Sulfate Fertilizer Products Technical & Market Lead

Overview

About PHNX Materials PHNX Materials refines coal ash waste into a sulfate-based fertilizer, and a cement substitute (SCM). Our cost-effective, scalable technology delivers a triple win: providing a low cost fertilizer, helping power producers manage coal ash liabilities, and providing concrete companies a cheaper, greener alternative to cement. Founded by Stanford and Tesla alumni, PHNX is on a mission to unlock this abundant domestic natural resource.

This is a senior role for someone with deep real-world experience in sulfate-based fertilizers and inorganic salts who will own product quality, product definition, and market direction for PHNX’s sulfate product line.

You will work directly with the founding team to define what we sell, what quality we must hit, how we control impurities, and which markets we pursue first. You will set the quality bar, establish the technical basis for customer acceptance, and drive the practical decisions required to scale from pilot production to commercial operations.

• Own Product Quality and Impurity Strategy
• Set and own product quality targets for sulfate-based products, including purity, moisture, particle size distribution, caking behavior, flowability, and storage stability
• Lead the impurity strategy: identify, prioritize, and manage contaminants (metals, in solubles, chlorides, organics, gypsum-related carryover, etc.) and define acceptable ranges by end market
• Define the “spec that matters” for each target market and customer, including which impurities are truly limiting vs what is negotiable
• Establish test methods, QC protocols, and sampling plans that are credible to customers and scalable for production
• Drive root-cause analysis and corrective actions when product quality drifts, including process changes and operational controls

• Define Markets and Product Positioning
• Lead market selection across agricultural, industrial, and specialty applications based on spec requirements, qualification difficulty, and achievable margins
• Translate customer requirements into clear product definitions and a roadmap for “pilot-grade” to “commercial-grade” milestones
• Define customer-facing claims and documentation (COA templates, SDS inputs, handling guidance) aligned with real buyer expectations

• Drive Commercial Readiness and Customer Qualification
• Own customer qualification strategy: sample plans, trial programs, required data packages, and path to repeat orders
• Guide offtake structures, distribution pathways, packaging requirements, and logistics constraints tied to product form and stability
• Serve as the technical authority in customer conversations on quality, impurities, handling, and storage

• Industrialization and Scale-Up Execution
• Drive decisions on unit operations that affect product quality, including crystallization, filtration, drying, conditioning, anti-caking approaches, storage, and packaging
• Make the hard tradeoffs between purity, yield, cost, and throughput, and align the team around those decisions
• Act as the key technical and commercial thought partner as PHNX transitions from pilot operations to first commercial deployment

We are open on background, but this role requires deep domain authority. You may come from:

• Fertilizer manufacturing (especially sulfate- or nitrogen-based products)
• Industrial production of sulfate salts or inorganic chemicals
• Agricultural inputs, fertilizer product management, or distribution with strong technical depth
• Process engineering and industrial scale-up of bulk chemical products

• Direct experience producing and shipping sulfate-based products to real customers
• Strong, practical knowledge of how impurities show up, how to remove or control them, and how buyers evaluate risk
• Familiarity with quality systems: specs, COAs, sampling, lab methods, and acceptance criteria
• A track record of making decisions under technical and commercial constraints
• Comfort operating in ambiguity and driving clarity in early-stage environments

• Opportunity to shape a critical product pathway at an early-stage industrial company
• Direct access to the founding team and influence over technical and commercial direction
• Flexible structure based on fit, ranging from advisory to hands-on involvement
• Real impact on how a waste-derived product competes in established markets

If you have deep experience with sulfate-based fertilizer products and want to help build something new at industrial scale, we would love to speak.

PHNX Materials is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.