Electrode Process Engineer

Staff Electrode Process Engineer

Hayward CA

Blue Current (the "Company") is the industry leader in the development of silicon solid state batteries. Free of flammable liquid electrolytes, Blue Current's fully dry, inherently safe batteries significantly reduce risks to human and environmental health while providing a higher-performance alternative to traditional lithium-ion batteries. Blue Current's silicon-based platform is highly adaptable, enabling a cost-effective solution for both the mobility and stationary storage markets.

Blue Current's team works out of its state-of-the-art headquarters and pilot line facility in Hayward, California.

The Staff Electrode Process Engineer plays a key role in developing, optimizing, and scaling electrode manufacturing processes at Blue Current, helping advance electrode fabrication from pilot production toward higher-volume manufacturing. Working closely with cell engineering, quality, and manufacturing teams, this position leads process development initiatives, evaluates equipment and process improvements, and resolves complex technical challenges that impact product quality, process capability, and manufacturability.

The Staff Electrode Process Engineer provides technical leadership in electrode processing, contributes to scale-up efforts, and helps establish robust, scalable manufacturing methods that support the company's growth and future production needs.

Essential Functions & Responsibilities

• Leads the development and execution of electrode process improvement and scale-up plans, providing technical input on process design, equipment selection, and manufacturing approaches across mixing, coating, drying, and calendering operations
• Establishes process specifications, critical parameter ranges, and qualification criteria that serve as the technical standard against which current and future electrode manufacturing operations are evaluated
• Leads the development and implementation of QA/QC systems in partnership with the Quality team, setting the measurement philosophy and acceptance standards that govern finished electrode quality
• Drives process scale-up efforts, identifying the technical and equipment gaps between current pilot-scale capabilities and gigafactory-level production requirements, and defining the work needed to close them
• Engages directly with equipment vendors and external process contractors, defining technical requirements, evaluating proposals, and holding external parties accountable to deliverables that serve Blue Current's manufacturing strategy
• Synthesizes process development findings into clear technical recommendations for senior management and executives, framing complex tradeoffs in terms of cost, risk, timeline, and scalability
• Works across cell engineering, quality, and advanced manufacturing teams to ensure electrode process decisions are made with full visibility into upstream material constraints and downstream cell assembly requirements
• Mentors junior and mid-level process engineers in experimental design, equipment operation, process characterization, and structured problem-solving
• Leads projects by developing clear, actionable plans with defined milestones and success metrics, managing timelines effectively, and ensuring high-quality, on-schedule execution
• Supports a strong safety culture by following and improving laboratory safety practices, demonstrating exemplary experimental techniques, and helping implement best-practice updates
• Other duties as assigned, consistent with the scope and level of this position

Minimum Qualifications

Education

• PhD (with 3+ years of relevant experience), Master's (with 6+ years of relevant experience), Bachelor's (with 8+ years of relevant experience) in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Chemistry, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and industry experience

Experience

• Hands-on experience developing and optimizing slurry-based electrode manufacturing processes across mixing, coating, drying, and calendering operations
• Track record of selecting, validating, and qualifying process equipment with working knowledge of multiple mixer and coater types across varying process requirements
• Experience defining process specifications and QA/QC protocols, including critical parameter identification, measurement method selection, and acceptance criteria
• Experience leading cross-functional technical work and communicating findings and recommendations to senior stakeholders

Skills & Knowledge

• Deep working knowledge of slurry rheology and how mixing and coating process parameters influence electrode microstructure and final properties
• Proficiency with statistical methods for process characterization and control, including design of experiments and statistical process control
• Proficiency with standard data analysis tools sufficient to process, visualize, and communicate process and quality data

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience owning a process scale-up program from pilot through high-volume production,…