Catalyst Chemist

Elevance™ Renewable Sciences, Inc., a new specialty chemical company based on groundbreaking, proven technology, is harnessing the potential of natural oils to produce a portfolio of commercial products across multiple markets. Elevance was formed to institutionalize work started in 2004 in collaboration between Cargill, one of the world's largest producers of agricultural oils, and Materia, a leading edge technology organization leveraging patents from the California Institute of Technology (CalTech), to catalyze the commercial production of renewable chemicals. 

Elevance is backed by TPG, and is a high growth business with a leading market and IP position. We are the leader in using renewable or natural oils (e.g., soybean, canola, corn and sunflower oils) to create an extraordinarily wide variety of specialty chemical products using a broad range of proprietary, patent protected technologies, including Nobel Prize winning metathesis.

Elevance begins with a revenue base of approximately $20 Million and is projected to scale to over $1 Billion in 6 years and directly addresses a $20 Billion Market. We have strong IP protection, real revenue and catalyst technologies which are such that they create a compelling growth opportunity.

We currently have an opening for a Catalyst Chemist to be located in our Bolingbrook, IL headquarter office.

Position Summary:

The successful candidate will have responsibility as an individual technical contributor for catalyst research and development programs. This includes accountability for delivery in the following areas:

• Catalyst discovery, development, and successful commercialization.
• Design and execution of catalyst research programs for catalyst preparation and testing, including the application of high throughput experimentation (HTE) methodologies.
• Provide catalyst technology support to engineering staff, pilot units, and commercial operations.
• Develop and provide technical direction to external research programs, such as university research collaborations, HTE partnerships, and molecular and kinetic modeling.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Conceive, plan, and conduct innovative research of commercial and strategic importance to Elevance Renewable Sciences.
• Actively demonstrate positive safety behaviors and practices.
• Participate in technology project development and project portfolio management.
• Engage in technical discussions about catalyst synthesis and usage with potential partners.
• Document and effectively communicate research results, writing invention disclosures to secure proprietary protection of key catalyst technologies.
• Monitor outside technology developments, including competitors, universities, and key technology suppliers.
• Provide technical leadership in the discovery and development of commercial catalyst and process technologies.
• Demonstrate an on-going commitment to continuous learning and improvement.
• Manage external research programs in catalysis.

Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in either Chemistry or Chemical Engineering
• At least 10 years relevant work experience
• Training and experience in catalysis, including homogeneous catalysis
• Knowledge of unit operations used in catalyst scale-up and manufacturing
• Strong analytical and creative problem-solving skills
• Familiarity with project management to meet project deadlines and operate within budgets
• Good interpersonal skills and well-developed oral and written communication skills to build strong relationships and motivate project team members