Head of Engineering (Robotics, Controls, Hardware)

Arculus adapts yesterday's pipelines to transport tomorrow's energy.

Our SputteredPipe™ technology is an ultra-thin Al/Al₂O₃ multilayer coating, developed at MIT, applied to the internal surface of oil and gas pipelines. It lowers friction (lower OpEx, higher throughput), prevents corrosion, and makes pipe suitable for CO₂ transport and hydrogen blending. We apply it two ways: we coat new 40-ft pipe joints ourselves, in-house, and the autonomous SputterPig™ coats existing pipelines in place, with no excavation.

We are a small team in Alexandria, Virginia. We need an engineer who has built hardware that works outside the lab and wants to own the engineering of the company.

The role

You will lead the design, build, test and field deployment of the machines that apply our coating: an autonomous robot that travels inside live pipelines, and a coating system for new pipe. You will own the technical roadmap, set the architecture, and build the engineering team around you. This is the senior engineering seat of the company, and it can grow into Chief Technology Officer as we grow.

You will:

• Decide the mechanical, electrical, controls and software architecture of our machines, and build the first working versions yourself.
• Take prototypes from the bench to pilot runs in the field, and fix what breaks.
• Work with pipeline operators, research partners and testing labs, and represent the engineering side in technical meetings.
• Hire and lead the next engineers.

You must have

• At least 5 years of hands-on engineering: you have built electromechanical or robotic systems yourself, and at least one of them ran outside a lab.
• Depth in at least two of: mechatronics, controls and estimation, embedded systems, mechanical design for harsh environments, vacuum or thin-film process equipment.
• Experience taking a prototype to a deployed product or a field trial.
• Willingness to travel for work, often at short notice, including to field sites and test facilities (about 30 to 40% of the time).
• Willingness to work long, irregular hours when a test campaign or deployment demands it. This is a startup, and the schedule follows the work. We say so up front.
• Work onsite in Alexandria, Virginia, with travel.

Strong plus

• Pipeline, in-line inspection (pigging), or confined-space robotics.
• Sputtering, PVD, or other vacuum coating hardware.
• Experience leading a small technical team.
• Safety-critical or hazardous-area (explosive atmosphere) design experience.

What we offer

• A real technical leadership role with direct access to the CEO and the science behind the technology.
• Base salary of $120,000 to $150,000, depending on experience, plus equity of 0.3% to 0.5% of the fully diluted company, vesting over four years.
• Visa sponsorship is available.
• The chance to build the machines that retrofit the pipeline network for CO₂ and hydrogen.

How to apply

Email careers@arculus-solutions.com with your CV and a short note (a few lines) describing the hardest machine you have built and what broke first. Subject: "Head of Engineering application - your name". We reply within 3 business days.