Senior Engineer

Join our dynamic team as a Senior Engineer to lead pilot-scale operations supporting the separation and refining of critical minerals, rare-earth elements, and battery metals. This position plays a key role in scaling laboratory discoveries into robust, continuous, and commercially viable processes for high-purity oxide and metal production. The Senior Engineer will oversee pilot plant design, operation, troubleshooting, and optimization, ensuring safety, efficiency, and data integrity while collaborating with R&D, analytical, and production teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operation of the pilot plant for metal separation and refining, including unit operations such as leaching, filtration, ion exchange, precipitation, crystallization, and drying.
• Develop and implement pilot protocols, SOPs, and run plans that reflect process design intent and scale-up parameters.
• Supervise and train pilot technicians and operators in safe and efficient system operation, chemical handling, and data collection.
• Collaborate with scientists and analytical teams to monitor process performance, mass balance, and product purity.
• Analyze process data, identify performance gaps, and drive continuous improvement through engineering and operational adjustments.
• Oversee the installation, commissioning, and maintenance of pilot-scale equipment, including reactors, pumps, controls, and instrumentation.
• Work closely with automation engineers to integrate real-time process control and data acquisition (SCADA / PLC / PAT).
• Support process scale-up by translating pilot learnings into commercial design inputs, process flow diagrams (PFDs), and P&IDs.

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering (chemical, mechanical, electrical, materials, metallurgical)
• Experience in scale-up design and process design, SOP development
• Proficiency in working with new equipment installation and understanding of programming/troubleshooting (SCADA, data, PLC, etc.)
• Project Management skills - vendors, planning, quotes, track milestones, scheduling, programming, troubleshooting, controls engineering, PLC, HMI, SCADA

• Master's Degree or PhD
• Experience with PLC, SCADA, automation
• Chemical Engineering expertise
• Experience with lithium

This position operates within a chemical processing facility with two plants located in Noblesville and Marion. The role involves both lab and manufacturing settings, offering a dynamic and fast-paced environment.

Job Type & Location

This is a Permanent position based out of Fishers, IN.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $120000.00 - $140000.00/yr.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job
classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be
subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits
available for this temporary role may include the following:

• Medical, dental & vision
• Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital
• 401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available
• Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents)
• Short and long-term disability
• Health Spending Account (HSA)
• Transportation benefits
• Employee Assistance Program
• Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

Workplace Type

This is a fully onsite position in Fishers,IN.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Dec 8, 2025.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 30,000 consultants and more than 4,500 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing due to a disability, please email actalentaccommodation@actalentservices.com for other accommodation options.

Salary : $120,000 - $140,000