Lead Process Engineer

D24 Search; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Andean is building the next generation of critical-material manufacturing: decentralized, automation- and AI-driven mini mills that extract and refine rare earth and precious metals, starting with e-waste in the Bay Area.

We are hiring a senior process engineer to own plant development and the chemical production line, working closely with hardware teams to scale refining chemistry into an industrial process and to establish internal engineering practices and documentation.

Qualifications

• 5-10+ years of hands-on process/chemical engineering experience at a high-velocity manufacturer.
• Direct experience designing, building, or commissioning a functioning chemical production line.
• Working knowledge of chemical/refining process design spanning both R&D and scale-to-production phases.
• Demonstrated career "slope" — fast progression into greater scope.

Responsibilities

• Own plant development and process/chemical engineering design for Andean's critical-material refining line.
• Design and stand up the chemical production process — from R&D-stage chemistry through to a fully functioning production line.
• Work closely with the hardware/mechanical team, since process and hardware development happen hand-in-hand.
• Help build internal engineering processes and documentation as one of the company's first process hires.
• Take on operational responsibilities

Skills

Process engineering

Chemical process design

R&D to production

Industrial manufacturing

Project ownership

Job description

My client is building the next generation of critical-material manufacturing: decentralized, automation- and AI-driven \"mini mills\" that extract and refine rare earth and precious metals, positioning itself as \"the next Nucor and Glencore.\" The first mill processes e-waste - riding the tailwind of a 2026 executive order banning e-waste export – with plans to expand into broader urban mining and eventually owned mineral deposits.

The mini-mill model is designed to be roughly 5x faster and 80% cheaper to stand up than centralized competitors.

Pre-seed, backed by Cantos Ventures (a top-ranked early-stage deep-tech fund), with commercial offtake contracts already worth tens of millions of dollars. The founding team combines computer science, machine learning, and robotics backgrounds, and is opening one of the first new domestic critical-materials processing facilities in 20-30 years, in the Bay Area.

One of our first senior process engineering hires (informally the \"Head of Process Engineering\"), owning plant development and the chemical production line — turning our refining chemistry into a functioning, scalable industrial process. Works hand-in-hand with the hardware team, spanning both R&D and production.

Requirements

• 5-10+ years of hands-on process/chemical engineering experience at an elite, high-velocity manufacturer — SpaceX, Tesla, Anduril, Relativity Space, or a comparable space/defense/advanced-manufacturing or chemical-plant builder..
• direct experience designing, building, or commissioning a functioning chemical production line/plant — not lab-only bench work.
• Working knowledge of chemical/refining process design spanning both R&D and scale-to-production phases.
• demonstrated career \"slope\" — fast progression into greater scope, not multiple years stalled in the same role.

Key Responsibilities

• Own plant development and process/chemical engineering design for Andean's critical-material refining line.
• Design and stand up the chemical production process — from R&D-stage chemistry through to a fully functioning production line.
• Work closely with the hardware/mechanical team, since process and hardware development happen hand-in-hand.
• Help build internal engineering processes and documentation as one of the company's first process hires.
• Take on operational responsibilities