Allonnia’s purpose is the pursuit of imaginative solutions to solve the world’s toughest waste challenges through biology.  Allonnia is leveraging the power of biotechnology and engineered systems to make mining more sustainable and to degrade or sequester pollutants and upcycle waste. Our ethos at Allonnia is to work in harmony with nature, combining biology and technology to fast-forward time and bring Nature’s future solutions to the present day. Through this collaboration, we will unlock the potential in waste and enable a world where nothing is wasted.  

Mission of the Position 

Industrial Water Treatment Research Engineer is to help drive new technology development in our sustainable mining technologies. This hands-on engineer will work in collaboration with the technical team to further develop and refine deployment strategies for our mining platforms. An immediate focus will be to achieve selective extraction of metals or impurities from mining-impacted substrates and waste streams to pave the way to more sustainable mining practices. The overall scope of the role will be to evaluate how conventional and innovative water treatment technologies can be utilized and adapted to support to our key technologies, and aid in the design and execution of experiments for evaluating our technologies' potential for a wide range of mining applications.    

Responsibilities & Measurable Accountabilities 

Industrial Water Treatment Research Engineer for Allonnia will have a passion for designing and implementing engineering solutions that lead to net positive environmental impact in applications such as mining, chemical processing, and water treatment. The successful candidate will be a problem solver and an innovator, and will have a passion for adapting engineering solutions for new applications.  

Key Accountabilities 

• Oversee, design, and perform laboratory experiments to develop water treatment unit operations for our key technologies; tasks could include alternatives analysis, evaluating mass and water balances, incorporating automation, considering factors for process scale-up, and updating the process flow diagram and techno-economic analysis throughout the development process.  
• Research and investigate water treatment methods from other applications (e.g., ion exchange, coagulation, flocculation, precipitation) to add value to our mining and metals technology platforms 
• Manage the daily activities of the research team, lead the project data interpretation and contribute to project reports for customers and partners, including US government contracts
• Manage work of outside collaborators for technical quality as well as adherence to scope, schedule, and budget 
• Assist with the design of deployment approaches compatible with customer processes for solutions developed through our mining platforms 
• Lead the techno-economic analysis (TEA) for envisioned applications and development of feasibility studies of proposed products 
• Reviews all development work to ensure results and methods are scalable and compatible with the scale of commercial operations 
• Collaborate with Allonnia commercial team to produce deliverables and presentations 
• Present technical work to customers and at industry conferences 
• Supports and projects the core values and mission of Allonnia both internally and externally. 
• Maintains up-to-date knowledge of technical development and trends in the field of expertise

Key Criteria/Requirements 

• Master’s or Ph.D. in engineering is preferred, with a focus in chemical or environmental engineering   
• Minimum 8 years of engineering technical experience with increasing scope and responsibilities, including project management, laboratory testing/analysis, product design, and innovative technology development in water/wastewater treatment for metals 
• Experience in water treatment applications such as ion exchange, chromatography, reverse osmosis or flocculation, is strongly preferred
• Familiarity with engineering design software (e.g. AutoCAD) will be helpful 
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects, meet client needs, while working creatively and collaboratively across disciplines to develop new technology 
• Experience with federal proposals and working on federally funded projects; project management experience with federal contracts is a plus 
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team 
• Ability to develop process improvements and apply known approaches in new ways 
• Comfort in a fast-paced environment; must be capable of supporting multiple projects that are deadline-oriented, handling interruptions, and being flexible with changing tasks 
• Passion about the startup environment, and able to work from ground zero to help develop the team 
• Position is based in our Boston office/lab space with potential for travel to test locations  

Allonnia Core Values 

JOB CODE: 1000077