Lead Chemist

American Battery Technology Company•Reno, NV

25d

About The Position

American Battery Technology Company (ABTC) develops and commercializes domestic, sustainable sourcing of critical battery materials through lithium-ion battery recycling and battery metal extraction. Its commercial-scale systems produce battery materials for the battery manufacturing supply chain. The Lead Chemist supports the quality control and analytical chemistry laboratory, providing analytical support to ensure the quality, purity, and compliance of recycled battery products, including blackmass, mixed metal scraps, battery-grade metal salts, and precursors. The role oversees development of analytical testing methods for complex recycled streams and maintains operational excellence within the analytical lab team. It also works with the internal sales team and external customers to establish and improve mutually agreed testing protocols for goods sold to customers. The Lead Chemist partners with the QC Manager to define quality thresholds and align testing with commercial purity standards. The role serves as a technical authority and mentor to laboratory technicians and junior chemists, oversees instrumentation, supports process and engineering troubleshooting, and collaborates with R&D on analytical methods for experimental samples. It also authors and maintains SOPs and enforces laboratory safety guidelines for hazardous chemicals, heavy metal dusts, and battery waste.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry; analytical chemistry or applied chemistry is preferred.
15+ years of hands-on laboratory experience.
Strong background in inorganic chemistry, hydrometallurgy, or the battery materials sector.
Prior experience in a senior or supervisory role.
Deep technical mastery of elemental and compositional analysis, specifically ICP-OES/MS for heavy and transition metal quantification.
Proven experience working within a structured quality management framework such as ISO 9001 or ISO 17025.

Nice To Haves

Direct familiarity with chemical profiling of lithium-ion battery recycling streams, including nickel, cobalt, manganese, and lithium chemistry.
A focus in analytical chemistry or applied chemistry.

Responsibilities

Establish, validate, and optimize analytical methods to characterize recycled battery product compositions and trace metallic impurities.
Partner with the QC Manager to define quality thresholds and align laboratory testing with commercial purity standards.
Execute and oversee high-precision testing of incoming recycled streams to ensure compositional accuracy.
Mentor laboratory technicians and junior chemists; train staff on advanced techniques and troubleshoot analytical anomalies.
Oversee operation, calibration, and troubleshooting of elemental analysis instrumentation, particularly ICP-OES, XRF, and TOC.
Collaborate with chemical engineering and production teams to analyze process stream chemistry and troubleshoot deviations in recycling and purification loops.
Partner with R&D chemists and engineers to design and validate analytical methods for experimental samples and next-generation process and product development.
Author, update, and maintain standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Enforce laboratory safety guidelines for handling hazardous chemicals, heavy metal dusts, and battery waste.
Work with the internal sales team and external customers to establish and improve testing protocols for products sold to customers.