Materials Development Engineer

We are looking for a sharp, motivated Chemical Engineer to join our mission of scaling Direct Air Capture technology. In this role, you will sit at the critical interface between Material Science and Process Engineering. It is not enough to simply create a high-capacity sorbent at lab scale; we must engineer that material into a structure (monoliths, laminates, ceramics, or composites) that performs efficiently at an industrial scale. You will work to optimize our absorbents to maximize material utility while ensuring they function effectively with our CO2 capture process.

This is a hands-on role where you will develop materials in the lab, test them in flow reactors, and collaborate with our partners to scale these innovations for a significant climate impact.

For your application to be considered, your CV should accompany the assignment below.

Key Responsibilities

• Prototype Development & Formulation:
   Development and modification of structured adsorbents (ceramics, polymers, composites) using industrial techniques like extrusion and coating, optimizing
• the mix's formulations for both physical robustness and DAC application suitability.
• Performance Testing & Characterization:
   Conduct rigorous material characterization (BET, porosimetry, strength) and operate custom flow reactors to evaluate adsorption kinetics, CO2 capacity, and cycle stability.
• Process-Material Optimization:
   Analyze experimental data to bridge the gap between material science and plant engineering, determining how structural properties (e.g., porosity, wall thickness) directly influence critical transport phenomena like heat transfer, mass transfer, and pressure drop.
• Scale-Up & Tech Transfer:
   Design materials with manufacturability in mind, supporting the transfer of successful lab protocols to external partners for kilogram-to-ton scale pilot production and troubleshooting manufacturing challenges.
• Data Analysis & Quality Control:
• Utilize technical analysis tools (Excel/Python) to process experimental datasets, track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and establish quality control metrics required for large-scale plant operations.

Required Qualifications

Education:

Bachelor's Degree (BS) in Chemical Engineering is strictly required.

Experience:

• 0–2 years
   of relevant experience. We welcome recent graduates with strong undergraduate research experience or relevant industrial internships/co-ops.

Technical Competencies:

• Core Chemical Engineering:
   A solid grasp of transport phenomena (heat/mass transfer), fluid dynamics, and thermodynamics. You must understand how a reactor design influences the chemistry inside it.
• Adsorption Fundamentals:
• Understanding adsorption isotherms, breakthrough curves, and gas-solid separation principles.
• Material Intuition:
   A strong aptitude for material science. You should be curious about how things are made (rheology, sintering, extrusion, curing) and how they break.
• Lab Hands:
   Comfortable working in a wet lab environment, handling chemicals safely, and operating complex testing equipment.

Desired Attributes

• High degree of self-motivation, intellectual curiosity, and a proactive approach to problem-solving.
• Curiosity:
   You ask "why" does the pressure drop spike when we change the binder for instance? You dig into the root cause of process deviations.

Submission Guidelines.

As part of your application process, kindly submit both the completed assessment and your CV by 23:59hrs on Sunday, 30th November 2025.

Assignment:
Assessment questions for Materials Development
(Accessible in the external application website)

Octavia Carbon offers competitive growth opportunities, a competitive salary, a route to owning company equity, and a high degree of professional freedom & responsibility, coupled with an intense working environment to enable a steep learning curve.

Octavia Carbon is an equal opportunity employer and especially encourages applications from women, and individuals from diverse socioeconomic, religious, and regional backgrounds.