Carbon Materials Development Specialist

With increasing electrification needs and growing demand for lightweight and sustainable materials, the global need for advanced carbon materials is rapidly increasing. Carbo Mat is developing innovative technologies to produce low-cost, sustainable carbon products, including carbon fibers and battery anode materials, from low-value industrial by-products. Over the past several years, Carbo Mat has developed proprietary technologies with the potential to significantly reduce the energy consumption and production cost associated with conventional carbon material manufacturing.

As we continue to grow and scale our technologies, our goal is to contribute to a net-zero future while establishing Canada as a leader in advanced carbon materials and clean technology.

Carbo Mat is seeking a highly motivated Carbon Materials Development Specialist to support the development, optimization, and characterization of carbon-based feed stocks and precursor materials for advanced carbon products, with a particular focus on polyaromatic hydrocarbon feedstock processing. The successful candidate will play a key role in feedstock preparation and processing, spinnable mesophase development, materials characterization, and optimization of material properties to support laboratory- and pilot-scale carbon fiber production.

The successful candidate will be a core member of a small and rapidly growing team of engineers, researchers, and scientists and will report directly to the company’s technical leadership.

Duration: Full-Time, 1 year (Possibility of Extension)

Starting Date: September 1, 2026

Salary: Commensurate with experience and qualifications

• Lead and support the development, preparation, processing, and optimization of carbon-based feed stocks and precursor materials for carbon fiber and other advanced carbon material applications e.g. batteries
• Design and conduct experimental procedures for feedstock preparation, purification, fractionation, thermal treatment, blending, modification, and other material processing steps as required.
• Develop and optimize spinnable mesophase materials, with a focus on achieving suitable material properties for stable melt spinning and subsequent carbon fiber processing.
• Investigate the relationship between feedstock composition, chemical structure, molecular characteristics, mesophase development, rheological properties, and final carbon fiber performance.
• Conduct laboratory-and pilot-scale experiments to develop and optimize precursor materials and establish reproducible processing protocols.
• Characterize feed stocks, mesophase materials, precursors, and intermediate products using relevant analytical and material characterization techniques, including FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, XRD, TGA, DSC, GPC, CHNS, microscopy, rheology, and other methods as required.
• Analyze experimental data to establish relationships between material properties, processing conditions, spinnability, and final product performance.
• Troubleshoot material preparation and processing challenges, including issues related to material consistency, thermal behavior, rheology, spinnability, and reproducibility.
• Develop and maintain standard operating procedures (SOPs), experimental protocols, material specifications, and data-recording systems for feedstock and mesophase development activities.
• Maintain detailed technical records and prepare experimental reports, technical summaries, presentations, and other documentation for internal and external stakeholders.
• Contribute to the development of intellectual property, technical reports, funding proposals, and scientific publications where appropriate.
• Ensure that laboratory and pilot plant activities are conducted in accordance with applicable safety procedures, hazard assessments, and best practices.
• Support junior technical staff, interns, and students involved in carbon materials development activities.

• Master's degree or higher in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Chemistry, Polymer Science, Petroleum Engineering, or a closely related discipline, or a bachelor's degree with relevant industrial or research experience.
• Minimum of 1-2+ years of experience in carbon materials synthesis, petroleum-derived materials synthesis, pitch preparation, mesophase development, polymer processing, thermal processing, materials development, or related areas is strongly preferred.
• Minimum of 2-3+ years of experience with laboratory-scale or…