R&D Chemical Process Engineer: Scale-Up & Innovation

Placements24; Randfontein; Hybrid; ZAR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay

Top facilities in Rustenburg

Career growth opportunities

Flexible work arrangements

Job summary

Placements24 seeks a highly skilled Chemical Process Engineer with a strong R&D focus to join the Rustenburg team. The role drives innovation, develops novel chemical products, and optimizes pilot-scale processes before commercialization.

You will work with scientists and engineers to translate laboratory discoveries into scalable industrial solutions, building the company’s future product pipeline and ensuring safety and efficiency across processes.

Qualifications

• MSc or PhD in Chemical Engineering or related field.
• Minimum of 6 years of experience in process development, scale-up, and pilot plant operations.
• Expertise in reaction engineering, separation processes, and process control.
• Proficiency with process simulation and modeling software.
• Experience with conducting formal PHAs (process hazard analyses).
• Strong technical writing and presentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development and scale-up of new chemical processes from laboratory to pilot plant stages.
• Conduct detailed process design, modeling, and simulation for new product introductions.
• Evaluate and select equipment and technologies for pilot and commercial-scale production.
• Collaborate with R&D scientists to optimize reaction kinetics and process parameters.
• Develop comprehensive process safety assessments (e.g., HAZOP studies).
• Document research findings, process designs, and procedures for IP and knowledge transfer.

Skills

R&D focus

Scale-up

Process design & modeling

PHAs experience

Process optimization

Technical writing

Education

MSc/PhD in Chemical Engineering

Tools

Process simulation software

Job description

Placements24 seeks a highly skilled Chemical Process Engineer with a strong R&D focus to join the Rustenburg team. The role drives innovation, develops novel chemical products, and optimizes pilot-scale processes before commercialization.

You will work with scientists and engineers to translate laboratory discoveries into scalable industrial solutions, building the company’s future product pipeline and ensuring safety and efficiency across processes.