Our client is committed to revolutionizing heavy industry towards technologies that improve humanity by drastically cutting down carbon emissions. The global steel sector provides the backbone for modern society, delivering safe and resilient infrastructure for the world’s population, yet it contributes 10% of global CO2 emissions. Our client is building a future that differs from the past 300 years of coal-based iron and steelmaking. Our client’s innovative steel manufacturing process leverages well-understood chemistry to dramatically reduce the environmental impact of steel production, while also providing economic benefits to the industry.

Lead Process Engineer

Our client is scaling up its revolutionary iron smelting technology. We are seeking a hands-on and experienced Senior Professional to help move our technology from the laboratory to Pilot Scale. As part of the Research Team, you will use your steel making expertise, fundamentals of primary metallurgy along with your engineering and project management skills to help scale our client’s technology. You must enjoy working in a fast-paced startup environment where creativity, speed, initiative and cross-functional teamwork are required to succeed. This position reports to the CEO initially, and eventually to the VP of Engineering.

Key Responsibilities

To be successful in this role, a candidate must have a deep understanding of primary metallurgy and be able to straddle the line between research and development, and operations. The Lead Process Engineer will play a vital role in analyzing and designing high-temperature process equipment for steelmaking. Additional responsibilities for this role include:

• Review the Technology Roadmap with the Research and Engineering Teams to map knowledge gaps in our scaling plan. This may also include helping to develop DOEs, review and vet experimental data, and review relevant literature in an effort to fill these gaps.
• Work closely with the vendors during equipment installation to gain a functional understanding of its operation. This will require developing/reviewing safety protocols, job descriptions, team training, etc.
• Ensure the pilot scale furnace is properly instrumented to provide a wide range of process data that will be used to help define how our technology can be scaled by working with the equipment suppliers and other members of the team.
• Collaborate with the Operations and Research Teams on the experimental plan for the Pilot Scale furnaces, ensuring safe scale-up.
• Establish process flows, process recipes, work standards and points of quality assurance to ensure predictable throughput and quality.
• Have ownership over the design of the entire steelmaking process, from iron ore to steel

Requirements:

• BS or higher in a technical discipline, with a preference for Pyrometallurgy, Metallurgy, or Materials Science,
• 12+ years of relevant process engineering with in-depth knowledge of extractive metallurgy processes and commissioning new equipment. Experience managing a steel making operation and personnel is desirable.
• Experience in new plant engineering or plant process engineering with a focus on plant operations/startups
• Candidate must possess the skill to make well-balanced judgments by considering factors such as functionality, dependability, initial investment, and ongoing expenses
• The ability to understand complex interactions between feedstocks, upstream and downstream processes highly desirable.
• Strong analytical skills with ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, draw valid conclusions and implement sustainable improvements.
• Ability to clearly communicate and present status, action, recommendations, and other technical information at all levels.
• Capacity to build strong relationships with and positively influence equipment vendors.

Location: on-site at facility in Conroe, Texas just outside of Houston

Culture:

• Committed\- having a level of enthusiasm to do what it takes to get the job done; we are decisive and aggressively focused on our tasks, all while maintaining professional and social ethics.
• Efficient – we don’t have purposeless meetings that drag on
• Ambitious\- Proving that what others say is impossible, is in fact possible
• Inclusive \- Valuing each team member’s own perspectives and set of unique experiences that they bring to the table – everyone's voices are heard.
• Curious \- Being curious, productive and innovative.
• Passionate \- Working hard not because we have to, but because we are committed to our mission and enjoy our work.

What our client offers:

• Competitive compensation package based on expertise. Compensation is increased on yearly basis in proportion to the amount of effort put into the company and the results you obtained
• Stock: ownership in a funded company that is innovating in a trillion-dollar industry
• Paid + unpaid parental leave after 1 year at the company (12 weeks paid, with flexible working style to transition after parental leave such as part-time remote working)
• Flexible working style: as long as you get the job done, we are flexible with remote working on days that you don’t need to be in the lab or at the pilot facilities
• Growth: our team is comprised of people with a growth mindset and we want to help you achieve your future career goals accordingly
• Time off: we have mandatory time off. This is a fast-paced startup company working in one of the most exciting sectors and the last thing we want is our valuable team members to burn out.