Senior Scientist

Reports to: Director of R&D

Close collaboration with: Process Engineering and Product teams

Location: Kenilworth, NJ

Salary starts at: $134,000

Equity participation reflecting the scope and trust of the role

Competitive Benefits

Position Summary

Still Bright is bringing the first viable hydrometallurgical alternative to copper smelting to market at a moment when global copper demand is outpacing supply by historic margins. Our proprietary RACER (Rapid and Complete Electrochemical Reduction) process delivers fast, complete copper extraction while recovering precious and critical co-products, and as a closed-loop system it offers precise control over outputs and radically reduces environmental impact. Backed by top-tier investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Material Impact, the team is moving from pilot execution into the next stages of commercial deployment.

The Senior Scientist (R&D) is a senior individual contributor responsible for understanding and de-risking how the RACER process integrates with the downstream unit operations that recover copper and by-products: solvent extraction, electrowinning, and froth flotation. The person in this seat designs and runs the experimental campaigns that establish where RACER process streams are compatible with conventional and emerging recovery circuits, quantifies the recovery of copper and co-products, and translates those findings into robust process designs and economic inputs. Work is expected to be primarily self-directed with approval and collaboration from the Director of R&D.

This is a hands-on role for someone who is equally comfortable at the whiteboard and on the pilot system. The Senior Scientist sets the technical standard for experimental rigor, data quality, and process-design discipline, and mentors junior engineers and technicians on the team.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and execute experiments and pilot campaigns to characterize the compatibility of RACER process streams with solvent extraction, electrowinning, and downstream flotation, and to quantify the recovery of copper and saleable co-products.

• Develop and maintain process flowsheets, mass and energy balances, and equipment specifications for solvent extraction, electrowinning, and flotation circuits integrated with RACER, across bench and demonstration scale.

• Own unit-operation performance—solvent extraction, electrowinning, and downstream flotation—including reagent selection, operating-envelope definition, and troubleshooting.

• Characterize how RACER raffinate, electrolyte, and tailings chemistry affect downstream recovery, and define the conditions under which recovery of copper and by-products (precious metals, molybdenum, nickel, zinc, and iron and sulfur co-products) is maximized.

• Translate bench-scale results into scalable process designs, identifying risks and developing mitigation strategies.

• Analyze process data and deliver clear, well-documented technical reports that inform go/no-go decisions and economic models.

• Mentor junior engineers and technicians on experimental design, data analysis, and safe laboratory and pilot practice.

• Maintain detailed documentation of research work, methods, and results; uphold laboratory and pilot safety standards. Some travel will be required for feedstock and pilot testing.

Definition of Success

In the first 12 months, success looks like: a validated understanding of RACER’s compatibility with solvent extraction, electrowinning, and downstream flotation across the company’s priority feedstocks; reliable, well-documented recovery data for copper and target by-products feeding the team’s scale-up decisions and economic models; and a measurable contribution to the demonstration-unit process design.

Qualifications & Experience

Expected Competencies

• Doctorate in chemical engineering, metallurgical engineering, process engineering, or a related field; or a Master’s with commensurate experience.

• Minimum of 7 years of research and process-development experience in hydrometallurgy, extractive metallurgy, or a related industrial discipline (or a Ph.D. plus equivalent experience).

• Deep, hands-on expertise in solvent extraction and electrowinning and/or froth flotation, including reagent systems, circuit design, and recovery optimization.

• Proven experience in research design, execution, and analysis, including translating bench-scale results into pilot-scale performance.

• Strong command of mass and energy balances, flowsheet development, and equipment specification.

• Knowledge of relevant metals-extraction industry standards, regulations, and best practices.

• Excellent communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively across cross-functional teams.

Strongly Preferred Experience

• Direct copper or base-metals hydrometallurgy experience, including with complex or impurity-bearing ores (arsenic, bismuth, gold).

• Demonstrated expertise in solid, liquid, and gaseous phase characterization techniques (XRD, SEM, XRF, QEMSCAN, ICP-MS, Fire Assay).

• Hands-on experience with froth flotation for recovery of precious metals, molybdenum, or other saleable by-products.

• Hands-on pilot-plant or demonstration-scale experience, including commissioning and troubleshooting of non-laboratory equipment at scale.

• Experience integrating multiple unit operations into a continuous or semi-continuous process.

• Familiarity with process controls, instrumentation, and real-time performance monitoring.

Nice-to-Have

• Experience with vanadium electrochemistry, sulfide leaching chemistry, or solvent extraction–electrowinning.

• Exposure to a startup or scaling organization moving from founder-led operations to formal systems.

• Spanish-language proficiency.

This job description is not intended to be a comprehensive list of the duties and responsibilities of the position. Still Bright provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, Still Bright complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

Still Bright expressly prohibits and will never tolerate any form of workplace harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status. Still Bright especially encourages applicants from historically marginalized communities to join our mission of sustainable metals extraction.