Principal Scientist, Adsorbent Chemistry

About Alta

Alta Resource Technologies (Alta) is a next generation mining company that uses synthetic biology to separate critical minerals from conventional and unconventional resources, including e-waste. Founded in 2023, the company is expanding its team in Boulder, CO. The exponential growth of new tech industries, as well as the information technology sector, are driving historic growth in mineral demand and stressing existing supply streams.

Meeting new demand, diversifying the supply chain, and producing minerals in a more sustainable manner requires the rapid development, deployment and scaling of new technologies. This mineral challenge represents a historic opportunity for technology development and value creation. Alta is proud to be at the vanguard of this mega trend.

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We are seeking an experienced and innovative Principal Scientist to lead the development, optimization, and scale-up of adsorbent chemistries for advanced separation technologies. This role will focus on resin activation, surface functionalization, and immobilization processes to enable high-performance adsorbent materials for industrial applications.

The successful candidate will combine deep expertise in polymer and surface chemistry with a strong understanding of process development and technology transfer. This individual will work cross-functionally with applied biology, process engineering, analytical chemistry, and manufacturing teams to translate laboratory-scale innovations into robust, scalable manufacturing processes.

• Lead the design, development, and optimization of adsorbent materials, including resin activation, surface modification, and functionalization chemistries.
• Develop and scale covalent immobilization strategies for proteins, and other functional molecules onto solid supports.
• Evaluate and optimize a range of support materials.
• Design and execute experiments to characterize adsorbent performance.
• Establish structure-property relationships to guide adsorbent design and process optimization.
• Develop robust, reproducible, and scalable manufacturing processes for adsorbent production.
• Partner with process engineering teams to transfer laboratory methods into demo and commercial-scale operations.
• Define critical process parameters, critical quality attributes, and in-process controls for adsorbent manufacturing.
• Author and review technical reports, SOPs, batch records, specifications, and technology transfer documentation.
• Collaborate closely with analytical teams to develop and validate characterization methods.
• Support intellectual property generation, including invention disclosures, patent applications, and scientific publications.
• Mentor and develop junior scientists while contributing to technical strategy and project prioritization.
• Serve as a technical leader within multidisciplinary project teams and communicate progress to senior leadership.

• Ph.D. in Chemistry, Polymer Chemistry, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, or a related field with 5+ years of relevant industrial experience; or M.S. with 8+ years of experience.
• Demonstrated expertise in resin activation and functionalization chemistries.
• Experience designing and executing independent research programs in adsorbent, surface, or materials chemistry.
• Strong experimental design, data analysis, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to effectively collaborate across multidisciplinary teams.
• U.S. citizenship required.

• Experience scaling adsorbent manufacturing processes from laboratory to pilot or commercial production.
• Knowledge of heterogeneous reaction engineering and solid–liquid processing operations.
• Experience with immobilized proteins, enzymes, peptides, antibodies, or biomolecular ligands.
• Familiarity with technology transfer, process validation, and quality…