Reaction Engineer

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This range is provided by Ammobia. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

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Ammobia is on a mission to revolutionize the ammonia industry. We are a seed‑stage startup developing Haber Bosch 2.0 – a next‑generation ammonia synthesis process enabling cost‑effective, clean ammonia production. Our proprietary swing reactor system runs at 10x lower pressures and 4x higher conversions than the state of the art, enabling economical production at any plant scale or energy source. Clean ammonia will support ammonia’s growing role in our decarbonized world, tackling some of the most difficult to abate sectors including chemicals, fertilizers, and heavy‑duty transportation.

We are supported and recognized by leading climate tech organizations including Starlight Ventures, the US Department of Energy, Collaborative Fund, Third Derivative, Forbes 30u30, and more.

Ammobia is seeking a motivated and creative Reaction Engineer to develop and optimize our ammonia production process. You will be a key member of our reaction engineering team, developing and scaling our catalytic reaction process at the bench and pilot scales. Your primary focus will be the reactor – process parameters, active materials, and architectures; you will interface directly with equipment, materials, and process engineers and contribute to technical development across the company.

There is significant opportunity to grow your role alongside the company.

• Conduct bench and pilot scale catalytic reaction process development, directly performing experimental and/or model/simulation‑based development
• Design and optimize processes and reactor systems at increasing scales, alongside process and equipment engineers
• Design, analyze, and optimize thermocatalytic experiments and processes
• Operate, modify, and maintain state‑of‑the‑art custom reactor systems
• Transfer test results and reaction processes to process engineering and scale up
• Characterize, specify, and select active materials for ammonia synthesis and separation

• 3+ years’ experience in a relevant industrial setting (5 preferred)
• Demonstrated expertise and deep knowledge of reaction engineering, heterogeneous catalysis, thermodynamics, kinetics, heat and mass transport
• Demonstrated expertise in process development, experimental design, and optimization
• Demonstrated expertise in data analysis, especially for time‑series data from dynamic processes, e.g. with Python, MATLAB, or similar
• Hands‑on experience operating bench‑scale reactor equipment, working knowledge of bench‑scale gas handling/sensing instrumentation (mass flow controllers, pressure regulators, temperature sensors, pressure sensors)
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Experience and enthusiasm to mentor junior engineers
• Self‑motivated, proactive, and able to work both independently and collaboratively
• Passion for sustainability and excitement about working at an early‑stage start‑up
• PhD or equivalent experience in chemical, mechanical, or materials engineering

• Hands‑on experience designing and building bench‑to‑pilot scale reactor equipment, especially developing PFDs, P&IDs
• Demonstrated expertise in modeling of reaction processes (including kinetics, heat and mass transport) and validation with experimental data, e.g. with Aspen, gPROMS, Chem Kin, Python, MATLAB, or similar
• Experience synthesizing, manufacturing, and/or procuring catalysts
• Experience in adsorbent separations, PSA, TSA or similar
• Experience in pilot‑scale chemical processing
• Experience in start‑up environments
• Experience in ammonia synthesis, cracking, or separations

• Competitive equity grants
• 100% of premiums paid for healthcare, dental, vision, life insurance
• 401(k)
• Gym benefit
• Regular team social events
• Paid time off, including closure between Christmas and New Years

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

Not Applicable

Full‑time

Engineering and Information Technology

Chemical Manufacturing

San Francisco, CA – Full‑time in‑person