Scale-Up Process Engineer – Critical Minerals

NES Fircroft; Houston (TX); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Job summary

NES Fircroft is seeking a Process Engineer to support the design, scale-up, and optimization of advanced process technologies for critical minerals and industrial separation applications in Houston, TX. The role reports to the Director of Engineering & Projects and emphasizes development from concept through commercialization.

The ideal candidate has a chemical engineering degree, 5+ years in process design/scale-up, and experience with iodine extraction, lithium brine processing, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering required.
• Minimum 5 years in process engineering, design or scale-up.
• Minimum 2 years in critical minerals recovery, lithium/iodine or specialty separations.
• Experience with corrosive service, phase separation and temperature-dependent operations.
• Experience commercializing new process technologies from design to scale-up.

Responsibilities

• Design and optimize chemical process systems from concept through commercial deployment.
• Develop engineering deliverables including PFDs, P&IDs, mass and energy balances, equipment specs, and process calculations.
• Develop process control philosophies and support automation strategies.
• Coordinate engineering design activities with third-party engineering firms and vendors.
• Develop commercial-scale process designs and establish scale-up methodologies.
• Lead process engineering for modular and skid-mounted systems.
• Support fabrication, installation, commissioning, and startup activities.
• Improve sizing models and cost estimation tools for proposals and projects.
• Design systems to handle variable feed chemistries and operating conditions.
• Develop pretreatment systems: filtration, chemical dosing, phase separation.
• Integrate process systems with upstream and downstream operations.
• Serve as lead Process Engineer on technology development and commercialization projects.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to ensure scalability and reliability.
• Support business development through process design, proposals, and cost estimates.

Skills

Process design

Scale-up

Mass & energy balances

PFDs & P&IDs

Process control philosophies

Third-party coordination

Modular systems

Aspen HYSYS

Aspen Plus

UniSim

Education

Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering

Tools

Aspen HYSYS

Aspen Plus

UniSim

Job description

NES Fircroft is seeking a Process Engineer to support the design, scale-up, and optimization of advanced process technologies for critical minerals and industrial separation applications in Houston, TX. The role reports to the Director of Engineering & Projects and emphasizes development from concept through commercialization.

The ideal candidate has a chemical engineering degree, 5+ years in process design/scale-up, and experience with iodine extraction, lithium brine processing, and