Polymer Process Engineer

Kunin Technologies•Chattanooga, TN

4d•$90,000 - $120,000•Onsite

About The Position

Kunin Technologies is hiring a Polymer Process Engineer to develop the process chemistry for automated roll-to-roll production of ion-exchange media. The engineer will own the chemistry that converts a base polymer sheet into ion-exchange media, including reactive-bath formulation, reaction conditions and residence time, post-reaction conversion, washing and drying kinetics, and capacity and uniformity testing. The role works alongside the Chemical Process Engineer, who owns the wet-end hardware, and reports to the Director of Polymer. The team is based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is working to deliver a demonstration line by the end of 2027. The first deliverable is a complete process chemistry package covering locked recipes, operating windows, QC methods, release specifications, and reagent and water mass balances. The demonstration line is intended to form the basis of a greenfield manufacturing facility at 10 times the scale. Relevant transferable backgrounds include battery electrode coating, paper coating, membrane casting, textile dyeing and finishing, and nonwovens; direct ion-exchange experience is not required. The position pays $90,000–$120,000, plus benefits and equity. Travel to partners’ facilities may be intermittently required. U.S. citizenship is required, and extended hours and weekends are frequently required to support critical project milestones.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, polymer science, materials science, textile engineering, or chemistry.
Experience handling aggressive chemistry, such as acids, reactive monomers, solvents, or inert-atmosphere work.
Experience designing experiments with measured control of concentration, temperature, residence time, and pickup.
Comfort with Python or Matlab for data analysis and automating test or analysis tasks.
Creative problem solving across polymer chemistry, material handling, and fluid mechanics.
Must be a U.S. citizen.
Able to support frequent extended hours and weekend work for critical project milestones.
Able to travel intermittently to partners’ facilities.

Nice To Haves

Hands-on experience with a continuous coating or finishing process, such as battery electrode coating, paper coating, membrane casting, textile dyeing and finishing, or nonwovens; this experience is heavily preferred.

Responsibilities

Develop and lock reactive process chemistry for continuous ion-exchange media production, including bath formulation, solvent system, additive levels, temperature, and residence-time windows.
Develop post-reaction conversion, washing, and drying steps, including conversion kinetics, rinse-water quality, residual reagent limits, and drying profiles.
Build quality-control methods for degree of functionalization, ion-exchange capacity, uniformity across and along the roll, and finished-media release specifications.
Conduct bench and mini-pilot trials with laboratory technicians and the analytical chemist, and close reagent, water, and waste mass balances.
Translate bench recipes to the demonstration line with the Chemical Process Engineer, including pickup targets, line speed, bath turnover, and reagent recovery.
Write the process chemistry package, including recipes, operating windows, SOPs, QC methods, and hazard reviews for aggressive chemistry.
Specify reagent handling, solvent recovery, and waste treatment for the developed chemistry.