Senior Chemist/Materials Scientist

Empower; Fort Worth, Arlington, Dallas (TX, TX, TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Empower EIT is seeking a Senior Chemist / Materials Scientist to own the chemistry of its Direct Lithium Extraction platform, including sorbent development, elution, and conversion of eluate to battery-grade lithium carbonate. You will drive bench to pilot operations and shape the design basis for a commercial-scale unit.

The role requires a PhD and 5+ years in hydrometallurgy or related areas, with hands-on experience in multiple unit operations and scale-up, plus experience mentoring staff and

Qualifications

• PhD in Chemistry, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering or related field.
• 5+ years of industrial or applied R&D in hydrometallurgy, sorbent or ion-exchange development, or critical-mineral extraction.
• Hands-on experience with at least two of: ion exchange, solvent extraction, leaching.
• Demonstrated scale-up of a process or material from bench to pilot, including mass balances.
• Proficiency with ICP, XRD, SEM, BET and FTIR, and with Design of Experiments.
• Track record of SOP and QA/QC documentation suitable for technology transfer.
• Authorization to work in the United States; willingness to travel to pilot and field sites.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of lithium-selective sorbents and ion-exchange media.
• Improve capacity, selectivity, kinetics and cycle life across brines of differing chemistry.
• Scale media synthesis from gram to production batches.
• Develop and optimize load, wash, elution and regeneration chemistry.
• Develop purification and precipitation steps to battery-grade lithium.
• Characterize feed brines and identify scaling and impurity risks.
• Translate bench results into pilot operating strategies and support pilot commissioning.
• Build and validate mass balances; support flowsheet modeling and design basis of the commercial unit.
• Work with process engineering and operations on the design basis of the commercial unit.
• Run and develop analytical methods (ICP-OES, XRD, SEM, BET, FTIR) and supervise data quality.
• Write SOPs and QA/QC protocols; support product certificates of analysis for customer qualification.
• Apply DOE and root-cause analysis to test programs.
• Generate invention disclosures and support patent filings; document work for regulatory and grant reporting.
• Mentor junior engineers and technicians; present results to management, partners and investors.
• Lead laboratory HSE practice for corrosive and hazardous reagents.

Skills

Chemistry

R&D leadership

Analytical methods

Process development

Technical communication

Education

PhD in Chemistry/Mater. Sci./Chemical Eng.

Tools

ICP

XRD

SEM

BET

FTIR

METSIM

DWSIM

Aspen

Job description

The Senior Chemist / Materials Scientist owns the chemistry behind Empower EIT's Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) platform: the lithium-selective sorbent, the elution and regeneration chemistry, and the conversion of eluate to battery-grade lithium carbonate. The role carries that chemistry from the bench through pilot operation and into the design basis of a commercial-scale DLE unit.

Duties and Responsibilities

Sorbent and media development

• Lead development of lithium-selective sorbents and ion-exchange media: synthesis, surface functionalization, and structure–performance studies.
• Improve capacity, selectivity, kinetics and cycle life across brines of differing chemistry.
• Scale media synthesis from gram to production batches, reducing yield loss, cycle time and material cost.

Process chemistry

• Develop and optimize load, wash, elution and regeneration chemistry, including reagent selection and consumption.
• Develop purification and precipitation steps that convert eluate to battery-grade lithium.
• Characterize feed brines and identify scaling, fouling and impurity risks to the process.

Pilot and scale-up

• Translate bench results into pilot operating strategies and support pilot commissioning, operation and troubleshooting.
• Build and validate mass balances; supply the process chemistry basis for flowsheet modeling and.
• Work with process engineering and operations on the design basis of the commercial unit.

Analytical and quality

• Run and develop analytical methods (ICP-OES, XRD, SEM, BET, FTIR) and supervise data quality.
• Write SOPs and QA/QC protocols; support product certificates of analysis for customer qualification.
• Apply Design of Experiments and root-cause analysis to test programs.

Technical leadership

• Generate invention disclosures and support patent filings; document work for regulatory and grant reporting.
• Mentor junior engineers and technicians; present results to management, partners and investors.
• Lead laboratory HSE practice for corrosive and hazardous reagents.
• PhD in Chemistry, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering or a related field.
• 5+ years of industrial or applied R&D in hydrometallurgy, sorbent or ion-exchange development, or critical-mineral extraction.
• Hands-on experience with at least two of: ion exchange, solvent extraction, leaching,
• Demonstrated scale-up of a process or material from bench to pilot, including mass balances and
• Proficiency with ICP, XRD, SEM, BET and FTIR, and with Design of Experiments.
• Track record of SOP and QA/QC documentation suitable for technology transfer.
• Authorization to work in the United States; willingness to travel to pilot and field sites.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience developing lithium-selective sorbents for DLE, including multi-cycle performance testing on real brines.
• Polymer or inorganic sorbent synthesis and production-route optimization.
• Lithium carbonate or hydroxide conversion and purification to battery-grade specification.
• Process modeling with METSIM, DWSIM, Aspen or similar.
• Patents, peer-reviewed publications, or competitive grant funding in extraction chemistry.
• Leadership of a pilot-plant program, including HSE-compliant commissioning.

About Empower EIT and how to apply

Empower EIT is building an integrated lithium platform that combines direct lithium extraction technology, battery-grade conversion technology, and strategic lithium brine assets in the United States.

Empower EIT offers competitive compensation and a benefits package that includes medical, dental and vision coverage. Empower EIT is an equal opportunity employer. Only candidates whose qualifications match the role will be contacted. We do not accept agency submissions for this position.