS - Challenging, collaborative, and meaningful work and an important voice in company development - Competitive salary commensurate with experience - Meaningful equity compensation - Generous PTO allowing employees to take time off to rest, recharge, and enjoy life outside work - Excellent insurance with 100% of healthcare, vision, and dental premiums covered for the employee, and 80% coverage for dependents - 401(k) with company match