2.1 Senior Process Engineer – Hydrometallurgist

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, execution, and analysis of hydrometallurgical experiments involving leaching, purification, precipitation, separation, and related critical metals processes.
• Develop and optimize process conditions for laboratory, bench-scale, and pilot-scale hydrometallurgical systems.
• Translate experimental results into process flow diagrams, mass balances, operating windows, equipment specifications, and scale-up recommendations.
• Provide technical leadership for wet chemistry work, including solution chemistry, acid-base chemistry, pH control, filtration, precipitation, reagent selection, and process troubleshooting.
• Support equipment sizing and selection for reactors, filtration systems, thickeners, mixer-settlers, tanks, pumps, and other hydrometallurgical process equipment.
• Lead root-cause analysis and troubleshooting for process performance issues, including recovery losses, impurity behavior, phase separation challenges, and process instability.
• Collaborate with engineering, R&D, and operations teams to develop pilot-scale test plans, operating procedures, and process control strategies.
• Mentor junior engineers, scientists, and technicians in experimental design, lab execution, safety practices, data interpretation, and technical documentation.
• Maintain clear technical records and prepare reports, presentations, and recommendations for internal design reviews and leadership discussions.
• Support the scale-up of Phoenix Tailings’ critical metals production processes from R&D through commercial deployment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Chemical Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, Materials Science, Chemistry, or a related technical discipline.
• 5+ years of experience in hydrometallurgy, wet chemistry, chemical process development, mineral processing, metals refining, or related chemically intensive systems.
• Strong hands-on experience with hydrometallurgical unit operations, including leaching, precipitation, filtration, solid-liquid separation, solvent extraction, purification, and crystallization.
• Demonstrated experience translating laboratory or bench-scale data into pilot-scale or commercial process development decisions.
• Strong understanding of aqueous chemistry, solution speciation, acid-base chemistry, impurity control, reagent behavior, and process optimization.
• Experience developing mass balances, process flow diagrams, experimental plans, technical reports, and operating procedures.
• Experience mentoring junior technical team members or leading technical workstreams in a laboratory, pilot, or industrial environment.