Senior Chemical Process Engineer Jobs in Silver Spring, MD

The Process Engineer will serve as the critical technical bridge between R&D and the execution organization (engineering, procurement, and construction) as a novel process moves from bench/pilot scale toward a commercial, integrated production system for the production of graphite from natural gas. This individual will work closely with the R&D team during process development, applying process engineering discipline - mass and energy balances, equipment sizing logic, safety and operability considerations, and scale-up principles - to guide experimental work toward a design that is not just scientifically sound but industrially executable.

As the process matures, this person will own the conversion of R&D findings into a fully integrated Process Flow Diagram (PFD) and mass/energy balance covering all inputs, outputs, utilities, and waste streams. They will then carry that technical ownership forward through detailed engineering, equipment procurement, and construction/commissioning, ensuring design intent is preserved and that field realities are fed back into the process design as needed.

This is a hands-on, cross-functional role suited to an engineer who is equally comfortable in a lab/pilot environment, at a P&ID review table, and on a construction site.

Key Responsibilities

Phase 1 - R&D Partnership & Process Development

• Work side-by-side with R&D scientists/engineers to understand the chemistry, reaction kinetics, and unit operations underlying the novel process including designing and running experiments and analyzing data.
• Bring process engineering rigor to experimental design: identify what data (rates, conversions, yields, residence times, temperatures, pressures, phase behavior) will be needed to support later scale-up and equipment sizing.
• Develop preliminary mass and energy balances from lab/pilot data, identifying gaps, inconsistencies, or unrealistic assumptions early.
• Flag scale-up risks proactively (e.g., heat/mass transfer limitations, fouling, corrosion, off-gas handling, solids handling, reaction runaway potential) before they become costly late-stage discoveries.
• Support pilot-scale trials: help define and execute test plans, instrumentation needs, and success criteria that generate data usable for commercial design.
• Translate R&D's process understanding into a common technical language usable by engineering, safety, and operations stakeholders.

Phase 2 - Flowsheet Development & Basis of Design

• Own development of the integrated Process Flow Diagram (PFD), capturing all major process steps, equipment, and streams.
• Build and maintain a full mass and energy balance across the process, including all raw material inputs, utility demands (electricity, cooling, inert/process gases, water), products, byproducts, and waste/emission streams.
• Develop the Basis of Design document, including design capacities, operating envelopes, turndown requirements, and key assumptions.
• Identify and specify major equipment duties (reactors, furnaces, heat exchangers, separation equipment, gas handling systems, etc.) in coordination with equipment vendors and R&D.
• Lead or contribute to HAZID/HAZOP-style reviews at the flowsheet stage to identify safety, environmental, and operability risks early.
• Coordinate with utilities, EHS, and site engineering to ensure the flowsheet reflects real site constraints (utility availability, permitting limits, footprint, etc.).

Phase 3 - Detailed Engineering, Procurement & Construction Support

• Serve as the process engineering point of contact on the project team through front-end engineering design and detailed engineering, ensuring P&IDs, equipment datasheets, and control philosophy remain consistent with the approved process design basis.
• Review and approve vendor equipment proposals and datasheets for technical compliance with process requirements.
• Support procurement by providing technical input during RFQ development, bid evaluation, and vendor technical clarifications.
• Participate in design reviews (P&ID reviews and 3D model reviews) representing the process perspective.
• Support commissioning and start-up planning, including development of startup/operating procedures, control setpoints, and troubleshooting guides derived from the process design intent.
• Be available for site support during construction, pre-commissioning, and commissioning to resolve field issues that touch the process design, and to capture as-built learnings that should feed back into future scale-up or replication of the process.
• Maintain document control and revision history for the flowsheet and mass/energy balance as the design evolves, ensuring a single source of truth throughout the project lifecycle.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering (or closely related field); well-qualified candidates with a Master's degree will also be considered.
• 5+ years of process engineering experience, including exposure to both process development/R&D support and capital project execution (FEED/detailed engineering through construction).
• Demonstrated experience developing PFDs, P&IDs, mass and energy balances, and basis of design, and control narrative documents from early-stage or incomplete data.
• Working knowledge of equipment sizing fundamentals (reactors, heat exchangers, furnaces/thermal processing equipment, gas/solids handling systems).
• Familiarity with process safety methodologies (HAZOP, HAZID, LOPA) and how they apply at both the flowsheet and detailed design stage.
• Experience collaborating directly with R&D/technical development teams, translating lab-scale findings into engineering-ready data.
• Strong understanding of thermodynamics and reaction kinetics principles as they apply to solid/gas interactions and carbon materials in particular
• Strong technical documentation and communication skills - able to speak credibly and produce written reports and presentations to scientists, engineers, and construction/field personnel alike.
• Willingness to travel, to be hands-on in the lab, and to work at a desk depending on the needs of the day.
• Maintain safe laboratory practices and enforce safety protocols, particularly when working with flammable gases and reactive materials.
• Software proficiency such as: Visio, Aspen Plus, HYSIS, etc.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with high-temperature thermal processing (furnaces, kilns, rotary reactors) and/or specialty gas atmospheres (e.g., inert, reactive, or corrosive gas systems).
• Experience scaling a process from lab/bench through pilot to first commercial unit ("first-of-a-kind" plant experience).
• Experience with setting up and running design of experiments (DOE) or multi-variate testing (MVT).
• Familiarity with solids testing such as oil absorption number (OAN) and surface area (BET) as well as graphite application testing for batteries to measure capacity, purity, and structure.
• Familiarity with CAD software such as Solidworks.
• Exposure to materials of construction selection for corrosive or high-temperature service.
• PE license or working toward one.

Core Competencies

• Technical curiosity and rigor - comfortable operating in ambiguity during early R&D stages while still applying engineering discipline.
• Cross-functional fluency - equally effective communicating with scientists, design engineers, procurement,
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• Ownership mindset - treats the flowsheet and mass/energy balance as a living, controlled document they are personally accountable for.
• Practical judgment - able to balance ideal process design against real-world constraints of schedule, cost, and constructability.
• Proactive risk identification - surfaces scale-up and safety risks early rather than letting them surface during commissioning.