Chemical Engineer (Aqueous Process Chemistry)

Does building a next-generation climate hardware company excite you? If so, read on!

About Holocene

Holocene is pioneering a novel approach to direct air capture (DAC) that can be a robust, scalable, and affordable route to significantly reduce atmospheric CO2 levels and directly combat climate change. Our mission lies in our namesake, the Holocene Epoch, or the last ~12,000 years of Earth’s history where our global climate and atmospheric CO2 levels were remarkably stable and hospitable.

Holocene is a collection of DAC industry veterans and engineers who have designed, built, and scaled the industry over the past decade - starting from the very first DAC plant in the world. We are pioneering a next-generation pathway to deliver well below $100/tonne CO2 removal - the industry ambition - by applying proprietary organic chemistry, scalable industrial technology, and creative engineering solutions.

Why DAC? According to the IPCC, the world's leading scientific voice on climate change, humanity must directly remove more than 10 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually by 2050, and in perpetuity, to meet global net zero ambitions.

For context, that is an industry 1,000,000 times larger than today's current direct air capture industry. We are embarking on a journey to create a net-new, trillion-dollar industry that moves more physical mass than the entire oil & gas industry today. Speed, scale, and safety are paramount.

We are fortunate to be supported by some of the most thoughtful climate programs and funders in the world -- including Breakthrough Energy Fellows, Elon Musk Foundation’s XPRIZE, the U.S. Department of Energy, Frontier Climate (Stripe, Shopify), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and more.

Chemical Engineer (Aqueous Process Chemistry)

At Holocene, chemical engineers sit at the forefront of creative and complex system design, critical reaction engineering, and technology development work across all aspects of system scale-up.

As a Chemical Engineer at Holocene, you would be responsible for driving the optimization of our chemical system that serves as the foundation of our DAC technology. These responsibilities would include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Lead aqueous process chemistry to support R&D and process development of our DAC technology
• Manage laboratory experimentation paired with literature studies, modeling, and data analytics focusing on the thermodynamics of chemical reactions and speciation of ions in aqueous solutions
• Responsible for process development and its scale-up by translating chemical reaction engineering to process models
• Support teams with challenges in dissolution, crystallization, and material stabilities
• Manage the technical communication and action items among team entities
• Operate analytical equipment (e.g. NMR, TGA, XRD, LC-MS, etc.) safely and effectively

We value teammates who take ownership of their work, lead with curiosity, are excited to work on fast-paced technology development, love to work in an interdisciplinary team, are comfortable making decisions with incomplete information, demonstrate a high adversity quotient, and want to contribute to a meaningful climate change solution.

We are seeking to fill this role as soon as possible in a fully on-site capacity, working alongside our Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering teams.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in chemical engineering or similar discipline (e.g., chemistry)
• 3-5+ years of work or research experience in a similar role
• Strong background in aqueous chemistry
• Proficient in thermodynamics of chemical reactions
• Ability to take theoretical ideas and turn them into practical solutions
• Experience in analytical chemistry including data analysis and experimental design
• Strong communication skills and a precise & reliable approach to work

Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced degree (e.g., Masters, PhD) in relevant disciplines
• Proficient or expert in Python, VBA or MATLAB
• Strong knowledge of simulation software and tools (e.g. Aspen Hysis)
• Experience working at a start-up or fast-paced, rapidly changing environment
• Experience in the design of experiments
• Skilled at presenting technical data to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Experience in process development and scale-up

Benefits we offer:

• Competitive salary
• Medical, dental, and vision benefits
• Flexible vacation policy
• Meaningful equity participation

How to apply:

Send us your resume and share a few thoughts with us about how you would contribute at Holocene.

We are seeking to fill this position ASAP and will reach out to you if we believe there’s a mutual fit.

We are an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate individuals from all backgrounds and firmly believe that our business and team will be stronger with diverse backgrounds, thoughts, ideas, and experiences. If you’re interested in what we’re doing, we’d love to hear from you.