Principal Process Engineer

Ohr; Colorado; Hybrid; USD 160,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Equity participation

Job summary

Ohr is seeking a Principal Process Engineer to own the design and engineering packages for our pilot facilities in the Denver–Boulder area. You will be the technical authority, directing heat/material balances, PFDs/P&IDs, and interactions with EPCs, vendors, and regulators, while steering scale-up decisions.

You bring 15+ years of process engineering, a chemical engineering degree, and deep knowledge of process simulations (Aspen Plus, HYSYS, ChemCAD, UniSim, ProMax, HTRI).

Qualifications

• Four-year degree in chemical engineering.
• 15+ years of process engineering experience.
• Experience with pilot facilities and scale-up.
• Strong knowledge of process simulation tools.

Responsibilities

• Own process engineering for Ohr's pilot facilities end to end — heat and material balances, equipment sizing and specification, PFDs, P&IDs, and the engineering packages.
• Serve as Responsible Engineer across concurrent pilot projects: set the technical position, hold the schedule, own the budget.
• Lead technical interactions with EPC contractors, equipment vendors, and outside consultants.
• Translate R&D chemistry and biocatalysis into scalable unit operations, surfacing scale-up risk during early engineering.
• Lead HAZOP, PHA, and risk mitigation for facility design and operations.
• Establish the design standards, calculation methods, design memos, and review gates.
• Hire and mentor a small process engineering team while staying hands-on.
• Support projects through feasibility, permitting, FEED, procurement, construction, commissioning, and startup.

Skills

Process engineering

Project leadership

Vendor management

HAZOP

Chemical engineering knowledge

Education

B.S. in Chemical Engineering

Tools

Aspen Plus

Aspen HYSYS

ChemCAD

UniSim

ProMax

HTRI

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 is building the pilot facilities that turn our chemistry into production, and this role owns the process engineering that gets them built. As Principal Process Engineer you are accountable for the balances, the equipment, the drawings, and the engineering packages that EPC contractors build from — the technical authority that vendors and contractors answer to, and still the person running the calculation yourself.

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. People are our engine. Collaboration is our multiplier.

02 WHAT YOU'LL DESIGN AND BUILD

• Own process engineering for Ohr's pilot facilities end to end — heat and material balances, equipment sizing and specification, PFDs, P&IDs, and the engineering packages that get built

• Serve as Responsible Engineer across concurrent pilot projects: set the technical position, hold the schedule, own the budget

• Lead technical interactions with EPC contractors, equipment vendors, and outside consultants, responding to their needs quickly and clearly

• Translate R&D chemistry and biocatalysis into scalable unit operations, surfacing scale‑up risk during early engineering

• Lead HAZOP, PHA, and risk mitigation for facility design and operations

• Establish the design standards, calculation methods, design memos, and review gates that a growing engineering team will inherit

• Hire and mentor a small process engineering team while staying hands‑on yourself

• Support projects through feasibility, permitting, FEED, procurement, construction, commissioning, and startup

03 WHAT YOU BRING WITH YOU

You're the engineer who has watched enough designs get built to know which assumptions break in the field. You'd rather be the one who owns the material balance than the one who reviews it, and you're at the point in your career where you want a facility with your judgment in it rather than a larger org chart. You likely have:

• A four‑year degree in chemical engineering

• 15+ years of process engineering experience (or 10–12 years with a Ph.D. or Masters, respectively), with a track record of designs that have been built and operated

• Breadth across process design and operations, with real depth in at least one of: bioprocess and fermentation scale‑up, chemical synthesis scale up, or chemical catalysis

• Experience specifying reactors, vessels, tanks, heat exchangers, pumps, filtration, and separations

• Strong command of process simulation — Aspen Plus, Aspen HYSYS, ChemCAD, UniSim, ProMax, HTRI, or equivalent

• Working knowledge of process instrumentation, control valves, and control loops

• Process Safety Management and hazardous materials handling experience

• The judgment and presence to be the domain expert in a room of vendors, contractors, and regulators

Strong plus

• Pilot plant commissioning and startup experience

• Experience in ATF-, DoD-, or DDESB-regulated manufacturing environments

• Professional Engineer (PE) license

• Experience with AI‑enabled engineering tools, process modeling, and digital twins

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

AFTER 3 MONTHS

• You've connected with and are closely engaged with our research and development team, proactively translating data collected in the lab into pilot facility design

• You're leading the basic engineering package and EPC engagement for one of our pilot facilities, and its scale‑up risks are documented rather than discovered

AFTER 6–12 MONTHS

• You're viewed as an engineering leader across our product verticals in critical minerals, energetics, and propellants, and leading design reviews, HAZOPs, and equipment selection

• The pilot facility engineering design is issued for construction

• Design standards, calculation methods, and review gates are in place and being followed

• You've hired and is mentoring the first process engineers on your team

04 COMPENSATION

This is a hybrid role based in the Denver–Boulder Metro Area (Lafayette, CO), with three days per week onsite and travel up to 30% to pilot sites, laboratories, and vendor facilities. Relocation Assistance provided. 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.