Mechanical Engineering Intern

About Charm

Charm Industrial is a venture-backed startup in San Francisco with a mission to reverse climate change and return the atmosphere to 280ppm CO2. While we are constantly searching for impactful ways to accomplish this, we have uncovered an initial path we are excited about pursuing. First, we convert waste biomass into a carbon-containing fluid called bio-oil. Then, we inject the bio-oil into permanent, underground storage wells as negative emissions, or reform it to produce green hydrogen for fuels and industrial chemicals, or to produce syngas for green steel production. 

We’re designing and building these modular, chemical plants in-house. We are almost three years in, and have developed several iterations of the technology that we are looking to commercialize this year! Our carbon removal efforts have similarly received some great initial traction, with partners like Stripe, Shopify and Microsoft purchasing our first negative emissions and help us move down the cost curve!  To help with this effort we're looking to expand our team of creative and hands-on engineers, fabricators, and forward-thinking humans. Come help us make our bold plans come to life! 

About Your Team

You’ll be joining a small team of kind people who value psychological safety and collaboration. We discuss our problems openly as a team, review each other's work across disciplines, and help each other to build, test, and grow. We believe that our company can only do our best work if everyone feels comfortable asking questions and sharing their ideas. We don’t sweep mistakes under the rug or hold them against people; instead, we pin them to the wall and learn from them. 

We encourage each other to bring our whole selves to work each day. We value how everyone’s unique backgrounds and perspectives shape our designs. We believe whether you respect and trust your teammates is more important than whether you have ‘single-handedly saved your organization from catastrophe on no less than three occasions.’ 

We value sustainability both in the natural environment and in the workplace; we know rest and work-life balance is important for productivity and health! That said, the urgency of the climate crisis is upon us, and we don't have time to waste. So we hope you will join us on our quest to collectively improve our planet, our company, and ourselves.

Mechanical Design Engineer 

Your Responsibilities

We are looking for a Mechanical Engineering Intern or two to join our team! Your responsibilities as our ME intern will be to help accelerate the build of our pyrolysis and gasification units, make design upgrades, and learn the ins and outs of testing our machines. You will collaborate with the rest of the team day in and day out, working to hone your skills and solve challenging problems. You will put your hardware through test situations early and often, to ensure consistency and stability in the field. Best and most importantly, your hardware will be critical in ensuring a better future for our planet.

In this role, you will bring:

• Work toward a degree (or self-taught!) in the Mechanical Engineering field
• A desire to learn to design, build, test and debug hardware
• An initiative to solve problems where you see them and make the system better
• A commitment to honoring safety best practices 
• An excitement for hands-on work (and don't mind getting your hands dirty!)
• A willingness to learn from others and take on new problems you may never have seen before (with support of course!)

These skills are a bonus, but not essential:

• You have worked closely with hardware either in a personal or school project or previous internship

You would make a great addition to the team if...

• You solve problems with creativity and curiosity 
• You take high ownership of your designs from end-to-end
• You are eager to learn and teach others 
• You readily challenge your assumptions when faced with a difficult problem
• You collaboratively seek out teammates for feedback and advice
• You care deeply about our mission & the transition to a greener, more equitable future

Check out our instagram to see some shots of the team in action!

What We Offer

• Work paid hourly and fairly
• Flexible hours & paid time off (aka actual work life balance!)
• The chance to do right by our planet and build a future we can all be proud of 
• A chance to pivot into a role in climate!
• A mission-driven group of kind coworkers
• Opportunity to push the envelope, safely make mistakes, and learn from them
• A sweet workplace with lots of outdoor space 
• An environment where you can grow as a human and teammate
• Snacks, and lunch on test days

Our Commitment

Charm Industrial is an equal opportunity employer with a firm commitment to growing our team in an inclusive way, regardless of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, medical condition, age, or veteran status. The consequences of climate change inherently affect some more than others, and we need a diverse team to help us save our little planet most effectively & justly. We are excited about all of those who choose to apply, and for those who end up joining us, to see how you better us as a team and company. We are more than the sum of our parts.