Energy Recovery

Energy recovery technologies for industrial fluids

Principal R&D Engineer

Design Engineering +1Posted on Nov 11

Full-timeRemote in IndiaNo salary listedRemote

About the Job

Requirements

A master's degree or higher in Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline and 10 or more years of relevant industry experience are required.
A demonstrated track record developing fluid machines or other high-pressure fluid equipment and taking at least two products from concept through validation and release to manufacturing is required.
Experience working with multinational teams across geographies and time zones is required.
Experience mentoring engineers or leading the technical work of others is required.
Proficiency with CAD packages such as SolidWorks, Onshape, Creo, NX, or CATIA is required.
Expertise with commercial finite element analysis and/or computational fluid dynamics tools such as ANSYS Mechanical, CFX/Fluent, or STAR-CCM+ is required.
The role requires demonstrated ability to lead technical work independently, prioritize across multiple projects, and make sound engineering decisions with limited direct supervision.
The candidate must be willing to work from ERI's India office once it is established; the role is remote until then.
Regular overlap with US Pacific time is required, typically 2–4 hours during the IST evening, with the in-office workday adjusted accordingly.
The position requires up to 10% travel, including international travel.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills are required.

Responsibilities

Serve as R&D technical lead on New Technology and New Product development projects involving fluid machines such as pressure exchangers, centrifugal and reciprocating pumps, turbines, and turbochargers.
Lead or participate in the full development cycle of fluid machines, including one-dimensional mechanical and hydraulic sizing, engineering analyses, detailed design and layout preparation, rotor-bearing system design or selection, seals and secondary flow paths, materials selection, validation test rig development, experimental validation, and release to manufacturing.
Apply design, modeling, testing, and materials expertise to solve complex technical problems and make engineering trade-offs.
Define validation test plans and work with US- and India-based teams to obtain high-quality data, confirm model predictions, and refine designs.
Collaborate daily across time zones with multinational, cross-functional teams in R&D, product engineering, manufacturing, quality, and business units.
Provide technical guidance and design review leadership to India-based engineers and help establish engineering best practices for the India team.
Follow ERI's structured, phase-gated development process, leading design reviews and documentation at each phase.
Contribute to the R&D technology roadmap and identify opportunities to expand ERI's product lines.
Perform other duties and projects as assigned.

Desired Qualifications

A PhD is desirable.
Expertise in a combination of mechanical design, geometric dimensioning and tolerancing fundamentals, stack-up analysis, analytical and computational modeling (finite element analysis, computational fluid dynamics, and one-dimensional modeling), testing and experimentation, and materials is strongly preferred.
Proficiency using artificial intelligence tools to accelerate engineering work, including research, scripting or automation, data analysis, and documentation, while verifying AI-generated results with sound engineering judgment, is a plus.
Experience designing and validating rotodynamic and reciprocating fluid machines such as pumps, turbines, and compressors is highly desirable.
Hands-on experience with testing and experimentation, sensors and transducers, controls, and data acquisition is highly desirable.
Familiarity with engineering standards such as HI, ASME, API, ANSI, and ISO is desirable.

Join Energy Recovery and Help Build a Sustainable Future

At Energy Recovery, we build products that help limit global temperature rise, reduce carbon emissions, provide safe drinking water for millions of people, and bring efficiency and sustainability to a range of industries. Our products help customers avoid approximately 19.7 million metric tons of carbon emissions per year -- equivalent to removing over 4.7 million cars from the road!

In addition to innovating world-class products that help our customers and the environment, our employees enjoy a diverse, collaborative work culture, as well as extensive company benefits that support the overall wellbeing of our staff. This includes everything from generous health plans and time off, paid family leave, subsidized lunches and company events, and opportunities for charitable giving and volunteering in the community.

What You Can Look Forward To:

ERII is seeking a qualified candidate for a full-time job opening for the position of Principal R&D Engineer, based in India, reporting to the Director, Product Design. The role will be a founding member of ERI’s India R&D team and will be remote until our India office is established.

