Senior Process/Mechanical Engineer

Senior Mechanical / Process Engineer

Compensation: $120,000-$160,000 annually, commensurate with experience
Employment Type: Full-Time | Onsite

Position Overview

Lifestream Watersystems is looking for a seasoned Mechanical/Process Engineer to join our engineering team and contribute directly to the design, development, and deployment of advanced water treatment equipment. The ideal candidate has substantial experience with reverse osmosis (RO), membrane-based treatment technologies, and integrated water purification systems.

Lifestream develops custom desalination and water treatment solutions serving industrial, municipal, marine, military, and commercial markets. This role is heavily focused on engineering execution and equipment design rather than project coordination or theoretical research.

The successful engineer will have a demonstrated ability to design complete treatment systems, specify mechanical equipment, generate engineering documentation, and support projects throughout fabrication, testing, startup, and field implementation. We are seeking someone capable of contributing immediately and independently while taking ownership of technical project deliverables.

Primary Responsibilities

• Engineer complete water treatment systems, including RO, desalination, filtration, and packaged process solutions from initial concept through field commissioning.
• Perform process and hydraulic calculations related to flow rates, membrane performance, recovery targets, pressure requirements, and equipment sizing.
• Create and revise engineering deliverables such as P&IDs, mechanical arrangements, equipment specifications, and material lists using CAD software.
• Evaluate, specify, and integrate system components including pumps, membrane arrays, piping systems, pressure vessels, filters, instrumentation, valves, and auxiliary equipment.
• Review customer technical requirements and develop practical system designs that satisfy both performance and compliance objectives.
• Collaborate closely with manufacturing and assembly teams to resolve design and production challenges.
• Develop testing plans and support factory acceptance testing activities.
• Assist with installation, startup, commissioning, troubleshooting, and field service efforts.
• Analyze and resolve operational, hydraulic, and mechanical performance issues in existing treatment systems.
• Interface regularly with clients, vendors, operations personnel, and internal engineering teams.
• Prepare engineering calculations, operating guidelines, technical reports, and supporting documentation.
• Contribute to product standardization efforts and ongoing enhancements of existing equipment platforms.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or another relevant engineering discipline.
• At least five years of experience designing, integrating, or supporting reverse osmosis systems, membrane treatment technologies, or comparable packaged water treatment equipment.
• Practical experience supporting equipment through fabrication, startup, commissioning, testing, and troubleshooting activities.
• Proficiency with AutoCAD, SolidWorks, or equivalent engineering design software.
• Ability to independently create and interpret P&IDs, equipment layouts, technical specifications, and bills of material.
• Working knowledge of pumps, piping networks, valves, instrumentation, pressure vessels, and fluid-process equipment.
• Experience selecting and sizing mechanical equipment for pressurized process systems.
• Demonstrated ability to manage engineering assignments from concept development through final implementation.
• Strong analytical, communication, troubleshooting, and documentation skills.
• Comfortable collaborating directly with technicians, fabricators, suppliers, and customers.
• Willingness to travel occasionally for commissioning, startup, and customer support activities.
• Ability to work onsite in Huntington Beach, California.
• Legal authorization to work in the United States without current or future sponsorship requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Seven or more years of relevant process or mechanical engineering experience.
• Experience designing seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) or brackish water treatment systems.
• Background developing skid-mounted, modular, or containerized process equipment.
• Exposure to municipal, industrial, marine, military, or commercial water treatment applications.
• Familiarity with control systems, PLCs, instrumentation, and automation integration.
• Experience preparing technical proposals and responding to detailed customer specifications.
• Participation in factory acceptance testing (FAT) programs and customer witness testing activities.

Ideal Candidate Profile

We are searching for an engineer who enjoys solving real-world problems through equipment design, manufacturing support, and field troubleshooting. The right individual can move seamlessly between engineering design work, production support, equipment testing, and customer-facing technical activities.

This person should be capable of taking a customer requirement, developing a treatment process solution, selecting appropriate equipment, producing design documentation, and collaborating with manufacturing teams to deliver a fully operational system.

As a smaller, highly specialized engineering organization, we value candidates who are self-directed, technically curious, collaborative, and accountable for the quality of their work. Individuals whose recent experience has been predominantly focused on project oversight, academic research, or advisory consulting with limited hands-on equipment design involvement may not align with the practical nature of this role.