---
title: 'Sr. Test Engineer (Gasification R&D) at Arbor Energy'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/sr-test-engineer-gasification-r-d-arbor-energy-san-bernardino-2c90a34d814n'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-11'
---

# Sr. Test Engineer (Gasification R&D) at Arbor Energy

- **Company:** Arbor Energy
- **Location:** San Bernardino, CA
- **Posted:** 2026-05-23
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-11
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/arborenergy/jobs/4258151009

## Job description

## About Us

At Arbor Energy & Resources Corporation ("Arbor Energy"), we’re creating technology to power our lives while protecting the planet that sustains them.  Our advanced power systems deliver clean, reliable baseload electricity with zero operating emissions—modular, fuel-flexible, and engineered for the realities of today’s energy demand. At the core is a supercritical CO₂ turbine with integrated carbon capture, designed to bring carbon-neutral power online quickly at meaningful scale.

Our team includes aerospace engineers, combustion experts, and systems thinkers with a shared goal: to build technology worthy of the world we want to live in. While many of us began our journeys looking to the stars, we’re applying that expertise here at home to deliver dependable, emission-free baseload power and a future of lasting abundance.

If you share our values and are drawn to rigorous work with lasting impact, we’d love to learn more about you. Come build what the future will run on.

Steward our planet: We build for tomorrow, ensuring every bolt we tighten and every hand we lend leaves our environment stronger than we found it.

Lead with Love: We champion the success of our people, partners, and planet, nurturing excellence through camaraderie and rigor.

Explore the Uncharted: We embrace the unknown with curiosity, using courage and discipline to transform uncertainty into opportunity.

## Role Overview

We’re seeking a Sr. Test Engineer to envision, build, and operate the test campaigns that drive Arbor’s high-pressure gasification R&D program forward. The program runs at conditions never before attempted at any scale—a first-of-a-kind, fouling-, plugging-, and erosion-prone service that demands test hardware and instrumentation engineered to survive it. You’ll lead the design, build, instrumentation, and operation of the test stand, working closely with gasifier reactor engineers and Arbor’s Systems Engineering team to turn ambitious campaign objectives into safely executed tests and trustworthy data. This role rewards an engineer who moves fast with loose guidance and tenaciously drives open questions to resolution; as Arbor’s R&D priorities evolve, you’ll bring the same test-engineering rigor to programs across the company. It’s hands-on, high-stakes work at the frontier of carbon-negative baseload power.

This is an onsite opportunity in our San Bernardino, CA test site.

## Responsibilities

- Lead test-stand development from concept to ready-to-run—design, procure, build, instrument, and commission the fluid, mechanical, and control hardware needed to test high-pressure, high-temperature gasification systems.
- Design instrumentation, sampling, and flow-control hardware that survives particulate-laden, erosive, fouling service—purged pressure taps, protected thermocouples, syngas sample lines, and hot control valves that stay alive and trustworthy through a full campaign.
- Automate test operations and implement safe, repeatable abort and interlock logic for high-energy test sequences.
- Direct test execution—campaign planning, startup and shutdown sequencing, on-site operation, and real-time decision-making.
- Partner with gasifier reactor engineers and Arbor’s Systems Engineering team to translate campaign objectives into executable test plans, P&IDs, and operating procedures.
- Troubleshoot hardware, instrumentation, and control issues to root cause; drive corrective actions through to verified resolution and feed lessons into the next test.
- Develop and maintain test-site procedures and operating practices, ensure compliance with safety standards, and participate in process hazard analyses (PHA/HAZOP) as the program evolves.

## Requirements

- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Chemical, or related Engineering field.
- 5+ years of hands-on test-engineering experience—system testing, validation, or commissioning—with meaningful time spent building and operating test stands.
- Direct experience with high-pressure gas systems and high-temperature systems, including the hardware, instrumentation, and safety practices they demand.
- Strong instrumentation, sensor integration, and data acquisition skills—a track record of getting reliable measurements out of difficult service and turning test data into clear findings.
- Highly self-directed—able to take a broad goal, operate with minimal oversight, and drive the details to resolution without waiting to be steered.
- Strong ownership mentality and a curious, inventive mindset suited to a small, fast-paced startup environment.
- Willingness and ability to work on-site at Arbor’s test facility in San Bernardino, CA.

## Preferred Qualifications

- Direct experience with gasification, slag-forming or oxy-fuel combustion, refractory-lined reactors, FCC, coker, ash- or solids-handling, or other dirty, high-temperature, fouling-prone systems.
- Hands-on operating experience in a pilot plant, test stand, national lab pilot program, or aerospace test cell environment.
- Proficiency with Python, MATLAB, or similar for data reduction; experience with PLCs, control systems, and industrial sensors.
- Experience with supercritical CO₂ or other high-pressure (100+ bar) systems.
- Familiarity with relevant industry standards (ASME, API) and test-site safety practice.
- Background in startup, R&D, or first-of-a-kind hardware development environments.

