Director of Engineering

Location

Tacoma, WA (onsite with flexibility, travel to customer sites and industry events as needed, expect ~5 trips per year)

Engineering (Product Development, Manufacturing, Go-to-Market)

Chief Technology Officer

Must be authorized to work within the United States

$130-180K + stock options & standard company benefits (details below)

Aquagga is a rapidly scaling cleantech startup leading the global mission to end PFAS contamination, the largest environmental pollution challenge of the 21st century. We work with customers in the environmental remediation and industrial wastewater industry, deploying containerized treatment systems to completely destroy PFAS with no toxic byproducts. We are looking for passionate and highly motivated individuals with diverse backgrounds and skill sets, committed to making a social and environmental impact nationwide.

Help revolutionize the industry as we enter uncharted waters.

The Director of Engineering will lead our organization through the transition from breakthrough PFAS destruction technology to a commercially deployable industrial platform. This role is accountable for aligning people, priorities, and execution to deliver a manufacturable, certified, regulatory compliant, and field‑ready commercial PFAS destruction system based on our hydrothermal alkaline treatment (HALT) process.

This is a senior leadership role - success depends less on individual technical heroics and more on setting clear direction, communicating effectively, and holding teams accountable to realistic timelines and quality standards. This role ensures the organization makes good decisions quickly, focuses on the right problems, and delivers reliable systems that earn customer and regulator trust.

Commercial PFAS destruction system design finalized and manufacturing‑ready by end of 2026.

Aquagga is moving from proven pilots to scaled deployment. The Director of Engineering determines whether that transition happens with clarity and confidence, or with churn and rework. This role helps set the technical vision with other internal leaders, translates business needs into executable plans, and ensures engineering delivers what the company commits to customers, partners, and investors.

• Set and communicate a clear engineering vision aligned with company strategy, commercialization goals, and customer needs.
• Define product timelines, milestones, and decision gates; hold teams accountable to delivery commitments.
• Elevate risks early – technical, schedule, resource, or compliance – and drive structured mitigation plans.
• Serve as a key engineering voice to executive leadership and the board, including preparation of clear updates, narratives, and decision materials.
• Lead, mentor, and manage a team of mid‑to‑senior‑level engineers across mechanical, electrical/controls, and systems or product development disciplines.
• Establish clear ownership, decision authority, review cadence, and performance expectations across the engineering organization.
• Maintain a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and safety.
• Allocate engineering resources against the highest‑value work; make and communicate tradeoffs when capacity is constrained.

• Ensure engineering documentation (drawings, BOMs, test plans, SOPs, risk analyses) supports manufacturing, deployment, and long‑term operations.
• Delegate detailed technical decisions to strong engineering leads while reviewing, approving, and aligning decisions to overall system goals.
• Interface with and vet key suppliers, fabricators, and manufacturing partners.
• Ensure designs are manufacturable, scalable, and aligned with partner capabilities and quality expectations.
• Establish and oversee manufacturing readiness reviews, production handoffs, and build‑quality feedback loops.

• Communicate engineering plans, progress, and risks clearly across the organization.
• Prepare and deliver presentations, written updates, and decision briefs for…