Postdoctoral Researcher –Catalytic Oleochemistry and Process Scale-Up

Posting Title Postdoctoral Researcher –Catalytic Oleo chemistry and Process Scale-Up. . Location CO - Golden . Position Type Postdoc (Fixed Term) . Hours Per Week 40 . Working at NLR NLR is located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Golden, Colorado is the nation's primary laboratory for energy systems research and development. Join the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), where world-class scientists, engineers, and experts are accelerating energy innovation through breakthrough research and systems integration.

From our mission to our collaborative culture, NLR stands out in the research community for its commitment to an affordable and secure energy future. Spanning foundational science to applied systems engineering and analysis, we focus on solving complex challenges to deliver advanced, secure, reliable, and cost-effective energy solutions. Our work helps strengthen U.S. industries, support job creation, and promote national economic growth.

At NLR, you'll find a mission-driven environment supported by state-of-the-art facilities, multidisciplinary research teams, and strong collaborations with industry, academia, and other national laboratories. We offer robust professional development opportunities, and a competitive benefits package designed to support your career and well-being.

The Integrated Carbon Conversion Processes Group within NLR’s Catalytic Carbon Transformation and Scale-Up Center is seeking a Postdoctoral Researcher to work on oleo chemistry, catalysis, and product development. Our group’s mission is to de-risk and accelerate the scale-up of technologies for producing chemicals, fertilizers, and critical minerals from domestic biomass resources and waste resources. Our multidisciplinary team integrates expertise in process engineering, process science, catalysis, and computational modeling of integrated processes to translate laboratory discoveries into technically and economically viable processes suitable for pilot-scale demonstration and eventual commercialization.

The selected candidate will work closely with senior researchers and industry collaborators to develop, de-risk, and scale up processes for converting emerging plant oils into performance-advantaged chemicals and materials. Target products may include lubricants, surfactants, specialty chemicals and other high-value oleochemical products. The position combines fundamental catalytic science, with process development and applied research aimed at translating promising chemistries toward scalable and commercially relevant processes.

A key objective will be to advance promising chemistries from bench-scale discovery through integrated process development and pilot-scale validation, generating the scientific and engineering knowledge required for technology scale-up.

The selected candidate’s responsibilities will include:

• Developing pretreatment strategies for lipids to produce feed stocks with critical material attributes (CMAs) for downstream catalytic conversion into products
• Develop and optimize catalytic processes that transform lipids, fatty acids, and related intermediates into chemical precursors for high-value products
• Design and evaluate catalytic reaction pathways from bench to pilot including catalyst screening, reaction engineering and integration of reaction and separation unit operations
• Develop product formulations and structure-property relationships that connect molecular composition with enhanced performance in applications such as lubricants, surfactants and specialty chemicals.
• Generating kinetic, mass-balance, and process-performance data needed to support reactor design, process modeling, techno-economic analysis, and transition from laboratory systems to…