## Compensation & Benefits

- Pre-IPO stock options
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance (Arbor covers 90% for employees)
- Basic life insurance fully covered
- Health savings account (HSA) with matching
- Flexible savings account (FSA)
- Unlimited PTO
- 12+ company holidays, including Earth Day!
- 401(k)
- Commuter benefits
- Annual learning and development stipend
- And more!

Base Pay: $150,000 - $175,000 USD/year. The salary is subject to the applicant's skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location.

Our Commitment

Arbor Energy is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. Solving global energy challenges requires a wide range of perspectives and experiences, and we are committed to building a team that reflects the world we serve.

Our hiring process is designed to be accessible, fair, and focused on the work that matters most for this role. Reasonable accommodations are available throughout the hiring process and employment—please let us know if you need one.

## About Arbor Energy

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Arbor Energy builds advanced, zero-emission baseload power systems using aerospace-derived oxy-combustion and supercritical CO₂ technology.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A, 2025)
- **Headquarters**: El Segundo, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2022
- **Founders**: Brad Hartwig (CEO/Co-Founder), Alicia Harmon O’Meara (COO), Andres Garcia-Clark (CTO/Co-Founder)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Clean baseload power generation / Renewable energy
- **Target customers**: Utilities, industrial facilities, and large-scale energy buyers (B2B / Enterprise)
- **Mission statement**: “Human ambition in harmony with the planet” – delivering dependable, emissions-free baseload power at the scale the world requires.

## Products & Services
- **HALCYON (Product)**: Compact 25 MW turbine system combining oxy-combustion with a supercritical CO₂ power cycle. It provides firm, always-on baseload electricity with zero operating emissions. Fuel‑flexible (natural gas today; carbon‑negative fuels in the future) and designed for rapid deployment (under two years from contract to grid power). Systems can be linked into 100 MW+ plants. *(SaaS/Software? No – it’s a physical power system)*
- **ATLAS (Pilot)**: 1 MW test facility (built 2025) used to validate turbomachinery and system integration.
- **Carbon removal**: The process inherently captures and stores CO₂, enabling permanent carbon removal credits (e.g., agreements with Microsoft and Frontier).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly available (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding raised – **$109.5 million** (as of 2025)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Gigascale Capital, Voyager Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Cantos Ventures, U.S. Department of Energy, Microsoft, Frontier
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Named to *Fast Company*’s “Most Innovative Companies” (2026, sustainability category) and “Next Big Things in Tech” (2024)
  - *TIME*’s “Best Inventions of 2024”
  - Won the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Carbon Negative Shot” award (2024)
  - Signed a multi‑year carbon removal agreement with Microsoft and a $41 million offtake agreement with Frontier (2025)
  - Headcount grew 37.5% year‑over‑year to 52 employees; 9,118 LinkedIn followers (+56.8% YoY)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Aerospace DNA**: Founded by engineers from SpaceX, Blue Origin, and other rocket‑building teams – bringing high‑performance turbomachinery and systems engineering to clean energy.
- **Proprietary technology**: Oxy‑combustion + supercritical CO₂ cycle achieves high thermal efficiency in a small footprint, with zero emissions and low water use.
- **Speed & modularity**: Can go from contract to grid power in under two years; 25 MW modules scale to 100 MW+ plants quickly.
- **Integrated carbon removal**: Inherent CO₂ capture gives the company a dual revenue stream (power + carbon credits).

## Strategic Focus
- Accelerate pilot testing and development of HALCYON toward first commercial power in 2028.
- Scale manufacturing and secure additional offtake agreements.
- Expand fuel flexibility to run on carbon‑negative feedstocks (e.g., organic waste).
- Continue hiring across engineering, supply chain, and operations to support rapid growth.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: “Serious engineering, real responsibility, and problems worth solving.” Values include “Explore the uncharted,” “Lead with love,” and “Steward our planet.”
- **Work environment**: On‑site roles in El Segundo, CA (HQ) and San Bernardino, CA (test site). Not remote/hybrid based on current job listings.
- **Benefits**:
  - Equity grants and refreshes tied to impact
  - Medical, dental, vision (majority of costs covered for employee and family)
  - Unlimited PTO plus company holidays and year‑end winter break
  - Annual learning stipend ($?)
  - 401(k) and legal assistance
- **Team**: 52 employees (2025); strong technical team with 41% in engineering. Many hires from SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rivian, and other advanced hardware companies.

## Sources
1. [arbor.co – Company page](https://arbor.co/company/)
2. [arbor.co – Main site](https://arbor.co/)
3. [arbor.co – Careers page](https://arbor.co/careers/)
4. [Greenhouse – Arbor Energy jobs](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/arborenergy/jobs/4236174009)
5. [LinkedIn – Arbor Energy](https://www.linkedin.com/company/arborenergy)

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