Open Role: Process Engineer II

HQ Location: Oakland, CA (remote: OK) (travel: 50%)

About Mars Materials

Mars Materials (“Mars”) is on a mission to reverse humanity’s industrial waste carbon footprint. We’re currently commercializing NREL-developed IP that enables us to produce low-cost, low-carbon acrylonitrile (ACN) using captured-CO2 and bio-based feedstocks. ACN is a commodity scale material that’s integral in our daily modern lives. ACN’s use as a precursor for carbon fiber will allow Mars to actualize our vision of decarbonizing carbon-intensive industries such as steel and aluminum production.

Mars was chartered as a public benefit corporation in 2021 by a group of passionate climate solutionists with backgrounds in chemical engineering, research, and cleantech commercialization. Mars is working to create a future where polluting carbon is more costly than using our technologies.

About the role

As Process Engineer II, you’ll lead the development, piloting,  project engineering, and execution of Mars’ carbontech. The ideal candidate will have experience with developing/piloting chemical processes at the small scale as well as experience engineering and managing commercial scale chemical projects.

Specific duties you’ll champion:

• Core Chemical Engineering
  • Develop PFDs/PIDs, equipment lists and specifications
  • Work with EPC partners to participate in front end and detailed engineering activities
• Field and Scale-up
  • Manage piloting and demonstration-scale start-up and operations at third party or wholly-owned sites
  • Collaborate with EPC firms on the commissioning of chemical plants
  • Innovate on process solutions including simplifying systems, reducing cost, and improving efficiency
  • Design process equipment
  • Organize and design plant testing and product trials
  • Participate in the startup, demonstration, and troubleshooting of new or modified plants
  • Lead HAZOP and risk-assessment procedure
• Communication
  • Lead unit technical meetings (with internal and external dev teams)
  • Review engineering design documents and vendor data

Experiences that’ll propel your success

• B.S. or M.S. in Chemical Engineering degree or similar
• 3+ years experience in a plant environment (scale-up experience preferred) or in process engineering design
• Demonstrated experience with reactive distillation, catalyst beds and multicomponent distillation
• Demonstrated experience with integrated, demonstration-size facilities and their design
• Demonstrated ability to work in a collaborative team environment
• Demonstrated ability to take initiative and problem solve

Why Join Us?

Our business is greenhouse gas removal. Whether that’s CH4 or CO2, the Mars team develops and markets technology solutions that enable gigaton-scale gas utilization. Right now, the odds (and let’s face it, thermodynamics) are against carbon-negative processes, but attitudes and incentives are beginning to shift in a favorable direction for CO2 utilization. Now is the time to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels. Mars has the technology to kickstart this transition. Today, we’re seeking new team members to help us rapidly scale up our CO2-to-Acrylonitrile process.