Principal Electrochemical Engineer

VVater•Austin, TX

6d•Onsite

About The Position

The Principal Electrochemical Engineer is the technical owner of VVater’s electrochemical treatment systems. This role leads how reactors are conceived, modeled, built, tested, and scaled, including electrode materials and geometry, cell and stack architecture, hydrodynamics, power delivery, and durability. The engineer will take reactors from a single bench cell to field-deployed, manufacturable modules that perform reliably on real water. The role calls for an electrochemical engineer who applies first principles—including thermodynamics, kinetics, mass transport, and current distribution—and has taken at least one electrochemical technology from the lab into pilot or commercial operation. The position works with process research, electrical, mechanical, and manufacturing teams. VVater describes its pace as fast and aimed at accelerating development and adoption of new water technologies; the successful candidate should be energized by that pace. This is an onsite position based in Austin, Texas; remote and hybrid arrangements are not available. The role also supports VVater’s technology roadmap, intellectual property development, laboratory capabilities, team mentoring, and technical representation to external stakeholders.

Requirements

PhD in Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electrochemistry, Materials Science, or a related field; exceptional candidates with an MS and equivalent depth will be considered.
At least 8 years of post-degree experience in electrochemical engineering, technology development, or applied electrochemical research; doctoral research counts toward this experience.
Demonstrated record of designing, building, and scaling electrochemical reactors, cells, or stacks from bench to pilot or commercial scale, including hands-on testing on real feeds.
Deep command of electrochemical engineering fundamentals, including thermodynamics, electrode kinetics, mass transport, current and potential distribution, and Faradaic efficiency.
Hands-on expertise with electroanalytical techniques and potentiostat/galvanostat instrumentation.
Experience with electrode materials, coatings, and degradation and durability analysis.
Proficiency with multiphysics modeling (COMSOL or equivalent) and Python, MATLAB, or similar tools for data analysis.
Hands-on fluency with modern AI tools (Claude or equivalents), including the ability to vibe-code internal engineering tools, models, and automations.
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including research proposals, design specifications, and customer-facing technical reports.
Comfort with ambiguity and judgment to decide what to test next without waiting for direction.
The job description requires participation in assessment tests as part of the recruitment process; applicants who do not participate cannot progress or be considered during evaluation.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a startup or applied R&D organization taking first-of-kind electrochemical technology to market.
Experience with multiphase flow and bubble management in gas-evolving electrochemical reactors, including CFD.
Corrosion science and materials selection for aggressive aqueous environments.
Instrumentation, data acquisition (e.g., LabVIEW), and PLC/SCADA integration for test stands and pilot systems.
Familiarity with drinking water and reuse requirements affecting electrochemical systems, such as byproduct formation limits and NSF/ANSI 61 materials compliance.
Experience with pulsed, pulse-reverse, or AC electrochemical processes, and working knowledge of power electronics and how waveform shapes affect electrode behavior and electrochemical processes.
Commercial scale-up of electrochemical systems such as electrolyzers, flow reactors, or electrochemical separation stacks, including skid integration and field commissioning.
Electrode or stack manufacturing, coatings, or design for manufacturability in a production environment.

Responsibilities

Lead the design of electrochemical reactors, cells, and stacks, including electrode materials and geometry, flow fields and hydrodynamics, current and potential distribution, gas management, sealing, and materials of construction.
Select, develop, and qualify electrode materials and coatings for activity, selectivity, conductivity, and service life in real water matrices.
Diagnose degradation mechanisms such as passivation, scaling, fouling, corrosion, and coating loss, and design reactors to address them.
Collaborate with electrical engineering to define power delivery and relate electrical operating parameters to electrochemical performance and energy use.
Elucidate reaction mechanisms and kinetics for target contaminants and byproducts, and quantify efficiency, selectivity, and specific energy consumption.
Apply electroanalytical methods, including CV, LSV, EIS, chronoamperometry, chronopotentiometry, rotating disk, and reference-electrode techniques, to determine kinetic, thermodynamic, and mass-transport parameters.
Build multiphysics and CFD models, such as with COMSOL or ANSYS, of current distribution, mass transport, bubble-laden multiphase flow, and heat generation to guide design and scale-up.
Use structured experimental design and data-driven optimization, including DOE, Bayesian, and machine-learning methods, to accelerate development cycles.
Scale reactors from bench cells to pilot and commercial modules, defining scale-up rules and validating performance at each step.
Support Factory Acceptance Testing, Site Acceptance Testing, field commissioning, and troubleshooting of deployed reactors.
Develop SOPs, operating envelopes, and safety protocols for electrochemical systems, including gas evolution, electrical safety, and byproduct management.
Support the technology roadmap with company leadership, aligned with reuse, industrial, and data center market needs, and generate intellectual property.
Mentor engineers and scientists, develop Technology Development laboratory capabilities, and raise the technical bar across the team.
Represent VVater technically with customers, partners, universities, national labs, and at conferences and in publications.