Principal Scientist: Catalysis & Process Innovation

ACS; Newcastle City Council; Hybrid; AUD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company ESOP (Stock Option Plan)

Superannuation

Training & Development

Relocation and working visa support

Hands‑on leadership role

Newcastle location

Job summary

Facet Amtech in Newcastle is seeking a Principal Scientist to lead catalyst development, process integration and pilot-scale technology development, translating cutting‑edge research into scalable solutions for sustainable industrial decarbonisation. This role combines scientific leadership with hands‑on lab work and strategic direction across R&D and manufacturing interfaces.

You will mentor the team, drive mechanistic understanding, and deliver robust, reproducible results to accelerate

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent in Chemistry, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering or related field.
• Deep expertise in heterogeneous catalysis and reaction mechanisms.
• Strong understanding of catalyst characterisation techniques.

Responsibilities

• Provide scientific leadership across catalyst, reactor and process development.
• Guide catalyst synthesis, screening, optimisation and scale‑up.
• Translate catalyst requirements into reactor operating conditions and testing methodologies.
• Develop bench-scale and pilot-scale systems in coordination with R&D and engineering teams.
• Ensure documentation, data traceability and rigorous analysis of results.
• Lead a small R&D team and contribute to strategic technical decisions.

Skills

Heterogeneous catalysis

Catalysis materials

Reaction mechanisms

Characterisation techniques

Experimental design

Data analysis

Technical leadership

Science communication

Modelling (DFT)

Education

PhD or equivalent

Tools

DFT

Job description

Facet Amtech in Newcastle is seeking a Principal Scientist to lead catalyst development, process integration and pilot-scale technology development, translating cutting‑edge research into scalable solutions for sustainable industrial decarbonisation. This role combines scientific leadership with hands‑on lab work and strategic direction across R&D and manufacturing interfaces.

You will mentor the team, drive mechanistic understanding, and deliver robust, reproducible results to accelerate