Soft Materials and Membrane Group- Technical Professional

Requisition Id 14316 

­­Overview:  

We are seeking a technical professional staff member with a strong background in chemical engineering, process development, and characterization to develop energy efficient and cost-effective materials and processes for clean energy applications. This position resides in the Soft Materials and Membranes Group in the Chemical Sciences Division, Physical Sciences Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).  

The successful candidate will focus on problems related to thermodynamics, process development, and process optimization for the separation and recovery of critical materials from a wide variety of electronic waste, carbon capture from flue gas and air, separation of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) precursor from fermentation broth, and water treatment.

The selected candidate should have expertise in sorbent and membrane development, characterization, and evaluation in separation applications. Selected candidate will be supporting the development of new and exciting ideas for proposals, building collaboration within and outside ORNL, generating quantifiable outcomes such as publications and invention disclosures.

Major Duties/Responsibilities: 

• Work with a diverse team of scientists, engineers, and technicians to develop and advance the technologies for separation and recovery of materials for clean energy applications.
• Support proposal development and lead projects which includes performing experiments, collecting and analyzing data, writing DoE reports, presenting results in international conferences, publish results in the form of manuscripts and invention disclosures.
• Support the formulation of research problems and design research strategies, work with computational chemists and experimentalists to guide the design of materials and processes.
• Train postdocs, students, interns, and visiting scholars in separations and process development with utmost emphasis on safety.
• Present and report research results in international conferences and publish scientific results in peer-reviewed journals in a timely manner.
• Deliver ORNL’s mission by aligning behaviors, priorities, and interactions with our core values of Impact, Integrity, Teamwork, Safety, and Service. Promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility by fostering a respectful workplace – in how we treat one another, work together, and measure success.

Basic Qualifications:

• A BS, MS, or PhD. degree in chemistry, chemical engineering, material science or a closely related science discipline
• A minimum of 5 years of experience with a BS degree, a minimum of 4 years with a MS degree, a PhD. with experience in chemical engineering, process development, and characterization

Preferred Qualifications:

• A solid foundation in membrane-based separations, process intensification, process development, process optimization, and characterization such as SEM, EDS, XRD, ICP-OES, UV-Vis, and BET.
• Extensive expertise in membrane fabrication in different configuration such as hollow fiber membrane module disc, and flat sheet.

• Experience in solvent extraction, process intensification, adsorption, and membrane-based separations.

• Working knowledge of basic instrumental techniques such as ICP-OES, SEM, EDS, NMR, XRD, FTIR, and UV-vis spectroscopies.
• Expertise in the chemistry of battery materials, rare earth elements, carbon capture, and bioenergy separation.
• Record of productive and creative research through publications in peer-reviewed journals is preferred.

• Excellent written and oral communication skills.

• Motivated self-starter with the ability to work independently and to participate creatively in collaborative teams across the laboratory.
• Ability to function well in a fast-paced research environment, set priorities to accomplish multiple tasks within deadlines, and adapt to ever changing needs.

Special Requirements:

Letters of Recommendation:

Please submit three letters of reference when applying to this position. You may upload these directly to your application or have them sent to psdrecruit@ornl.gov with the position title and number referenced in the subject line.

Instructions to upload documents to your candidate profile:

• Login to your account via jobs.ornl.gov
• View Profile
• Under the My Documents section, select Add a Document

Benefits at ORNL: 

ORNL offers competitive pay and benefits programs to attract and retain talented people. The laboratory offers many employee benefits, including medical and retirement plans and flexible work hours, to help you and your family live happy and healthy. Employee amenities such as on-site fitness, banking, and cafeteria facilities are also provided for convenience.

Other benefits include the following: Prescription Drug Plan, Dental Plan, Vision Plan, 401(k) Retirement Plan, Contributory Pension Plan, Life Insurance, Disability Benefits, Generous Vacation and Holidays, Parental Leave, Legal Insurance with Identity Theft Protection, Employee Assistance Plan, Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Savings Accounts, Wellness Programs, Educational Assistance, Relocation Assistance, and Employee Discounts.

If you have difficulty using the online application system or need an accommodation to apply due to a disability, please email: ORNLRecruiting@ornl.gov.

This position will remain open for a minimum of 5 days after which it will close when a qualified candidate is identified and/or hired.

We accept Word (.doc, .docx), Adobe (unsecured .pdf), Rich Text Format (.rtf), and HTML (.htm, .html) up to 5MB in size. Resumes from third party vendors will not be accepted; these resumes will be deleted and the candidates submitted will not be considered for employment.

ORNL is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants, including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans, are encouraged to apply.  UT-Battelle is an E-Verify employer.