The R&D department is a dynamic, global group of engineers and technicians with a wide range of backgrounds, several of them holding PhD and Masters degrees. We are looking for a talented and energetic Principal engineer who can thrive in a multi-national team environment and serve as a technical lead on R&D projects for New Technology and New Product development of fluid machinery in desalination, wastewater, and other industrial processes. The position requires a well-rounded expertise in development of fluid machines and other high-pressure fluid equipment, and a track record of taking products from concept through validation and release to manufacturing. A sound knowledge base in mechanics of fluids and solids is required. Experience across a combination of areas such as mechanical design, analytical & computational modeling, testing & experimental validation, and materials is strongly preferred. The candidate will work closely with R&D, product engineering and testing teams in the US and India to develop disruptive technologies and products based on our proprietary isobaric pressure exchangers. The position also requires strategic outlook for technology and products toward their commercial applications.

What You Will Do:

Serve as R&D technical lead on various New Technology and New Product development projects involving fluid machines such as pressure exchangers, centrifugal and reciprocating pumps, turbines, turbochargers etc.

Lead / participate in the entire development cycle of a fluid machine including 1-D sizing (mechanical & hydraulic), engineering analyses, detailed design & layout prep, design/selection of rotor-bearing systems, seals & secondary flow paths, materials selection, validation test rig development, experimental validation & release to manufacturing.

Apply a combination of design, modeling (FEA, CFD, 1-D system models), testing and materials expertise to solve complex technical problems and make sound engineering trade-offs.

Define validation test plans and work with US and India-based teams to obtain high quality data, confirm model predictions and refine designs.

Collaborate daily with multi-national, cross-functional teams across time zones, including R&D, product engineering, manufacturing, quality and business units.

Provide technical guidance and design review leadership to India-based engineers and help establish engineering best practices for the India team.

Follow ERI’s structured, phase-gated development process, leading design reviews and documentation at each phase.

Contribute to the R&D technology roadmap and identify opportunities to expand ERI's product lines.

Other duties and projects as assigned.

What You Bring to the Table:

Master's degree or higher in Mechanical Engineering (or related discipline) with 10+ years of relevant industry experience required. PhD desirable.

Demonstrated track record of developing fluid machines or other high-pressure fluid equipment, taking at least two products from concept through validation and release to manufacturing, required.

Experience working with multi-national teams across geographies and time zones required.

Experience mentoring engineers or leading technical work of others is required.

Proficiency in CAD packages such as SolidWorks/Onshape/Creo/NX/CATIA is required.

Expertise in commercial FEA and/or CFD tools such as ANSYS Mechanical, CFX/Fluent or STAR-CCM+ is required.

Proven expertise across a combination of areas such as mechanical design, strong GD&T fundamentals, stack-up analysis, analytical & computational modeling (FEA/CFD/1-D), testing & experimentation, and materials strongly preferred.

Proficiency in using AI tools to accelerate engineering work (e.g. research, scripting/automation, data analysis, documentation), with sound engineering judgment to verify AI-generated results, is a plus.

Experience with design and validation of rotodynamic & reciprocating fluid machines (pumps, turbines, compressors etc.) highly desirable.

Hands-on experience with testing and experimentation, sensors/transducers, controls/data acquisition highly desirable.

Familiarity with engineering standards such as HI/ASME/API/ANSI/ISO etc.

Demonstrated ability to lead technical work independently, prioritize across multiple projects, and make sound engineering decisions with limited direct supervision.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Must be willing to work from ERI's India office once it is established; the role will be remote until then.

Regular overlap with US Pacific time, typically 2-4 hours in the IST evening, in-office workday adjusted accordingly.

Position requires up to 10% travel, including international travel.

We are an EOE/AA employer committed to workforce diversity.

No recruiters or phone calls.

About the Company

Energy Recovery

Energy recovery technologies for industrial fluids

Energy Recovery designs and sells energy-recovery technologies for industrial fluid systems. Its products, including the PX Pressure Exchanger, Ultra PX, IsoBoost, and VorTeq, capture and reuse energy from high-pressure fluid streams to lower overall energy use and operating costs. The company serves multiple sectors such as desalination, industrial wastewater treatment, hydraulic fracturing, sour gas processing, and CO2 refrigeration, and it also offers licensing and long-term service agreements. What sets the company apart is its long history of deploying pressure-exchange technology and its portfolio of proprietary solutions that span different industries, not just desalination. The goal is to help customers reduce energy costs and environmental impact while delivering reliable, scalable energy-recovery solutions through direct sales, licensing, and services.

Company size: 201-500
Company stage: IPO
Headquarters: San Leandro, CA
Founded: 1992

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