Principal Electrochemical Engineer

VVater LLC; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

VVater LLC in Austin, TX, is seeking a Principal Electrochemical Engineer to own electrochemical treatment systems from concept through deployment. You will lead reactor design, materials, and scale-up across bench to field modules while collaborating with multi-disciplinary teams.

Join a fast-paced water-tech startup advancing cutting-edge purification and sustainable processes, with focus on real world deployment and IP generation.

Qualifications

• PhD or MS with equivalent depth in electrochemistry or related field.
• 8+ years post-degree in electrochemical engineering or applied electrochemical research.
• Proven ability to design, build, and scale reactors from bench to pilot.
• Strong fundamentals in thermodynamics, kinetics, mass transport, and Faradaic processes.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design of electrochemical reactors, cells, and stacks including materials, geometry, flow field, and sealing.
• Diagnose and solve degradation mechanisms such as passivation, scaling, fouling, corrosion.
• Collaborate with electrical engineering to define power delivery and energy usage.
• Develop SOPs, operating envelopes, and safety protocols for electrochemical systems.

Skills

Electrochemical engineering

Thermodynamics

Mass transport

Kinetics

Electroanalytical techniques

Potentiostat/galvanostat

Multiphysics modeling

COMSOL

Python

MATLAB

Data analysis

Education

PhD in Chemical Engineering

PhD in Electrical Engineering

MS with equivalent depth

Materials Science

Tools

COMSOL

ANSYS

Python

MATLAB

LabVIEW

PLC/SCADA

Job description

VVater is America’s Next Water Company, delivering the future of purification through its award‑winning Farady Reactor (CES Best of Innovation 2025, World Future Award 2025, Time Best Invention Award 2025), proprietary ALTEP (Advanced Low Tension Electroporation Process), Advanced Dissolved Air Flotation, and Micro & Nano Bubble technologies. Unlike outdated chemical, filter, and membrane systems, VVater’s electric‑field breakthroughs eliminate PFAS, microplastics, microorganisms, and other contaminants with record retention times, without toxic byproducts or costly consumables. With over 4.3B gallons treated and validation from global leaders, VVater is scaling into municipal drinking water and wastewater, DPR/IPR, onsite reuse for data centers, commercial buildings, and resorts, residential purification, and consumer health water, delivering a 60% smaller footprint, 40% CapEx savings, 80% OpEx savings, and 40% less energy use.

Job Description

THIS IS AN ONSITE POSITION BASED IN AUSTIN, TEXAS - NO REMOTE OR HYBRID AVAILABILITY FOR THIS POSITION

The Principal Electrochemical Engineer is the technical owner of the electrochemical treatment systems. You will lead the way in how reactors are conceived, modeled, built, tested, and scaled: electrode materials and geometry, cell and stack architecture, hydrodynamics, power delivery, and durability. You will take a reactor from a single bench cell to a field-deployed, manufacturable module that performs reliably on real water.

An electrochemical engineer who works from first principles (thermodynamics, kinetics, mass transport, and current distribution) and who has already carried at least one electrochemical technology out of the lab and into pilot or commercial operation. You will work with process research, electrical, mechanical, and manufacturing teams.

VVater moves at a fast pace to accelerate the development and adoption of cutting-edge technologies in the water industry. The right person will be energized by that pace rather than depleted by it.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design of electrochemical reactors, cells, and stacks: electrode materials and geometry, flow field and hydrodynamics, current and potential distribution, gas management, sealing, and materials of construction
• Select, develop, and qualify electrode materials and coatings for activity, selectivity, conductivity, and service life in real waters matrices
• Diagnose and solve degradation mechanisms, including passivation, scaling, fouling, corrosion, and coating loss, and design reactors
• Collaborate with the electrical engineering team to define power delivery and relate electrical operating parameters to electrochemical performance and energy use
• Elucidate reaction mechanisms and kinetics for target contaminants and byproducts, and quantify efficiency, selectivity, and specific energy consumption
• Apply electroanalytical methods (CV, LSV, EIS, chronoamperometry, chronopotentiometry, rotating disk, and reference-electrode techniques) to extract kinetic, thermodynamic, and mass-transport parameters
• Build multiphysics and CFD models (e.g., COMSOL, ANSYS) of current distribution, mass transport, bubble-laden multiphase flow, and heat generation to guide design and scale-up
• Use structured experimental design and data-driven optimization (DOE, Bayesian and machine-learning methods) to accelerate development cycles
• Scale reactors from bench cells to pilot and commercial modules, defining scale-up rules and validating performance at each step
• Support Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), Site Acceptance Testing (SAT), field commissioning, and troubleshooting of deployed reactors
• Develop SOPs, operating envelopes, and safety protocols for electrochemical systems, including gas evolution, electrical safety, and byproduct management
• Pulsed, pulse-reverse, or AC electrochemical processes, and working knowledge of power electronics and how waveform shapes electrode behavior and electrochemical processes
• Commercial scale-up of electrochemical systems (electrolyzers, flow reactors, electrochemical separation stacks, or similar), including skid integration and field commissioning
• Electrode or stack manufacturing, coatings, or design for manufacturability in a production environment
• Support the technology roadmap with company leadership, aligned with reuse, industrial, and data center market needs. Generate intellectual property
• Mentor engineers and scientists, build out Technology Development laboratory capabilities, and raise the technical bar across the team
• Represent VVater technically with customers, partners, universities, and national labs, and at conferences and in publications

Qualifications

• PhD in Chemical/Electrical Engineering, Electrochemistry, Materials Science, or a related field; exceptional candidates with an MS and equivalent depth will be considered
• 8+ years of post-degree experience in electrochemical engineering, technology development, or applied electrochemical research; doctoral research counts toward this experience
• Demonstrated record of designing, building, and scaling electrochemical reactors, cells, or stacks from bench to pilot or commercial scale, including hands-on testing on real feeds
• Deep command of electrochemical engineering fundamentals: thermodynamics, electrode kinetics, mass transport, current and potential distribution, and Faradaic efficiency
• Hands-on expertise with electroanalytical techniques and potentiostat/galvanostat instrumentation
• Experience with electrode materials, coatings, and degradation and durability analysis
• Proficiency with multiphysics modeling (COMSOL or equivalent) and with Python, MATLAB, or similar tools for data analysis
• Hands-on fluency with modern AI tools (Claude, or equivalents); ability to vibe-code internal engineering tools, models, and automations
• Exceptional written and verbal communication; Research proposal, design specification, and a customer-facing technical report
• Comfort with ambiguity and the judgment to decide what to test next without waiting for direction

Preferred Experience

• Experience in a startup or applied R&D organization taking first-of-kind Echem technology to market
• Multiphase flow and bubble management in gas-evolving electrochemical reactors; CFD
• Corrosion science and materials selection for aggressive aqueous environments
• Instrumentation, data acquisition (e.g., LabVIEW), and PLC/SCADA integration for test stands and pilot systems
• Familiarity with drinking water and reuse requirements that affect electrochemical systems, such as byproduct formation limits and NSF/ANSI 61 materials compliance