Senior Process Engineer

Job title: Senior Process Engineer

About the role

Thermulon is a UK aerogel insulation company developing a cost-competitive manufacturing process. We are scaling from pilot into commercial-scale production to serve European and global customers.

The Senior Process Engineer owns Thermulon's process technology selection and qualification programme end to end: setting the trial strategy, leading trials with equipment vendors (for example, testing dryers), and recommending the right technology for scale-up, both at our toll-manufacturing partners and in our first commercial-scale plant. You'll also support the toll-manufacturing scale-up, assessing the unit operations to be implemented and contributing to scale-up decisions. This is a senior but hands-on role in a small, lean organisation, working alongside the Lead Process Engineer, the wider process engineering team, R&D and external partners.

Location: London W10, with travel to vendor, partner and plant sites in the UK and Europe

First round interviews will take place w/c 16th November.

What this role needs from you

You'll live Thermulon's values: Safe, Collaborate, Impact, Pace, Innovate and Grow. In practice that means:

• An uncompromising attitude to health and safety in trial planning, equipment selection and day-to-day work.

• A naturally creative problem solver, comfortable finding practical working solutions when the standard route isn't available, and able to work with high levels of uncertainty.

• Genuine energy for getting things done day to day, close to the detail, and comfortable rolling up your sleeves at a vendor's test facility.

• Real diligence and care for the integrity of trial data and technical assessments that the projects rely on.

• Confidence building relationships with equipment vendors and partners, and holding them to clear trial objectives and standards.

• Comfortable operating with high autonomy in a small, lean organisation, managing several workstreams at once.

• Willingness and availability to be mobilised to sites in the UK and/or Europe for periods during construction, commissioning, and operation of the plants, including travel to vendor and partner sites for trials. In the future, this may include relocating to a manufacturing site.

Key accountabilities

Process technology selection and qualification

• Own the technology selection and qualification programme end to end, setting the trial strategy and priorities and making technology recommendations to senior leadership.

• Identify, screen and compare candidate technologies and equipment vendors against technical, safety, cost and scale-up criteria.

• Plan and lead equipment trials with vendors (for example, dryers), from small-scale tests through to larger-scale demonstrations, defining objectives, test plans, success criteria, and sample and data requirements.

• Attend trials on site and turn the results into clear recommendations for equipment selection.

• Own equipment user requirement specifications, enquiry packages and technical bid evaluations.

• Define acceptance criteria and lead FAT & SAT testing and commissioning support for the selected equipment.

• Ensure trials are run safely, with risk assessments agreed with vendors in advance. Toll-manufacturing scale-up

• Support the toll-manufacturing scale-up project alongside our toll-manufacturing technical lead, assessing the unit operations to be implemented.

• Take part in technical meetings where trial results are shared, and contribute to scale-up decisions.

• Collect, analyse and report data from vendor trials and toll-manufacturing runs to inform scale-up.

• Support technology transfer, including process documentation, troubleshooting and trial support, and contribute to the toll-manufacturing technical risk register, driving relevant actions to closeout. Safety, documentation and technical leadership

• Contribute engineering judgement to HAZIDs, HAZOPs, technical risk assessments and management of change (MOC), and drive actions to closeout, leading through influence.

• Provide inputs to process flow diagrams (PFDs), prepare technical documentation for partners, vendors and grant bodies, and contribute to process IP.

• Provide technical review and quality assurance of trial and selection work by other engineers.

• Collaborate with R&D, Operations and EH&S, communicating findings clearly to technical and non-technical colleagues.

Requirements

• We welcome applicants who don't necessarily tick all the boxes. If you feel that you tick most of them and are motivated and willing to learn the rest, we encourage you to apply.

• Essential

• A degree (BEng/MEng, BSc or MSc) in Chemical Engineering or a related field.

• 5+ years of hands-on experience in process development, scale-up or manufacturing in the chemical or related industries.

• Experience planning and running equipment trials, ideally with third-party vendors, and turning the results into equipment selection decisions.

• A solid grounding in mass and energy balances and scale-up calculations.

• Strong written and verbal communication, including clear technical reports.

• Creative and proactive problem-solving.

• Ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment.

• Looking to grow with the company as it goes through rapid expansion.

• Quick to learn, pick up and critically evaluate information.

• Ability to work independently and prioritise own tasks.

• Mobility and interest to work at different sites for scale up, commissioning, and early production, and openness to future relocation to a manufacturing site.

• Desirable

• A track record of leading equipment trials and technology selection with third-party vendors, through to specified, qualified equipment.

• Experience working with or managing third-party manufacturing partners or equipment vendors.

• Experience writing user requirement specifications, running technical bid evaluations, or supporting FAT & SAT and commissioning.

• Familiarity with plant capital projects and scale-up methodologies.

• Experience of techno-economic analysis of chemical plants.

• Involvement in process hazard studies (HAZID, HAZOP) and management of change.

• Experience scaling an immature or novel chemical process.

Benefits

• Job Type: Full-time, London-based, Permanent

Salary

Wellbeing:

• 30 days' holiday.

• Flexible working outside core hours, based on workload and team agreements.

• Private medical insurance for you and your dependants (medical, dental, mental health, wellbeing, alternative treatments and travel insurance).

• £600 a year health and wellbeing allowance to spend on what helps you most, from a gym membership to a spa day or therapy sessions.

• Ride to work scheme: a new bicycle and equipment through salary sacrifice, with tax savings. You'll be supported by an internal/external mentor from the senior team or industry, with a clear progression route within the Thermulon Career Path.

We are especially keen to encourage applications from people underrepresented in the deep tech and climate space. Climate change and climate justice are both social and inclusion issues. We especially welcome applicants with experience across all equality and inclusion challenges, and applicants whose experience differs from exactly what is specified here.