Full-Time
Mechanical Engineering Manager
Product Design & Production
Posted on 9/5/2025
Fleetzero
11-50 employees
Electric cargo ships with autonomous operation
Compensation Overview
$135k - $225k/yr
Houston, TX, USA
In Person
 Mechanical Engineering (1) |
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- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field.
- 10+ years of mechanical engineering experience, including 3+ years in leadership roles.
- Experience in marine engineering, energy storage systems, or automotive preferred.
- Proficiency with design tools such as SolidWorks.
- Shop floor fluency (welding, cutting, turning, milling, additive mfg., etc.).
- Strong first-principles engineering knowledge, including a basic understanding of material properties, an understanding of practical physics, heat flow, and statics and mechanics.
- Proven leadership, project management, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
- Lead the Mechanical Engineering, shop, and production teams.
- Lead a highly capable team through the full lifecycle of marine mechanical systems from need identification, solution scoping, CAD design and modeling, prototype construction, testing and revisions cycles, production testing and revisions cycles, in-field testing, and production system development.
- Oversee design and testing of core ship systems, including propulsion battery modules, enclosures, thermal management, and structural vessel integration, cargo securing, lifting and hoisting, and other key marine equipment.
- Lead the team in developing and improving the production system, including robotic arms, laser welders, and robotic and manual assembly.
- Collaborate across electrical, marine, and software teams.
- Manage project timelines, resources, budgets, and supplier relationships.
- Support the opening of new production facilities.
- Any proficiency with robotics, programming, or electrical engineering
Fleetzero builds a fleet of electric cargo ships powered by a proprietary Marine Battery System to move goods in a cleaner way. They focus on smaller vessels built in domestic shipyards and designed to operate in regulated markets, enabling access to ports larger ships miss. The ships can operate autonomously, reducing crew and maintenance costs while allowing rapid battery upgrades as tech improves. The goal is to provide affordable, low-emission shipping without a green premium, transforming logistics toward sustainable, closer-to-market delivery.
Company Size
11-50
Company Stage
Series A
Total Funding
$59.6M
Headquarters
null
Founded
2021
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- $43M Series A from Obvious Ventures funds Houston facility to 3 GWh.
- Glosten partnership designs world's longest-range hybrid vessel.
- Tested on Pacific Joule, deployed globally on commercial ships.
What critics are saying
- Maersk Growth investment enables in-house propulsion in 12-24 months.
- LFP battery prices spike 30-50% erodes no-green-premium in 6-18 months.
- Wärtsilä undercuts pricing with superior supply chains in 12-24 months.
What makes Fleetzero unique
- Leviathan propulsion delivers 3.8 MWh in 25% container footprint.
- Battery swapping enables Pacific crossings with standard port gear.
- Modular hulls built economically in domestic US shipyards.
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Benefits
Company Equity
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↑ 15%1 year growth
↓ -7%2 year growth
↓ -5%Fleetzero, a marine technology company building hybrid and electric propulsion systems for ships, has raised $43 million in Series A funding led by Obvious Ventures. Maersk Growth and 8090 Industries joined as new investors, alongside existing backers including Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Y Combinator. The Houston-based startup will use the capital to expand manufacturing of its Leviathan propulsion system, which can be retrofitted onto existing vessels or installed in new ships. The company has opened a new manufacturing and R&D facility with initial capacity of 300 MWh per year, planning to scale to three GWh annually over five years. Fleetzero's system aims to reduce total ownership costs through maintenance and fuel savings whilst enabling marine autonomy. The company positions electrification as an opportunity to revitalise US shipbuilding.
Fleetzero, a developer and manufacturer of modular propulsion platforms for hybrid and electric ships, has selected Glosten, a Seattle-based naval architecture and marine engineering firm, to design what is expected to be the world's longest-range hybrid electric vessel.
Cost-effectively decarbonizing the shipping industry
Fleetzero is working to develop marine battery systems that offer higher density, low cost, and a high level of safety.
Birmingham, AL – According to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Fleetzero is raising $16,463,983.00 in new funding. Sources indicate as part of senior management President and Chief Executive Officer, Steven Henderson played a key role in securing the recent investment and it will aid in aggressively expanding the company, as well as broaden and accelerate product development. About Fleetzero