Senior Process Chemist - Carbon Capture - Nottingham, UK - Permanent
Our client is a pioneering climate-tech company developing breakthrough technology to permanently mineralise CO₂ into high-performance concrete additives. They are an innovative and ambitious startup organisation specialised in developing new calcium-based materials from carbon capture processes. Their mission is to utilise CO₂ and waste to create, stronger, cheaper and cleaner building materials.
They are seeking a top-tier Senior Process Chemist to take full ownership of the chemical performance of their process across TRL 5-8, working directly on mini-plant and pilot systems. You will be responsible for ensuring that the chemistry works continuously, reproducibly, and under real industrial constraints, using rigorous inline and offline analytical data to control, diagnose, and optimise the process.
Key Responsibilities
- Own chemical performance across Pilot-plant and Demo-operations, ensuring stability, reproducibility, and scalability
- Design and implement inline and offline analytical frameworks to monitor process behaviour, including impurity evolution, phase changes, and product quality
- Lead development of real-time process understanding, linking analytical data to reaction mechanisms, kinetics, and process control
- Translate lab chemistry into robust operating windows, working closely with chemical engineers on mass balance, residence time, and system dynamics
- Drive optimisation of crystallisation, precipitation, impurity management, washing, drying, and product stability under continuous conditions
- Identify and solve scale-up challenges including fouling, agglomeration, phase instability, impurity build-up, and process drift
- Design and execute high-impact experimental campaigns (DoE, validation, stress testing) focused on process robustness and industrial readiness
- Define product specifications, impurity thresholds, and structure-property relationships linked to cement performance
- Build and refine SOPs, QC methods, and analytical protocols suitable for industrial deployment
- Lead root-cause analysis using data and rapidly diagnose and resolve process failures
- Work side-by-side with engineers during commissioning, operation, and troubleshooting of plant systems
- Mentor junior scientists and enforce high standards of experimental discipline and data integrity
- Contribute to technical strategy, IP generation, and external technical discussions
Essential Requirements
- PhD in Chemistry, Materials Chemistry, or Chemical Engineering (or equivalent industrial experience)
- Proven experience process chemistry and scale‑up in industrial or pilot environments (TRL 5-8+)
- Deep hands‑on expertise in inorganic precipitation, crystallisation, and solid‑liquid processing
- Proven experience in inline and offline analytical techniques and using data to control and optimise processes
- Proven ability to translate chemistry into continuous, stable, and repeatable operations
- Demonstrated success in troubleshooting complex, multi‑variable process systems
- Strong understanding of reaction engineering, process dynamics, and scale‑up risks
- Experience working in close collaboration with chemical/process engineers
- High level of ownership, urgency, and ability to deliver under pressure in fast‑moving environments
Desirable Experience
- Background in cement, concrete, fertilisers, or CO₂ mineralisation
- Experience in CCUS, carbon removal, or industrial decarbonisation technologies
- Familiarity with LCA, EPDs, or environmental performance frameworks
- Experience in startup or first‑of‑a‑kind industrial processes
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