Chemical Process Engineer

WHO WE ARE
Kunin Technologies is revolutionizing the critical mineral supply chain by implementing advanced separation technologies to capture value from overlooked resources.
Metals are everywhere, in solar panels, smartphones, electric vehicles, but as ore grades plummet globally, traditional extraction methods are failing. China dominates critical minerals markets by developing superior separation technologies that extract value from materials American mines discard as waste.
Utilizing Kunin Technologies' breakthrough performance, ion-exchange media significantly more value can be produced from each resource, reducing waste, and unlocking metal abundance.
To achieve metal abundance, humanity must bring separation science down its own Moore’s Law: fix the idiot cost index for micro and nano scale separation materials. This requires mass manufacturing novel ion-exchange media form factors which previously struggled from high costs.
THE ROLE
We are automating the roll-to-roll processing of ion-exchange media. This is a similar serial production challenge to battery electrodes. You are responsible for the wet-chemistry side of the line: reagent saturation, reaction residence, washing, and drying, plus the bench and demonstration-scale development work that feeds it. We expect to hire you a laboratory technician and analytical chemist for this workload 3-months post-hire. Direct web-processing experience is a strong plus, not a requirement: chemical process fundamentals transfer.
You are part of a new team in Chattanooga, TN comprising a radiochemist, beam systems engineer, and control engineer. We need this line built in < 6 months to feed our growing critical metals project pipeline.
This demonstration line becomes the basis of a greenfield manufacturing facility in Series A – B, at 10X the scale, with automated material handling and integrated back–end exchange media equipment packaging and integrated front-end continuous microfiber media sheet production.
This role matures to cover scale-up of the wet end to the greenfield facility, implementation of in-line QA/QC methods, and the chemical logistics of production: reagent recovery and recycle, wash water handling, and chemical supply chain management.
By the end of Q1 2027, we expect this line to be installed and operating at nameplate. By 2030, we want to be the world’s largest volume producer of ion-exchange media.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Design, build, and run bench and demonstration-scale wet processing equipment: reagent saturation baths, squeeze-roll pickup control, wash and rinse trains, and drying.
- Process characterization: pickup and add-on measurement, uniformity, mass balances, and kinetics data collection – working with our radiochemist
- Scale-up documentation: PFDs, P&IDs, SOPs, and mass and energy balances for the demonstration line
- Sourcing and commissioning of wet-end / dip-coating hardware
- General plant process engineering: utilities, chemical transfers, waste streams, and safety procedures for aggressive chemistry
QUALIFICATIONS AND PREFERRED SKILLS
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering field or science - chemical engineer preferred.
- 1+ years of hands-on experience with plant or pilot equipment: pumps, tanks, heat exchangers, chemical transfers, and instrumentation.
- Experience handling aggressive chemistry: acids, reactive monomers, or inert-atmosphere work.
- 1+ years of experience using software tools such as Matlab or Python.
- Software fluency, enabling automation of test or analysis tasks
- Ability to work in fast paced and demanding atmosphere
- Creative problem solving that brings together reactive chemistry, radiochemistry, material handling, fluid mechanics disciplines.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
- Position located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Travel to partners' facilities may be intermittently required.
- Must be a U.S. citizen.
- Extended hours and weekends frequently required to support critical project milestones.
"The Whole World Is Ion-Exchange And The Rest Are Merely Details!"
Dr. Robert Kunin of Rohm and Haas, The Pioneer of the Ion-Exchange Industry, 1951

Employment type
FullTime

Work arrangement
No