Research Chemist

ACU is affiliated with the fellowship of the Church of Christ. This position requires the employee to be a professing Christian and to be willing to support the Christian mission of ACU.ABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITYJob Description Position:
Research Chemist Department: NEXT Lab For the purposes of ACU’s Background Check and Self-Reporting Policy, this position is classified as security sensitive.
** Position Class:
Exempt Full Time
** The key principle of this job is to support ACU’s mission to educate students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world.
** Scope:
** The Nuclear Energy eXperimental Testing (NEXT) Lab at ACU is a world leader in molten salt reactor technology, whose mission is to provide global solutions to the world’s need for energy, water and medical isotopes by advancing the technology of molten salt reactors while educating future leaders in nuclear science and engineering. We are seeking to add a talented organometallic chemist to conduct synthesis and testing of materials capable of extracting fissionproducts or surrogates from molten salts with our multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers.
** NEXT Lab Core Values
** The key principle of this job is to support ACU’s mission to educate students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world. Along with this, and the NEXT mission, our core values are the fundamental beliefs and guiding principles that shape our culture, behavior, and decisions.
1. Christ-like Character We lead with humility, integrity, and wisdom. We strive to be honest mentorswho reflect Christ in our actions and relationships.
2. Driven to Deliver We take initiative, work hard, and stay curious. We’re proactive, creative problem-solvers who are always learning and pushing forward to get things done.
3. Better Together We believe in the power of collaboration. We communicate openly, support one another, and bring a spirit of respect, fun, and teamwork to everything we do.

An ideal candidate will demonstrate a strong desire to integrate into a team that shares our core values and possess the skills listed below. Candidates who align well with our values but may not yet have all of the desired skills may still be considered.
** Basic Responsibilities
*** Organometallic Synthesis
* Molten Salt Research
* Chemical Separations and Purification
* Safety, Compliance, and Environmental Monitoring
* Research, Development, and Technical Support
* Documentation, Reporting, and Collaboration Essential Duties include the following. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals to perform the essential functions.
** Organometallic Synthesis
*** Develop various organic and metal-organic molecular/supramolecular systems and nanostructured materials.
* Characterize synthesized materials using XRD, DSC, FTIR, Raman, etc.
* Determine compatibility of synthesized materials with molten salts.
** Molten Salt Research
*** Design and execute experiments to determine the effectiveness of materials for extraction of species from molten salts.
* Design material forms that are compatible with insertion and removal from a molten salt reactor.
* Demonstrate the effectiveness of materials for the extraction of species from a molten salt reactor.
** Chemical Separations and Purification
*** Design and execute experiments to determine the ability to remove species from extraction materials.
* Implement processes to separate and purify fission products or surrogates after removal from a molten salt reactor.
* Optimize separation and purification procedures to maximize product yield.
** Safety, Compliance, and Environmental Monitoring
*** Ensure compliance with nuclear regulatory requirements and university safety protocols.
* Support radiation licensing and hazardous chemical safety, including beryllium exposure control.
* Participate in environmental monitoring and waste management related to chemical processes.
** Research, Development, and Technical Support
*** Contribute to ongoing R&D projects supporting a molten salt research reactor’s scientific surveillance layer (SSL).
* Provide chemical expertise to reactor operations, simulation teams, and cross-disciplinary…