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Senior Process Engineer (Carbon Removal)

Mission Zero

Mission Zero

East London, London, UK
Posted on Monday, December 11, 2023

Job Title: Process / Senior Process Engineer II / III (Carbon Removal)
Location: Centred around London, various UK sites, international opportunities, flexible trust based work policy.
Salary: £50 - 74k PA based on experience

Full Time/Part Time: Full Time

The opportunity:

You have the opportunity to join MZT at a pivotal point in our company's history - our transition from an early-stage R&D startup into a product-offering, revenue-generating company poised to rapidly scale our direct-air capture technology across the world.

MZT is hiring a Carbon Removal Process / Senior Process Engineer (MZT Level II/III) to help us further develop our potentially word-healing carbon removal technology. You will have the ambition to develop your skills, focusing on process design, engineering delivery, scale-up, commissioning and operation of our technology.

In this role you will inherit our first generation technology design, deploying across multiple projects, and then start the process of improving the technology for our next generation of DAC devices. Alongside our engineering partners, you will also be responsible for ensuring the effective deployment, hook-up and interfacing with host sites.

You will be a key member of the Delivery team, shepherding process design from our existing emergent technology generation toward novel next generations, through to site deployment at scales of 250 teCO2/year at our Norfolk site and 5,000 teCO2/year and beyond over the coming years at future project sites. This will require you to interface with multiple stakeholders internally and externally.

The role will be centred around our headquarters in East-Central London, but with periodic day/week assignments to our various emerging UK sites, European suppliers and further international sites in the medium to long term as we expand the business globally.

Our vision for our early stage employees is that they own and grow the business (literally) with us, becoming part of the collective story of Mission Zero, taking a catalytic role in its early history and the fight against climate change.

This role will grow your skills as a chartered or approaching chartered process engineer: developing you in the emergent clean tech engineering industry. You will assist in the final stages of deployment of our first 3 major DAC technology offerings. Theses include:

  • Research & Development unit for University of Sheffield (50 teCO2/y removal)
  • Pilot Plant for UK Government, create carbon negative building materials (250 teCO2/y removal)
  • Pilot Plant for DeepSky Climate (Montréal, Canada 250 teCO2/y removal)

You will take the lead on a specific project deployment from a process engineering perspective, working with all members of the Delivery team and our engineering partners across Process, Mechanical, Electrical, Control and Structural engineering disciplines as well as exposure to the Project Management team and our highly skilled Research and Development in-house labs. Throughout the program you will gain hands-on experience with our technology both in our labs and on project sites.

You will also support our recently graduated hires, helping them in key aspects of process engineering design in a real, dynamic, rapidly changing context. In this guise, you will be a key person shaping the ‘Lifesavers’ programme where MZT will build a pipeline of talent from graduation through to chartership and beyond.

The context of this programme is that ‘the world needs lifesavers’ - people who choose to channel their time and energy into righting the wrongs of the extractive past and continuing present, working to heal the world. At Mission Zero, our vision is to do this via capturing and circularising carbon - becoming a net giga-tonne remover of CO2 from the atmosphere and creating products, such as building materials or synthetic fuels, over the next 20 years in the process.

The Engineering Lifesavers programme will become a rotational journey within our rapidly growing company exposing its cohorts to:

  • Research & Development of novel carbon removal technology;
  • Scale-up of scientific discoveries into engineered solutions;
  • Engineering delivery from FEED through Detailed Design to Construction;
  • Building procurement & supply chain know-how in a brand new sector;
  • Operation of first-of-a-kind carbon negative pilot and commercial scale plants;
  • Project management for high flux, high ambiguity contexts;
  • Emergent market commercialisation & fundraising opportunities;
  • Opportunities to lead teams and direct strategy as you grow with us.

As the scope, reach and maturity of Mission Zero continues to grow, your horizons will expand to international settings as we expand the business globally.

