Role OverviewMariana Minerals is seeking a highly motivated Materials Engineer to join our R&D and product development team. The successful candidate will be responsible for designing, developing, and optimizing processes for novel material synthesis - from lab-scale proof-of-concept to pilot and commercial scale implementation. This position will play a critical role in translating laboratory discoveries into scalable, economically viable production processes.
What You'll Do- Conduct lab-scale and pilot scale wet chemical synthetic experiments to validate proof-of-concept ideas and develop new material formulations.
- Design and execute experiments to establish reaction parameters, yield optimization, and reproducibility.
- Evaluate and select equipment and process configurations for pilot-scale and commercial-scale operations.
- Develop process flow diagrams (PFDs), process and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs), and mass/energy balances.
- Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams including R&D scientists, operations, and external vendors to ensure smooth scale-up.
- Support process safety reviews, risk assessments, and environmental compliance planning.
- Collect and analyze process data to identify areas for optimization, cost reduction, and performance improvement.
- Prepare technical documentation, reports, and presentations for internal and external stakeholders.
- Work closely with cross-functional teams including lab technicians, pilot plant engineers, process engineers, project execution teams, and more to scale designs from lab through to commercial scale
- Work closely with the software and machine learning teams to automate capital project execution workflows and develop reactor and plant optimization algorithms
What You'll Bring- MS degree in Materials Science, Chemistry, Materials Engineering, or Chemical Engineering (PhD preferred).
- Hands-on experience in materials synthesis (e.g., solid-state, hydrothermal, precipitation, or other chemical synthesis techniques).
- Proficiency with materials characterization tools such as XRD, SEM, TEM, BET, TGA/DSC, and spectroscopic methods.
- Experience with process design, equipment specification, and scale-up of laboratory processes to pilot or production scale.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a data-driven approach.
- Excellent communication and teamwork skills in a multidisciplinary environment.
- Familiarity with process simulation tools (e.g., OLI systems or equivalent) is a plus.
