Role OverviewMariana Minerals is looking for a highly motivated Sr. Process Engineer to join our San Francisco Pilot Plant team. You will lead the design, deployment, and operation of first-of-its-kind refining processes for critical minerals, while also supporting development of software for automated plant optimization. This position is highly hands-on and will play a critical role in bridging R&D and Operations, ensuring processes are robust, safe, cost-effective, and suitable for commercial production.
What You'll Do- Work closely with Pilot Plant Technicians to operate, maintain, troubleshoot, and improve pilot-scale processing equipment
- Design experiments to evaluate process performance, recovery, throughput, and product quality
- Create and maintain key engineering and operational documentation such PFDs, HMBs, P&IDs, Operating Procedures, and Process Control Narratives
- Lead equipment design scopes from concept, through procurement, fabrication, installation, commissioning, and handover to Operations
- Work closely with cross-functional teams including R&D, commercial plant design engineers, project execution teams, and more to scale designs from lab to the pilot to production scale
- Work closely with the software and machine learning teams to develop and implement reactor and plant optimization algorithms
- Travel to pilot and commercial sites to drive commissioning, startup, and ramp-up alongside operations & plant design teams
What You'll Bring- B.S., M.S., or PhD in Chemical Engineering or related field
- Minimum of 5 years of experience supporting R&D scale up, pilot plant operation, and/or commercial production in minerals processing, chemicals, specialty materials, oil & gas, or similar industry
- Strong understanding of reaction engineering, solid-liquid separation, leaching, ion exchange, solvent extraction, and/or similar unit operations
- Hands-on experience designing, commissioning, and operating pilot or commercial-scale process equipment
- Ability to design experiments, problem-solve, and analyze complex datasets
- Strong commitment to Health & Safety and experience with risk management, management of change, and hazard assessment
- Excellent technical writing, communication, and teamwork skills
- Comfort working in fast-paced, cross-functional environments
