Principal Chemical Process Engineer

CompanyOur client is a well-funded stealth climate technology company developing a novel carbon removal platform. The company is moving from bench-scale validation toward pilot-scale demonstration and is building a technical team across electrochemistry, process engineering, mechanical design, manufacturing, and industrial deployment. RoleThe company is seeking a Principal Chemical Process Engineer to serve as the process engineering authority for its carbon removal platform. This person will translate bench-scale experimental data into process models, heat and mass balances, process flow diagrams, equipment specifications, design basis documents, and pilot-scale engineering decisions.This is a strategic and hands-on technical role. The right person will be able to work from incomplete early-stage data, make defensible assumptions, identify critical gaps, and help guide the company from lab-scale results toward a chemically robust pilot system. ResponsibilitiesTranslate bench-scale experimental data into system-level process understandingBuild and maintain process simulation models using Aspen Plus, HYSYS, custom models, or equivalent toolsDevelop heat and mass balances, stream tables, PFDs, operating windows, and design basis documentsUse modeling and fundamentals to inform architecture decisions, equipment sizing, flow rates, operating conditions, and techno-economic analysisIdentify experimental data gaps and partner with R&D to define tests that de-risk scale-upSupport pilot-scale process design, including component selection, specifications, control philosophy, and process safetyEvaluate competing process configurations using data, engineering judgment, and first-principles analysisBridge R&D, mechanical engineering, electrochemistry, vendors, and future EPC or deployment partners QualificationsRequired:12+ years of chemical or process engineering experience focused on process development, scale-up, or pilot plant designStrong process modeling and simulation experience, including building models from early-stage or incomplete dataDeep fundamentals in heat and mass balance, thermodynamics, reaction kinetics, transport phenomena, and process designExperience developing process designs from lab, bench, or pilot dataAbility to size/spec equipment and translate process assumptions into operating conditions and component requirementsExperience with novel, uncertain, or first-of-kind systems where the design basis is still being developedStrong communication skills and ability to explain assumptions, tradeoffs, and uncertainty Strongly preferred:Experience with gas-liquid separation, absorption/desorption, reactive separations, electrochemical processes, caustic systems, solvent systems, or industrial gas processingBackground in carbon capture, DAC, hydrogen, electrochemical systems, specialty chemicals, or industrial process scale-upExperience with techno-economic analysis and the connection between process simulation and cost modelsExperience supporting pilot plant design, commissioning, or technical troubleshootingFamiliarity with custom thermodynamic property packages, electrolyte chemistry, or chemically complex simulation environments Ideal Candidate ProfileThe strongest candidates will be able to take an early-stage system and ask the right process engineering questions:What do we know? What assumptions are defensible? What data is missing? What breaks when this scales?What flow rates, duties, materials, equipment, and operating windows does this imply? This person should work well with scientists and engineers, challenge assumptions, communicate uncertainty clearly, and move quickly without compromising safety or engineering integrity.