Senior Microwave Engineer

At Aircapture we’re creating technology to solve what we believe to be our lifetime’s most pressing challenge: the climate crisis.  We supply commercial and industrial customers with clean CO2 captured from our atmosphere to radically improve the environment, our economy, and our lives. We value building a team of people who represent diverse backgrounds–be it through education, gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation–to reach our goals. Thank you for considering us.

Design the technology of our lifetime as a Senior Microwave Engineer at Aircapture! You will use your deep expertise in microwave technology to advance a cutting-edge approach to Direct Air Capture (DAC). This role is for someone who thrives on technical challenges, loves discovering solutions by doing, and is energized by working at the frontier of a genuinely new application of an established technology. If you are excited to have a major impact at a groundbreaking climate technology startup, we want to hear from you.

This role is onsite at our development and production facility in Berkeley, California.

Salary: $170,000-200,000 per year

What You’ll Do Here

• Innovate and solve technical challenges, leveraging your deep expertise in microwave, electrical, and mechanical systems to research and develop first-of-a-kind Microwave Direct Air Capture (MWDAC) technology
• Operate with equal command of simulation tools and physical experimentation—a rare combination that is essential to moving this technology forward
• Design novel high voltage and high power microwave heating systems from 1 kW to 100 kW across frequency ranges from 900 MHz to 3000 MHz
• Optimize MWDAC cavity and waveguide designs through simulation and modeling, then build and validate experimental test rigs and prototypes that advance R&D efforts
• Design and execute test plans and experimental protocols, collect and analyze data rigorously, and close the loop between simulation predictions and physical results
• Oversee microwave safety protocols and ensure safe operation of all MW systems in the lab environment
• Partner with a motivated, multidisciplinary team of engineers and scientists who are excited about this work and this mission

Your Skills and Abilities Include 

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or a related field with a focus on microwave technology
• Master’s or PhD preferred, or equivalent hands-on industry experience
• 5+ years of experience in R&D roles involving system design, simulation, hands-on experimental work, data collection and analysis, and iterative design refinement
• Deep expertise in RF and microwave engineering, including s-parameters, material permittivity, impedance matching, chamber modeling, and multimode and single-mode wave propagation
• Expert proficiency with industry-standard RF/microwave modeling software such as COMSOL or ANSYS HFSS (we use COMSOL), combined with a track record of validating models against physical experimental results. Proficiency with SolidWorks preferred
• Ability to design and execute test procedures, interpret experimental data, and translate findings into design improvements—working fluidly between the model and the lab
•  Knowledge of microwave safety standards and practices, including RF leakage detection, arc prevention, and high-voltage electrical safety
• Self-directed and resourceful: you identify what you need, make the case for it, find a way forward when the obvious path is blocked, and take full ownership of your projects without waiting to be directed
• Outstanding collaborative abilities: communicates proactively and directly across disciplines, receives feedback constructively, raises concerns through appropriate channels, and works effectively alongside mechanical, electrical, controls, and R&D colleagues

Aircapture strives to create a safe, inclusive, equitable and diverse workplace.  Every teammate adds to who we are, diversifying our ideas, experiences and viewpoints and makes us stronger. We hope you feel welcome here.