Data Engineer

Boston Consulting Group; City Of London; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading consulting firm seeks a Senior Principal Mechanical Engineer based in New Malden to lead the design and engineering of synthetic fuel plants. The role requires a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience, particularly in high-temperature processes and solid-handling systems. The successful candidate will receive a salary ranging from £65,000 to £90,000 based on experience, along with significant share options, relocation support, and unlimited time-off benefits.

Benefits

Significant share options

Extensive relocation support

Unlimited time-off

Qualifications

• 5+ years of professional experience is required.
• Degree in Chemical Engineering or relevant field is mandatory.
• Experience in designing and building plants with solids is necessary.

Responsibilities

• Design and optimize unit operations in the DAC process.
• Perform detailed engineering design for gas-solid reactors.
• Ensure process safety across the entire DAC system.

Skills

Professional experience (5+ years)

Solid-handling systems

High-temperature processes

Powder/granular materials handling

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Chemical Engineering or related field

Tools

Aspen process modelling

CAD

Job description

Company Overview

Rivan Industries (Rivan.com) is a synthetic fuel company designed to decarbonise heavy industry. We aim to make synthetic fuel cheaper than fossil fuels and sustain life on earth by keeping CO locked underground. We design and manufacture modular synthetic fuel plants consisting of a lime-based Direct Air Capture (DAC) system, an Alkaline Electrolyser, and a Sabatier Reactor, vertically integrated with off‑grid DC solar and the European gas grid. Our DAC process uses a cyclic CaO/Ca(OH)/CaCO loop, involving calcination, hydration, carbonation, drying, milling, screening and solids conveying.

Rivan recently deployed the UK's largest synthetic fuel plant and plans to 1000× this scale in the next two years. We work in small teams, expect complete ownership, and practise first‑principles reasoning while executing at speed. We operate with minimal bureaucracy, only what is essential to ensure our systems are safe, legally compliant and deployed on time.

Title, Location & Salary

Senior Principal Mechanical Engineer – New Malden (site based with some flexibility to WFH). Salary: £65,000 – £90,000.

Responsibilities

• System architecture selection and process modelling (FEED) for a cyclic lime‑based DAC process:
  • Design and optimisation of unit operations across the full CaCO → CaO → Ca(OH) → CaCO loop, including calcination systems, carbonation contactors, hydrators, dryers, and associated solids‑handling equipment.
  • Full system scope, including the DAC loop, inter‑unit solids transport, steam generation/delivery, CO handling, and integration with methanation and electrolysis.
  • Ideating novel reactor architectures and solids‑processing approaches with the Rivan mindset.
  • Intelligent, inherently safe design of high‑temperature, steam‑rich, and solids‑handling systems.
  • Bench‑scale test rig development, oversight and data analysis for calcination, hydration, carbonation and sorbent cyclic stability.
• Detailed engineering design:
  • Gas‑solid reactors/contactors.
  • Liquid‑solid reactors.
  • Milling and classification systems.
  • System‑wide process optimisation.
  • Steady‑state modelling (e.g. Aspen) of high‑temperature reaction kinetics, mass/heat balances and cyclic performance.
  • Creation and ownership of PFDs and P&IDs for DAC systems.
  • Defining control strategies for DAC both with respect to steady state and transient operation.
  • Component specification and procurement for high‑temperature and solids‑handling equipment.
• Process safety:
  • HAZID, HAZOP, LOPA, SIF specification, DSEAR.
  • Relief design for steam/CO/high‑temp systems.
  • Responsibility for end‑to‑end process safety across the lime‑based DAC system.
• Defining and executing build, deployment, commissioning and startup, including:
  • Factory assembly and acceptance testing of DAC modules.
  • On‑site installation, commissioning and operation.
  • Operational data analysis and optimisation of conversion, energy consumption and cyclic performance.
  • Reviewing unit performance vs targets to feed into the next design iteration.

Qualifications

• 5+ years professional experience.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Chemical Engineering or a related field.
• Experience designing and building plants, featuring solids.
• Strong experience with solid‑handling (screws, feeders, mills, classifiers, silos, cyclones) and gas‑solid reaction systems.
• Experience with high‑temperature processes such as calcination, pyrolysis, reforming, roasting or thermal treatment.
• Experience working with powders/granular materials: attrition, flowability, cohesion, PSD control.
• Additional skills:
  • Experience with process plant design, commissioning and operation.
  • Experience with lime, cement, sorbents, ceramics or mineral processing industries.
  • HAZID, HAZOP and LOPA leadership experience.
  • Aspen or other process modelling (steady‑state) expertise.
  • Control system design experience, ideally including solids‑handling or thermal processes.
  • Bench‑scale experimental design, data acquisition and gas‑solid reactor testing experience.
  • CAD experience.
  • Chartered Engineering status.

Salary & Benefits

• £65,000 – £90,000 (based on experience).
• Significant share options as part of the early team.
• In‑person work at HQ in South Bermondsey, South London.
• Extensive relocation support, including £6,000 per year extra to live near HQ.
• Unlimited time‑off.