Director of Process Engineering in Somerville, Massachusetts at Adiabatic Materials

Adiabatic Materials | Somerville, MA

Reinvent chemistry. Decarbonize industry. Electrify the future.

Today, most chemicals are still made with heat from fossil fuels in energy-intensive, polluting processes. Adiabatic Materials has developed a fundamentally new approach: an electrochemical synthesis platform that uses clean electricity instead of heat. The platform grew out of 15 years of Harvard research and has been demonstrated for a broad range of chemicals. Adiabatic recently spun out of Harvard and is scaling its operations in the Boston area.

Why Adiabatic might be great for you

We're a small, early-stage team working on hard, meaningful problems. If you get energy from making things actually work and want your contributions to directly shape a company's trajectory, this could be a great fit.

• You'll be the process engineering anchor. Together with our Director of Electrochemical Engineering and the science/chemistry-focused CSO, you'll form the core technical leadership team of the company, working directly with the founders.
• Direct strategic impact. Scale-up progress is one of three milestone categories required to unlock our next financing round.
• Real ownership. As one of our first employees, you'll define the role as much as fill it, influencing technology direction, team building, and long-term strategy.
• Hands-on and intellectually deep. You'll build experimental and production setups (e.g. mixer/settler rigs and reactor loops) and run experiments (including g to kg-scale chemistry when needed), while also thinking about process architecture, TEA, and scale-up strategy.
• Equity and upside. You'll share in the value you help create, alongside a mission-driven team that cares about science and sustainability.

The Role

We're looking for a Director of Process Engineering who can turn proven chemistry into a real, scalable process. You will own the biphasic reactor step at the heart of our process and the scale-up of any conventional chemistry steps needed at g to kg scale or higher, complementing our Director of Electrochemical Engineering who owns the electrochemical cell. We have a preference for pharmaceutical manufacturing experience, ideally from an environment that scaled innovative continuous-flow processes. The near-term job is to own the path from bench-scale results to early production that works, driving a 100x to 1000x capacity increase over the first 12 months.

What You'll Do

Process Architecture & Biphasic Scale-Up: Map the full process at block-flow level, work with the CSO and the Director of Electrochemical Engineering to separate proven chemistry from engineering risk, and deliver a documented scale-up strategy for the biphasic step with clear decision criteria within the first 3 months.

Hands-On Process Development: Build or modify biphasic reactor setups and flow loops personally, establish SOPs, run structured DOE campaigns, and demonstrate stable operation. Run g to kg-scale chemistry steps as needed within multi-step sequences.

Scale-Up & Equipment: Select biphasic reactor and separation configurations, source equipment (off-the-shelf preferred, light fabrication when needed), and lead design and commissioning of the early production system.

QA/QC & Safety: Own process robustness, reproducibility, and documentation in your area. Contribute to HAZOP-style reviews and operate within Greentown Labs' safety environment.

Techno-Economic Assessment: Translate process performance into cost drivers, run TEAs, and provide defensible assumptions for investor conversations.

What We're Looking For

Many strong candidates don't fit a standard blueprint. If you bring relevant experience and are excited about what we're building, we encourage you to apply even if you don't check every box.

Required:

• MS or PhD in chemical engineering or a closely related field (BS considered with additional process development experience)
• At least 5 to 10 years of post-degree hands-on process development experience (not purely academic)
• Direct experience scaling chemical processes from bench to pilot (10x to 100x+) and ideally beyond
• Familiarity with multi-step synthesis, separation, and recycle loop design
• Hands-on rig building and modification experience
• Experience in reactor selection, mass/heat transfer, mixing, and separations

Nice to Have:

• Pharmaceutical manufacturing experience, e.g. at a company that scaled continuous-flow processes from grams to tons, at a large pharma company, CDMO, or generics manufacturer
• Direct experience with biphasic reactor systems (mixer/settler, liquid-liquid extraction, or similar) and kg-scale chemistry
• Familiarity with Aspen, COMSOL, or similar modeling tools

Working Style & Character:

• Builder mentality: Plan A is always the simplest thing that could work
• Comfortable with ambiguity and startup pace; you don't need a fully defined playbook
• Genuine collaborator who works well alongside a science-focused CSO, our Director of Electrochemical Engineering, and our founding team
• Rapid learner who internalizes new domains quickly
• Clear communicator who can explain engineering decisions to non-engineers

Logistics & Compensation

• Location: In-person at Greentown Labs, Somerville, MA
• Work style: Flexible, family-friendly schedule with occasional travel
• Compensation: $160K to $175K/year, plus meaningful equity and benefits (negotiable)

How to Apply

Please submit your resume and include a few sentences about why you're excited about Adiabatic and how this role aligns with your experience. This is also an opportunity to highlight experiences that you feel are particularly relevant for the role. This doesn't need to be a formal cover letter; we just want to understand what motivates you.