Principal Energetics Process Engineer

Ohr; Lafayette (CO); On-site; USD 160,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Ohr in Lafayette, CO seeks a seasoned Energetics Process Engineer to design, scale, and qualify manufacturing processes for energetic materials and precursors. You will own scale-up from lab to production, lead process safety analyses, and ensure compliance with DoD/ATF standards while advancing new formulations.

You will build equipment qualifications, documentation, and support due diligence as Ohr expands domestically, with travel up to 15% and a base salary in the $160k–$220k range plus

Qualifications

• PhD in chemical engineering or chemistry; MS/BS with industrial experience considered
• 10+ years of process engineering experience in energetics manufacturing or energetic precursor production
• Direct experience with energetic material sensitivity, thermal stability, and compatibility testing
• Strong Process Safety Management and hazardous materials background in a high-hazard production environment
• Experience with process modeling, data analysis, and SPC
• Experience specifying, commissioning, and qualifying process equipment in a regulated facility
• Excellent technical writing read by regulators and auditors

Responsibilities

• Design, scale, and optimize manufacturing processes for energetic materials and energetic precursors
• Own scale-up of energetic formulations from laboratory and pilot operations into qualified production
• Lead process safety: PHA, HAZOPs, FMEAs, explosive safety assessments, in-process quantity limits, hazard classification
• Ensure compliance with ATF, OSHA Process Safety Management, DoD explosive safety standards including DoD 4145.26 and DDESB requirements
• Specify, commission, and qualify equipment for energetic processing—mixing, drying, coating, pressing, and precursor synthesis
• Own process documentation production runs: PFDs, P&IDs, SOPs, work instructions, engineering specs, commissioning
• Transition new formulations out of R&D with safety, thermal stability, and compatibility data
• Lead incident investigations and CAPA
• Support technical due diligence on energetics manufacturing assets and technologies

Education

PhD in chemical engineering or chemistry

MS/BS with industrial experience

Process safety management

Process modeling and data analysis

Statistical process control

Technical writing

Job description

The future must be created.

01 THE ROLE

Chemistry is the invisible layer under every critical system, and the supply chain behind it has become a weapon. Ohr makes the molecules that matter most, from the atom up: energetics, propellants, rare-earth extractants and the ignition chemicals already in production today.

Ohr makes energetic materials and the precursors they depend on, and we are scaling that production domestically. This role owns the process engineering behind it: designing, scaling, and qualifying manufacturing processes for energetics in an environment where the safety case is not a document produced after the design — it is the design.

THE KIND OF PEOPLE THIS WORK DEMANDS

Our mission demands more than great science. It requires a particular kind of team — visionary builders, hustlers, scientists, operators. Together, we carry both the technical depth to make the chemistry work and the commercial instinct to make the business thrive. P eople are our engine. Collaboration is our multiplier.

02 WHAT YOU’LL DESIGN AND BUILD

• Design, scale, and optimize manufacturing processes for energetic materials and energetic precursors

• Own scale-up of energetic formulations from laboratory and pilot operations into qualified production

• Lead process safety: Process Hazard Analyses, HAZOPs, FMEAs, explosive safety assessments, in-process quantity limits, and hazard classification

• Ensure compliance with ATF, OSHA Process Safety Management, DoD explosive safety standards including DoD 4145.26 and DDESB requirements, MIL specifications, NFPA standards, and environmental regulations

• Specify, commission, and qualify equipment for energetic processing — mixing, drying, coating, pressing, and precursor synthesis including nitration where applicable

• Own the process documentation production runs on: PFDs, P&IDs, SOPs, work instructions, engineering specifications, and commissioning packages

• Transition new formulations out of R&D with the sensitivity, thermal stability, and compatibility data that supports the safety case

• Lead incident investigations and corrective and preventive action

• Support technical due diligence on energetics manufacturing assets and technologies as Ohr’s footprint grows

03 WHAT YOU BRING WITH YOU

You have run energetics in a real facility, and it shows in how you design. You know which unit operations forgive a mistake and which ones don’t, you’ve been through the regulatory process rather than read about it, and you are comfortable being the person who says a process cannot be run safely at rate. You likely have:

• A PhD in chemical engineering or chemistry — an MS or BS paired with deeper industrial experience will be considered

• 10+ years of process engineering experience, including hands-on work in energetics manufacturing or energetic precursor production

• Direct experience with energetic material sensitivity, thermal stability, and compatibility, and with the testing that establishes them

• Strong Process Safety Management and hazardous materials background in a high-hazard production environment

• Experience with process modeling, data analysis, and statistical process control

• Experience specifying, commissioning, and qualifying process equipment inside a regulated facility

• Excellent technical writing — your documentation will be read by regulators and auditors

• Strong plus

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

AFTER 3 MONTHS

• You own the process safety case and the scale-up path for our lead energetic product line

AFTER 6–12 MONTHS

• A qualified, documented energetics process running at rate

• Hazard analyses, explosive safety assessments, and the regulatory package that stand behind it

• New formulations moving out of R&D on a repeatable path rather than a bespoke one

04 REQUIREMENTS

This role involves access to data and systems subject to U.S. export control regulations, including ITAR. Candidates must be a U.S. citizen or national, lawful permanent resident, or a protected individual as defined under 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3).

This role also involves access to explosive materials. Candidates must be eligible to serve as an “employee possessor” of explosive materials under federal law, meaning they are not a prohibited person as defined under 18 U.S.C. § 842(i).

05 COMPENSATION

This is an onsite role based in the Denver–Boulder Metro Area (Lafayette, CO), with travel up to 15% to production sites, laboratories, and test facilities. Relocation Assistance offered. The annual base salary range for this position is $160,000 – $220,000, commensurate with experience, plus equity. Final compensation will be determined based on skills, experience, and qualifications.

Be a creationary.