Director of Engineering

Are you a seasoned process engineering leader with a proven track record of scaling cuttingedge technologies from pilot to commercial scale Join Travertine to lead the rapid expansion of its innovative electrochemical technology to enable sustainable critical element production and massively reduce industrial waste.

Travertine Tech

Travertine is a Climate Tech startup based in Boulder CO that is rapidly scaling an electrochemical technology for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and sustainable critical element extraction. Our process takes carbon dioxide from the air and sources of waste sulfate to produce carbonate minerals sulfuric acid and hydrogen. The sulfuric acid is used in extraction of critical elements like lithium and nickel for EV batteries and phosphorus for fertilizer. The Travertine Process was developed by Prof. Laura Lammers at her UC Berkeley lab. Travertine was founded in 2022 to scale this process to gigatons of CDR and massively reduce industrial waste.

In 2022 we raised a seed round from the Grantham Foundation and Clean Energy Ventures we were one of the first companies to receive prepurchases of CDR from the new Stripeled $1B Frontier fund and we received a $2M grant from the DOE’s ARPAE program. We were named C&EN 10 startups to watch in 2022 a Bloomberg NEF Pioneer in 2023 and are part of the RMI Third Derivative 1st Gigaton Captured program. We have recently closed a substantial convertible note round received a state agency grant to build a Demo Plant and are in engineering for the Demo Plant to be commissioned in mid2025.

What You Will Do

We are seeking a highly experienced process engineer to take the lead on scaling our process from pilot to commercial scale. This role will lead engineering for the scaleup and commercialization of our process from our current inhouse pilotscale (10 kg/day of sulfuric acid production TRL5) through our Demo Plant (0.4 TPD sulfuric acid) and ultimately to worldscale sulfuric acid production plants (1000 TPD of sulfuric acid production). Our process is well suited to scale rapidly as it combines three industrialized unit operations in a novel way: saltsplitting electrolysis hydrometallurgy and CO2 direct air capture with a crossflow cooling tower. Work with the company leadership to refine and then take the lead on executing a plan for process scaleup.

Responsibilities

• Define R&D priorities for performance and operational scaleup and oversee implementation of R&D initiatives in collaboration with R&D leads.
• Translate results from R&D into engineering design.
• Review and refine heat and mass balance models with our process simulation engineers.
• Review and improve PFDs P&IDs and Equipment Lists.
• Drive efficiency cost reductions and value engineering across the entire process to ensure what we are building is economical.
• Manage contractors executing FEED studies of our process.
• Build new and manage existing relationships with consultants vendors and EPCs needed to scaleup.

Who You Are

As the Director of Process Engineering you bring over 15 years of extensive experience in chemical process engineering specializing in advancing projects from pilot through demo to commercial scale. You have a proven track record in taking novel technologies to fullscale commercialization with expertise in strategic planning project management and operational optimization. Your handson approach innovative mindset and commitment to efficiency and cost reduction ensure successful project execution and operational excellence.

Qualifications

• 15 years of experience in chemical process engineering
• Experience taking novel technologies from the pilot to commercialscale
• Degree in chemical engineering process engineering or equivalent
• Experience in both a startup or R&D environment and commercial operations is a plus
• Experience in phosphate fertilizer production is a desired optional qualification
• Experience in the following industries are ideal: phosphate fertilizer production chloralkali electrolysis and/or hydrometallurgy

Benefits

This role is based in our headquarters in Boulder CO.
Salary range is $130000$190000/yr and is highly dependent on skill set and experience.

Additional benefits include:

• Stock options
• Health Dental Vision Life Insurance
• 401k with 3% match
• Flexible time off policy