Position OverviewThe R&D Project Manager - Solvent Extraction Metallurgy is a project-management role responsible for planning, coordinating, and delivering technical R&D projects that support rare earth recycling, hydrometallurgical process development, scale-up, and commercialization. The role is expected to spend approximately 60-70% of its time on project management, project controls, stakeholder alignment, governance, risk management, and delivery of R&D milestones. The remaining 30-40% of the role provides technical expertise, such as solvent extraction and rare earth metallurgy to ensure projects are technically robust, practical, safe, and ready for scale-up or implementation.
This position is ideal for a metallurgist or chemical/process engineer who has moved beyond purely technical execution and can lead multidisciplinary R&D workstreams with clear scope, schedule, budget, decision-making, and accountability.
Role Focus and Time Allocation- Project Management and R&D Delivery: Own project planning, execution rhythm, controls, reporting, risk management, cross-functional coordination, stage-gate readiness, and delivery of agreed outcomes.
- Solvent Extraction and Metallurgical Expertise: Provide hands-on technical judgment for REE hydrometallurgy and solvent extraction test plans, data interpretation, flowsheet decisions, scale-up risks, and troubleshooting.
- Business Travel: Support project reviews, pilot campaigns, plant trials, vendor/customer engagements, strategic partner meetings, conferences, and technical troubleshooting.
What You Will Be Doing- Project Management
- Project ownership: Lead multiple R&D projects from intake and scope definition through execution, reporting, stage-gate review, handover, and close-out.
- Scope, schedule, and budget: Develop project charters, work breakdown structures, schedules, budgets, resourcing plans, procurement inputs, milestone plans, and change-control processes.
- Project controls: Track schedule, cost, resources, technical progress, risks, issues, dependencies, action items, decisions, and deliverables using clear and disciplined project management tools.
- Governance and stage gates: Prepare decision packages, readiness reviews, test campaign plans, technical summaries, risk assessments, and stage-gate materials for leadership and project sponsors.
- Cross-functional leadership: Coordinate metallurgists, scientists, engineers, technicians, operations, EHS, procurement, finance, and other key stakeholders as required.
- Stakeholder communication: Provide concise project updates, executive summaries, dashboards, presentations, meeting minutes, and escalation notes that make technical and business decisions easier.
- Risk and issue management: Build and maintain risk registers, mitigation plans, issue logs, contingency plans, decision records, and lessons learned for R&D, pilot, and plant-facing activities.
- Commercialization readiness: Translate R&D outcomes into practical implementation plans, operating envelopes, design inputs, SOP requirements, commissioning inputs, and plant trial plans.
- Safety and compliance: Ensure R&D projects are planned and executed with appropriate EHS reviews, chemical hygiene controls, waste management practices, management of change, and safe work practices.
2.
Solvent Extraction and Metallurgical Expertise - Technical direction: Provide metallurgy input during project scoping, experimental planning, test campaign design, data review, and decision-making.
- REE solvent extraction: Guide work involving extraction, scrubbing, stripping, phase separation, impurity rejection, recycle streams, reagent systems, organic/aqueous ratios, acidity, pH, loading capacity, and product quality.
- Process performance: Optimize REE recovery, selectivity, purity, yield, throughput, reagent consumption, impurity control, phase disengagement, crud control, entrainment, and third-phase risk.
- Scale-up judgment: Identify technical risks when moving from bench to pilot, demonstration, or plant conditions, and ensure project plans include the right validation steps and decision criteria.
- Technical documentation: Ensure technical reports, flowsheet inputs, mass balances, metallurgical accounting, troubleshooting guides, and project close-out documents are accurate and actionable.
What You Need to Succeed- Bachelor's degree in metallurgical engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Chemistry, Project Management (PMP) or a related technical field; Master's degree preferred.
- 10+ years of experience in technical project management, multiple projects management, grant writing, industrial R&D, hydrometallurgy, chemical process development, critical minerals processing, recycling, mining, or manufacturing environments.
- Demonstrated ability to manage technical projects using scopes, schedules, budgets, resource plans, risk registers, dashboards, action logs, decision records, and stage-gate deliverables.
- 5+ years leading R&D projects, pilot campaigns, commercial operations, process improvement workstreams, technology scale-up projects, capital-adjacent studies, or multidisciplinary technical programs.
- Practical solvent extraction and hydrometallurgy knowledge, including aqueous chemistry, organic reagent systems, equilibrium behavior, circuit configuration, phase disengagement, impurity removal, and scale-up considerations.
- Experience coordinating cross-functional teams and external partners without always relying on direct authority; able to drive accountability and remove barriers to execution.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convert complex technical details into clear business updates, options, risks, and recommendations.
- Strong analytical and project-controls capability; proficiency with Excel, MS Project, Primavera, Power BI, Minitab, JMP, Python, process modeling tools, AI, or equivalent platforms is an asset.
- Demonstrated commitment to safety, environmental stewardship, respectful collaboration, practical execution, and continuous improvement in a dynamic startup environment.
- Ability to travel up to 30% for business purposes and work in office, laboratory, pilot plant, vendor, customer, partner, and operating plant environments.
Preferred Qualifications- Direct experience in Project Management involving rare earth elements, solvent extraction, hydrometallurgical flowsheets, critical minerals recycling, magnet recycling, or technology scale-up.
- Project Management Professional (PMP), or comparable project delivery certification is an asset.
- Experience translating bench-scale and pilot results into implementation of roadmaps, operating windows, design bases,
- Professional Engineering designation or eligibility is an asset where applicable.
Pay Range
$88,200-$136,800 CAD
Why You Will Love Cyclic Materials - At Cyclic Materials, we're dedicated to supporting our workforce on their unique career journey
- We offer a competitive compensation package including Health and Dental coverage, RRSP (Canada)/ 401K (USA) contributions and a generous paid time off program that lets you recharge
- We value diversity and are committed to maintaining a workplace where everyone is respected and recognized for their contributions
The base compensation offered is determined based on the successful candidate's relevant experience, skills, and competencies and considers internal equity.
