Director of Chemistry

Title:
Director of Synthetic Chemistry

Employment Type: FTE / Permanent

Location:
Lafayette, CO

Work Arrangement:
Onsite, 5 days/week

Salary: $215,000 – $275,000/year + Equity

Travel:
Up to 15%

Position Overview

The Director of Synthetic Chemistry will serve as the first chemistry leadership hire and own the chemistry strategy across three business verticals: Energetics, Mining & Metals, and Polymers. This role will lead route selection, process development, safety, cost optimization, laboratory buildout, and team development.

The Director will build and lead a chemistry organization of up to 8 scientists, beginning with two senior technical hires and expanding through FY28.

Key Responsibilities

• Own synthetic route selection across Energetics, Mining & Metals, and Polymer programs, balancing cost, scalability, performance, and process safety.
• Build and lead the chemistry organization, including hiring, mentoring, leveling, and setting technical standards.
• Lead development of the Energetics program from early-stage laboratory work through a validated 10 kg/day pilot.
• Prioritize and sequence competing chemistry campaigns based on technical requirements, resources, timelines, and business priorities.
• Establish process safety as an integral part of route selection and development, including reaction calorimetry, exotherm evaluation, quench design, HAZOP participation, and hazard assessment.
• Evaluate and manage the development pipeline, including determining when projects should proceed, pivot, or be discontinued based on technical and economic evidence.
• Make build-versus-buy decisions for chemical intermediates and defend cost models to leadership and government customers.
• Lead the setup of the Colorado laboratory, including equipment specifications, long-lead procurement, licensing, and compliance requirements.
• Manage compliance related to ITAR, export controls, procurement-controlled reagents, and energetic materials.
• Represent the chemistry function in government program reviews, customer meetings, partner laboratory discussions, and CDMO engagements.

Required Qualifications

• PhD in Organic, Process, or Materials Chemistry, with 12+ years of relevant post-PhD experience, or equivalent depth of experience.
• 3+ years of experience managing chemists against external delivery timelines.
• Experience hiring and building a technical chemistry team from the ground up.
• Personal ownership of a synthetic route that successfully reached pilot scale.
• Strong technical expertise in at least one of the following:
• Energetics Chemistry
• Metal Extraction Chemistry
• Experience with process safety, including:
• Reaction calorimetry
• Exotherm and quench design
• HAZOP participation
• Hazard-based route selection
• Experience selecting synthetic routes based on cost per kilogram.
• Ability to work with ITAR and export-controlled information and operate within applicable compliance requirements.
• Strong technical writing and presentation skills suitable for government program reviews and customer-facing discussions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with government-funded, milestone-based development programs.
• Experience building a laboratory from scratch, including equipment selection, licensing, procurement, and operating procedures.
• Experience converting exothermic or corrosive batch chemistry to flow or continuous processes.
• Experience with insensitive high explosives, ATF-licensed facilities, or DoW explosive safety standards.
• Experience with hydrometallurgical reagents, chelating ligands, or solvent extraction chemistry.
• Experience with condensation polymer chemistry and molecular weight distribution specifications.
• Active security clearance or ability to obtain one.

Success in the Role

First 3 Months

• Establish and document campaign sequencing…