R&D Materials Engineer (Level I/II/Senior)

Company Overview:

Found Energy is building clean energy delivery platforms capable of replacing fossil fuels for heavy industries ranging from aluminum production (4% of global CO2 emissions) to fertilizer production (2% of global CO2 emissions) to maritime shipping (3% of global CO2 emissions). Building off technology developed at MIT that enables metallic aluminum to split water, our energy delivery systems safely generate hydrogen and industrial heat on-site at >5x the volumetric energy density of liquid hydrogen and >3x that of methanol and ammonia. By integrating storage, transport, and generation into a single package, our technology solves some of the biggest pain points in renewable energy transportation and storage.

At Found Energy, we believe in securing a livable and equitable future for our planet, and we are looking for partners who are motivated by this goal to join us. For more information, visit https://found.energy.

Benefits Overview:

Health, dental, 20 days PTO, 11 holidays, unlimited sick days, 12 weeks parental leave, stock options, professional development budget, and more.

Job Overview:

Found Energy is looking for R&D materials engineers with 2+ years in industry as well as recent graduates with demonstrated project experience. Applicants should have prior experience working in chemical and/or metallurgical laboratory environments with a strong proficiency in standard laboratory techniques, equipment, and documentation practices. Prior experience working with gasses or materials at moderate or high temperatures and elevated pressures, including steam, hydrogen, natural gas, or other flammable gasses is a plus.

Found Energy has demonstrated its core hydrogen generation technologies at the kW-scale, including a system capable of powering a full-sized electric vehicle. We are now working to scale up the reactor system for both our minimum viable product (MVP) and commercial pilot demonstrations. The completion of the MVP and commercial pilots requires designing and testing numerous sub-processes and sub-systems at the targeted industrial scale, as well as at various intermediate scales along the way. 

R&D materials engineers in this role will be responsible for investigating, enhancing, and developing new materials to advance our short-term and long-term R&D goals, including validating materials from customers and partners, and improving the chemistry of our system to achieve better performance at lower cost. In this role you will be responsible for designing and executing experiments, synthesizing the data, and disseminating the results to the technical staff. You should be comfortable working in cross-disciplinary teams involving mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, as well as business and non-technical staff.

Good chemical hygiene and safety practices are paramount. You will be expected to participate, lead, and improve upon our chemical hygiene and safety protocols.  

Responsibilities and Duties:

• Execute experiments following laboratory best practices and Found Energy SOPs
• Operate bench-scale and prototype-scale reactors
• Test customer provided and internally developed materials for quality assurance
• Document observations in detailed and careful manner
• Synthesize data to determine trends, correlations, and underlying mechanisms
• Present results and conclusions to the materials development and broader technical teams
• Propose and collaboratively plan new experiments based on empirical findings
• Maintain and improve the experimental and analytical capabilities of the lab as needed
• Develop and maintain SOP documentation for experimental procedures and prototype systems
• Participate in and improve upon chemical hygiene and safety protocols  
• Invent new material compositions and chemical systems
• Anticipate and proactively address challenges in system performance
• Proactively identify challenges, design and test creative solutions 
• Participate in building and growing company culture and values
• Mentor interns and co-op students on R&D-related projects

Preferred Qualifications:

• Deeply motivated by the climate crisis and its downstream impacts
• 2+ years of work experience in materials science and engineering, chemical engineering, chemistry, or related fields; or recent graduate with a degree in these disciplines from an accredited institution and demonstrated hands-on experience (projects, co-ops, etc.)
  • Note: Role designation will be commensurate with experience and candidates with additional experience will be considered for advanced individual contributor roles
• Exceptional commun