What you’ll be responsible for:

  • Developing and checking safe process designs internally and with external contractors across numerous MZT projects from 50 te/year research units to 5,000 te/year scale up projects and beyond.
  • Delivery with oversight of process and interdisciplinary design deliverables.
  • Interfacing with all key external vendors for successful delivery of our technology packages.
  • Applying fundamental engineering knowledge to review and revise component heat & material balances, comparing against real experimental results.
  • Comparing experimental results against simulated experiments to verify the model.
  • Becoming an expert in our technology and approach.
  • Supporting and advising project management team in technical delivery of detailed plant design and analysis for pilot and commercial systems.
  • Demonstrate leadership within your area of focus across the business from engineering delivery to operations of new to market plants to R&D in the lab to commercial development based on your self-directed interests.
  • Become a key player in finalisation of deployment plan for our scaled-up DAC units from 250 te/year pilot plant to 5,000 te/year commercial plant and beyond;
  • Support recently graduated hires, leading in key aspects of process engineering design, interfacing with teams across the company in our squad system.
  • Deliver proficiency in all design and pre-commissioning safety reviews;
  • Commission our technology in collaboration with the operations team.
  • Exemplify and actively demonstrate our positive, people-centred culture where all opinions are heard and valued.
  • Implementing direction from the Engineering Team Lead in your day-to-day focus and being willing to adapt and learn to perform multiple tasks outside your comfort zone.
  • Challenge yourself and team members to think differently - question previous results in a positive, non-judgemental way, finding pragmatic solution-oriented improvements to MZT tech & approach.

The Ideal Candidate will possess:

  • 3 years minimum industrial experience delivering projects with significant process design content and / or commissioning across multiple projects.
  • Successfully completed degree in Chemical / Process / Energy engineering to masters level or above.
  • Chartered or near chartered engineering status with IChemE or equivalent;
  • A passion for developing technical solutions for the world's greatest challenges;
  • Evidenced strong practical skills, comfortable with both hands-on work and desk-based tasks.
  • Desire to build a long-term career in the cleantech space with Mission Zero Technologies.
  • Demonstrable ability to perform independent research when working with ambiguity or incomplete data sets to arrive at an appropriate answer;
  • Proven experience working with process safety hazards and risk identification;
  • Experience in HAZID, HAZOP, SIL, LOPA & FMEA;
  • Easy familiarity with GAs (General Arrangement Drawings), 3D models, typical engineering deliverables including Process Flow Diagrams, Piping & Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs) etc.;
  • Vision for your personal development targets for the coming years.

Also desirable:

  • >5 years experience in process engineering contexts / related field
  • Experience of fundamental electrochemistry and absorption physio-chemical principles.
  • Exposure to process unit operations and mechanical packaged systems;
  • Interest or relevant project / research experience working with electrodialysis / electrolytic processes and/or absorption, scrubbing, continuous gas-liquid systems, compression, liquefaction;
  • Experience designing, running and supporting research scale pilot plants;
  • Experience in CAD, e.g. AutoCad, solidworks;
  • Familiarity chemistry and/or processes handling CO2.

Benefits:
Employee Share Option Scheme
Above industry standard holiday (30 days vs 22-25)
Close office over Xmas where possible
£500 personal development grant every year
Fully funded training and professional development opportunities
Unlimited mental health support
3 months of equal Paternity or Maternity leave
Monthly rewilding donation on your behalf
Cycle to Work Scheme


About Mission Zero Technologies:
MZT is a hardware technology start-up pioneering a breakthrough Direct Air carbon Capture (DAC) technology that can scrub CO2 from the air using a fraction of the energy compared to incumbent technologies developed by the likes of Carbon Engineering and Climeworks. In the past three years, MZT has evolved its technology from concept to pilot plant scale, successfully raising over £8m from a mixture of private and government funding. MZT’s technology is a hybrid of approaches, combining efficient solution-phase capture of CO2 with a continuous and compact electrochemical separation technology. Mission Zero’s work is guided by our principles of bold curiosity, problem solving acumen and hope for the future. We strive to realise a world where humanity has new tools to fight climate change, permanently remove CO2 from the atmosphere and produce everyday products such as concrete blocks or fuels from atmospheric carbon emissions. To do this we need to realise a decentralised Gigaton supply chain for CO2 sourced directly from the atmosphere.

At MZT, we value diversity of cultural backgrounds, experience and perspectives and leverage these qualities to create exceptional outcomes. We are dedicated to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, sex, religion or belief, ethnic or national origin, age, disability, citizenship, marital, domestic or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy or related condition or any other basis as protected by applicable law. Please do not hesitate to let us know if you have a disability or additional need that requires accommodation.