Analytical Chemist

About Holocene

Holocene is pioneering a novel approach to direct air capture (DAC) that can be a robust, scalable, and affordable route to significantly reduce atmospheric CO2 levels and directly combat climate change. Our mission lies in our namesake, the Holocene Epoch, or the last ~12,000 years of Earth's history where our global climate and atmospheric CO2 levels were remarkably stable and hospitable.

Holocene is a collection of DAC industry veterans and engineers who have designed, built, and scaled the industry over the past decade - starting from the very first DAC plant in the world. We are pioneering a next-generation pathway to deliver well below $100/tonne CO2 removal - the industry ambition - by applying proprietary organic chemistry, scalable industrial technology, and creative engineering solutions.

Why DAC? According to the IPCC, the world"s leading scientific voice on climate change, humanity must directly remove more than 10 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually by 2050, and in perpetuity, to meet global net zero ambitions.

For context, that is an industry 1,000,000 times larger than today"s current direct air capture industry. We are embarking on a journey to create a net-new, trillion-dollar industry that moves more physical mass than the entire oil & gas industry today. Speed, scale, and safety are paramount.

We are fortunate to be supported by some of the most thoughtful climate programs and funders in the world -- including Breakthrough Energy Fellows, Elon Musk Foundation's XPRIZE, the U.S. Department of Energy, Frontier Climate (Stripe, Shopify), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and more.

About The Role

At Holocene, chemists sit at the forefront of understanding our DAC technology to unlock its full potential by developing and assaying novel materials, ensuring their integrity, quality, & performance.

Responsibilities

As an Analytical Chemist, you would be responsible for driving the optimization and development of our analytical methods needed in our chemical system that serves as the foundation to our DAC technology. These responsibilities would include, but are not limited to the following:

• Lead analytical chemistry to support R&D and process development of our DAC technology focusing on (i) new method development to enhance the testing and analysis capabilities at Holocene, (ii) method qualification/verification/validation under minimum guidance, and (iii) development of test specifications and procedures to ensure reliable and reproducible results
• Manage, maintain & operate analytical equipment safely and effectively
• Manage third parties & stakeholders in regards to the operation & maintenance of analytical equipment
• Lead the development of quality assessment and control of our novel organic compounds (synthesised in-house or contract-manufactured) in line with regulatory requirements and best practices.
• Plan, conduct, and evaluate experimental campaigns in the laboratory to inform design decisions and validate chemical models underpinning our technology
• Manage the technical communication and documentation of results, task status and testing issues with the team and occasionally with external stakeholders
• Support the R&D team in all kinds of lab activities such as executing the synthesis of new materials or bench-scale experiments according to established procedures
  

We value teammates who take ownership of their work, lead with curiosity, are excited to work on fast-paced technology development, love to work in an interdisciplinary team, are comfortable making decisions with incomplete information, demonstrate a high adversity quotient, and want to contribute to a meaningful climate change solution.

We are seeking to fill this role as soon as possible in a fully on-site capacity, working alongside our R&D, Chemical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in chemistry or similar discipline
• 5-10 years of work experience in a similar role
• Understand the fundamental basic principles of chromatographic and detection techniques, spectroscopy and wet chemical analysis
• Demonstrate capability and proficiency with ion chromatography, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and various titration techniques (ion-selective electrodes, auto titrators, etc.)
• Demonstrate capability and proficiency with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) methods and equipment
• Experience in the method development of analytical equipment and quality control activities
• Experience working in a laboratory environment, running & managing experiments
• Strong communication skills and a precise & reliable approach to work
  
  

Bonus Qualifications

• Advanced degree (e.g. PhD) in relevant disciplines
• Experience working at a start-up or fast-paced, rapidly changing environment
• Experience with regulatory requirements and best practices for quality assessments and control
• Demonstrate capability and proficiency with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and & thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) methods and equipment
• Ability to take theoretical ideas and turn them into practical solutions
• Experience in design of experiments
• Great at presenting technical data to both scientific and non-scientific stakeholders
• Strong background in organic chemistry and ionic systems in aqueous environments
  
  

Benefits & Compensation

• Competitive salary
• Medical, dental, and vision benefits
• Matching 401K program
• Flexible vacation policy
  
  

How To Apply

Send us your resume and share a few thoughts with us about how you would contribute at Holocene.

We are seeking to fill this position ASAP, in a fully in-person capacity, and will reach out to you if we believe there's a mutual fit.

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