Reaction Engineer

About Ammobia

Ammobia is on a mission to revolutionize the ammonia industry. We are a seed-stage startup developing Haber Bosch 2.0 – a next-generation ammonia synthesis process enabling cost-effective, clean ammonia production. Our proprietary swing reactor system runs at 10x lower pressures and 4x higher conversions than the state of the art, enabling economical production at any plant scale or energy source.

Clean ammonia will support ammonia’s growing role in our decarbonized world, tackling some of the most difficult to abate sectors including chemicals, fertilizers, and heavy-duty transportation. We are supported and recognized by leading climate tech organizations including Starlight Ventures, the US Department of Energy, Collaborative Fund, Third Derivative, Forbes 30u30, and more.

Job Description

Ammobia is seeking a motivated and creative Reaction Engineer to develop and optimize our ammonia production process. You will be a key member of our reaction engineering team, developing and scaling our catalytic reaction process at the bench and pilot scales. Your primary focus will be the reactor – process parameters, active materials, and architectures; you will interface directly with equipment, materials, and process engineers and contribute to technical development across the company. There is significant opportunity to grow your role alongside the company.

Successful applicants will have most of the following qualifications.

• Conduct bench and pilot scale catalytic reaction process development, directly performing experimental and or model/simulation-based development
• Design and optimize processes and reactor systems at increasing scales, alongside process and equipment engineers
• Design, analyze, and optimize thermocatalytic experiments and processes
• Operate, modify, and maintain state-of-the-art custom reactor systems
• Transfer test results and reaction processes to process engineering and scale up
• Characterize, specify, and select active materials for ammonia synthesis and separation

• 3+ years’ experience in a relevant industrial setting (5 preferred)
• Demonstrated expertise and deep knowledge of reaction engineering, heterogeneous catalysis, thermodynamics, kinetics, heat and mass transport
• Demonstrated expertise in process development, experimental design, and optimization
• Demonstrated expertise in data analysis, especially for time-series data from dynamic processes, e.g. with Python, MATLAB, or similar
• Hands on experience operating bench scale reactor equipment, working knowledge of bench scale gas handling/sensing instrumentation (mass flow controllers, pressure regulators, temperature sensors, pressure sensors) 

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Experience and enthusiasm to mentor junior engineers
• Self-motivated, proactive, and able to work both independently and collaboratively 
• Passion for sustainability and excitement about working at an early-stage start-up
• PhD or equivalent experience in chemical, mechanical, or materials engineering

• Hands on experience designing and building bench-to-pilot scale reactor equipment, especially developing PFDs, P&IDs
• Demonstrated expertise in modeling of reaction processes (including kinetics, heat and mass transport) and validation with experimental data, e.g. with Aspen, gPROMS, ChemKin, Python, MATLAB, or similar
• Experience synthesizing, manufacturing, and/or procuring catalysts 
• Experience in adsorbent separations, PSA, TSA or similar
• Experience in pilot scale chemical processing
• Experience in start-up environments
• Experience in ammonia synthesis, cracking, or separations

Who we are

We are a small and passionate team of scientists and engineers. We value teamwork, accountability, open communication, and rapid iteration. We emphasize career growth, mutual feedback, and a fun and exciting working environment. Check out ammobia.co/careers for our full values statement and ammobia.co/team to learn more about us.

The position is full-time and in-person in San Francisco, CA. Compensation and job title will be commensurate with experience.