Senior R&D Chemist

Key Responsibilities

• Design and execute hydrometallurgical experiments focused on leaching, extraction, separation, purification, and recovery of critical metals and rare earth elements.
• Develop and optimize solvent extraction, precipitation, crystallization, ion exchange, and related separation processes for complex feedstocks and process streams.
• Evaluate the effects of pH, temperature, reagent concentration, residence time, redox conditions, phase ratios, and impurity profiles on metals recovery and selectivity.
• Analyze aqueous, organic, solid, and intermediate process samples to understand extraction efficiency, metal loading, impurity behavior, and product quality.
• Build process-performance relationships that connect chemistry, operating conditions, recovery, purity, reagent use, and scalability.
• Identify chemical failure modes, side reactions, losses, and impurity pathways, then develop practical solutions to improve process reliability and efficiency.
• Support the translation of bench-scale chemistry into larger experimental systems that advance Phoenix Tailings’ clean metals production technology.
• Prepare clear experimental plans, technical reports, data summaries, and recommendations that guide R&D priorities and process development decisions.

Qualifications

• PhD in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, Materials Science, Hydrometallurgy, or a related field.
• 2–3+ years of experience in hydrometallurgy, solvent extraction, separations chemistry, critical metals recovery, rare earth processing, extractive metallurgy, or related applied chemical R&D.
• Hands-on experience designing and running leaching, extraction, precipitation, crystallization, ion exchange, or purification experiments.
• Strong understanding of aqueous chemistry, metal speciation, pH control, redox chemistry, complexation, phase behavior, and separation selectivity.
• Experience analyzing process samples and interpreting chemical data to improve recovery, purity, reagent efficiency, and process stability.
• Familiarity with analytical techniques such as ICP-OES/MS, XRF, XRD, IC, HPLC, UV-Vis, titration, or related characterization tools.

Pay

This pay range reflects best estimate for the total cash compensation which includes salary + discretionary bonus for this role. Total package may vary based on experience and qualifications. Pay Range: $130,000- $170,000 total cash compensation plus equity.