About the role 

Thermulon is a UK-based company whose patented process chemistry makes aerogel affordable. Our product, PowdAir, is a silica aerogel powder with best-in-class insulation performance, made at a fraction of the operating cost and capex of other aerogels. We are scaling into commercial-scale production to serve European and global customers. 

Within the process scale up team, the Senior Process Engineer owns the process technology selection and qualification programme for selected unit operations of Thermulon’s process: setting the trial strategy, coordinating 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 participate in design and safety reviews for our First of a Kind (FOAK) plant and be responsible for client-side input into the process design, equipment procurement process, and commissioning of the plant. You will also contribute to, or own, techno-economic analyses. This is a senior but hands-on role in a small, lean organisation, working alongside project management, 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 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 test sites and for commissioning plant. 
• Real diligence and care for the integrity of 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 travel to vendor and partner sites for trials and to be mobilised to sites in the UK and/or Europe for periods during commissioning, and operation of the plants.   

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. 

• Safely plan, lead, and attend equipment trials at vendors or test sites, from small-scale tests through to larger-scale demonstrations, defining objectives, test plans, success criteria, and sample and data requirements. Turn results into clear equipment recommendations. 

• 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. 

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 and contribute to scale-up decisions. 

• Collect, analyse and report data from trials to inform scale-up. 

• Support technology transfer, including process documentation, troubleshooting and trial support, and contribute to the toll-manufacturing technical risk register, driving 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. 
• Contribute to, or own, techno-economic and environmental impact analyses to inform design decisions and senior management of process costs and impact. 

• 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 parties, and turning the results into equipment selection decisions. 
• A solid grounding in mass and energy balances and process scale-up principles and calculations. 
• Strong written and verbal communication, including clear technical reports and presentations. 
• Creative and proactive problem-solving. 
• Ability to manage multiple workstreams 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.