Powertrain Engineer, Internal Combustion Engines

Albacore Inc. is a Philadelphia-based company building highly-capable, mass-producible drone submarines to defend sovereign waters of America and allied nations. We are backed with more than $10 million from Y Combinator and venture capital investors.

Role description:

• Own the design and development of internal combustion engines end-to-end, from clean-sheet architecture through fabrication, dyno characterization, integration, and field testing.
• Specify and develop core engine subsystems including fuel delivery, air handling, ignition or compression-ignition systems, cooling, lubrication, and exhaust, applying a strong first-principles engineering mindset to hit aggressive targets for power density, fuel efficiency, and reliability.
• Design the engine to deliver clean shaft power into a downstream generator and power conversion stage, working closely with electrical teammates on coupling, vibration isolation, and operating-point selection.
• Build, instrument, and run engine test cells and dyno setups to characterize performance, validate durability, and drive root-cause analysis on failures.
• Collaborate closely with mechanical, electrical, software, and systems engineers to integrate engines into robust, demanding-environment power generation systems.
• Get hands-on with build, assembly, and debug of prototype engines, driving rapid iteration and continuous improvement in performance, reliability, and manufacturability.

Desired qualifications:

• B.S. or M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Electromechanical Engineering, or related technical field.
• 5–7 years of experience designing and developing internal combustion engines, ideally in a startup, motorsports, small UAV/UGV, or APU/genset environment where you owned problems end-to-end.
• Deep working knowledge of two- or four-stroke engine design, including fuel delivery, air handling, cooling, lubrication, and exhaust subsystems.
• Hands-on experience running engines on a dynamometer, including instrumentation, data acquisition, and performance characterization.
• Proficiency with CAD tools (SolidWorks preferred) and experience producing clear engineering documentation, including drawings and tolerance specifications.
• Comfort working across disciplines and reading schematics to collaborate effectively with EE and firmware teammates on ECU and engine controls integration.
• Strong first-principles engineering mindset and a bias toward building, testing, and iterating over endless analysis.
• U.S. work authorization and ability to obtain a security clearance.