What are the responsibilities and job description for the Staff Cathode Engineer position at Redwood Materials?
About Redwood Materials
Redwood Materials was founded in 2017 by JB Straubel, co-founder and former CTO of Tesla, on a simple but radical idea: the critical minerals powering the energy transition already exist. They just need to come back. Today Redwood is the largest lithium-ion battery recycler in North America — recovering, refining, and redeploying critical minerals from end-of-life batteries back into the supply chain. On the energy side, Redwood has deployed the largest second-life battery project in the world, delivering power to AI data centers in months rather than years using proprietary energy architecture engineered entirely in-house. The company is profitable, the market it operates in is projected to grow 20 to 50 times over the next decade, and Redwood is the only company with the supply chain, the technology, and the operational scale to lead it.
Position Summary
As a Staff Cathode Design Engineer, you will play a leading role in the development, scale-up, and manufacturing of Cathode Active Materials (CAM), including identifying, designing, and optimizing core production technologies. These technologies are critical to scaling cost-effective, high-performing processes that meet rigorous customer specifications and quality standards. In this role, you will lead complex technical initiatives, partner closely with cross-functional teams, and establish design parameters to drive the future of our CAM technology roadmap. Success in this position requires advanced technical expertise, strong project leadership, exceptional data analysis, and the ability to manage high-impact, competing priorities in a fast-paced environment while upholding strict quality and safety standards.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
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Lead Process & Scale-Up Engineering: Provide senior-level technical expertise (including mass and energy balances, process flowsheets, and advanced process simulations) to identify, design, scale, and implement process technologies for CAM manufacturing.
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Design & Execution of Experiments: Direct and conduct advanced Design of Experiments (DOE) to guide scale-up, define precise process parameter tolerances, enhance material performance, and lower manufacturing costs.
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Vendor & Equipment Engineering: Lead interactions with equipment suppliers across conceptual design, system specs, detailed engineering, procurement, installation, and site acceptance testing.
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Technology Roadmap & IP Creation: Drive the development of the technology roadmap to align with long-term business strategy and customer requirements. Generate intellectual property (IP) and collaborate with legal teams to draft and file patent applications.
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Stakeholder & Business Leadership: Serve as a technical authority and advisor for commercial teams, business development, senior management, and key external partners.
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Cross-Functional Collaboration: Lead multi-disciplinary engineering and operations teams to solve complex, systemic process challenges and successfully translate lab/pilot findings to commercial scale.
Desired Skills/Qualifications:
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Education: Advanced degree (MS or PHD) in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related engineering discipline.
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Experience: 5 years of industrial experience in process development, scale-up, process engineering, and technical management within chemical processing or inorganic materials.
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Technical Mastery: Deep technical expertise in inorganic materials production, powder synthesis, and chemical engineering fundamentals.
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Process Modeling: Proven ability to perform complex process design calculations, mass/energy balances, process flow diagram (PFD/P&ID) development, and process simulation modeling.
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Leadership & Influence: Strong track record of leading cross-functional teams, driving high-impact technical projects, and building trust across internal stakeholders and external clients.
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Data & Communication: Outstanding data analysis capabilities and superior written and technical presentation skills.
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Adaptability & Drive: Demonstrated ability to manage and prioritize complex initiatives in a rapidly evolving, high-growth environment, paired with a passion for clean energy and sustainability.
The position is full-time. Compensation will be commensurate with experience.
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