Senior Chemical Engineer

Senior Chemical Engineer

US Newberry Springs Site, Newberry Springs, CA, US

Salary Range: $135,000 to $165,000

Position Title: Sr. Process Engineer

Location: Newberry Springs, CA

Reports To: VP of Construction and Engineering

Company Description: 5E Boron Americas, LLC (5E BA), formerly known as Fort Cady (California) Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of 5E Advanced Materials, Inc. (5E). 5E BAs corporate office and team is currently located in Hesperia, CA and the project site is in Newberry Springs, CA. 5E BAs Borate Mine hosts a multi-generational Borate resource where boric acid will be produced for the large North American specialty chemicals market including high-end technologies such as electric vehicles, defense, and magnets. The Fort Cady project site is an exceptionally rare and large colemanite deposit.

Position Summary: The Sr. Process Engineer will be responsible for supporting the operation of a small-scale boric acid plant with lithium production, for optimizing operation, for expanding production rates, and then supporting the design of the process to produce large-scale quantities of boric acid, lithium carbonate, and other specialty boron/boric acid derivatives. The Sr. Process Engineer will be able to improve industrial processes to maintain efficiency, reduce cost, improve sustainability, and maximize profitability.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities of the Position:

• Develop, configure, and optimize industrial processes from inception through to commissioning to certification process.
• Provide leadership within the emerging process group
• Work with the operations team to identify operational deficiencies and assist in solving issues and implementing improvements
• Working knowledge AND detailed experience in the field of solids separation, crystallization, mixing, hydraulics, reactor design, ion exchange, heat transfer
• Understand the energy and material balance of the plant. Quick to learn how to improve.
• Work with the geologists in the wellfield and offer chemical engineering insights into solving problems with in-situ solution mining
• Be proficient in process simulation software to gain insights into the production processes
• Collect actual equilibrium or solubility data to build a more accurate process simulation
• Build design-of-experiments for lab, pilot plant or actual production to get critical optimization data to feed the commercial plant design
• Has a strong fundamental understanding of chemical engineering principles and application in the industry.
• Ensures that the process operation is run safely.
• Define campaign parameters and provide standard operating records (SOPs) for daily operation.
• Present results concisely and effectively to the senior management team.
• Defines the scope of work and meets the business needs in a cost-effective manner.
• Carries out operator training and certification of the process.
• Proven ability of gathering data, setting priorities, and meeting deadlines.
• Ability to coordinate with vendors and carry-out projects with equipment evaluation, process optimization, and upgrades.
• Develop best practices, routines, and innovative solutions to improve production rates and quality of output. Ability to set a clear path towards achieving the output, quality, and cost goals of the company.

Interpersonal Competencies:

• Extreme ownership
• Desire to lead and mentor less experienced process engineers
• Ability to act with integrity, professionalism, discretion, and discernment in all business matters.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills and team player mentality.
• Able to demonstrate effective coordination, planning and organizational skills.
• Able to prioritize and plan work activities.
• Self-motivated with the ability to take initiative, work independently and in a team environment.
• Work well with a team
• Ability to use chemical engineering principles and economic analysis to develop and evaluate new process concepts or configurations.

Experience:

• Bachelors or masters degree in chemical engineering or related technical field.
• Minimum 7 to 10 years equivalent experience
• Strong attention to detail with excellent analytical, multitasking, and judgment capabilities.
• Demonstrated experience with developing basic engineering packages and equipment specification.
• Working knowledge of process instrumentation, control valves, and control loops