Process and Synthetic Chemist, Mining & Metals

Ohr•Lafayette, CO

2d•$125,000 - $180,000•Onsite

About The Position

Ohr is hiring a Process and Synthetic Chemist for its mining and metals vertical. The role develops molecules for product lines serving mineral processing, hydrometallurgical refining, and electro- and metal finishing. The chemist owns the synthesis work needed to create and evaluate those products, including campaigns delivering 100 g of characterized material across heterocyclic, aromatic, chelating-ligand, and phenolic condensation chemistry. The role selects synthesis routes using delivered cost per kilogram, considering step count and type, yield, and reagent choice. It also owns route-related hazard assessment, including reaction calorimetry and thermal characterization, quench design, cooling and acid-gas handling, and safe handling cases for hazardous reagents. The chemist proposes and screens candidates on Ohr's platform chemistries, assesses their potential applications in metal extraction and refining, sequences campaigns, and documents processes so another chemist can repeat them. The position operates and specifies laboratory equipment including jacketed reactors, a pressure and hydrogenation reactor, rotary evaporation and column chromatography equipment, reaction calorimetry, and a dedicated hood for highly hazardous reagents. It is onsite at Ohr's laboratory in the Boulder/Lafayette, Colorado area, five days per week. The annual base salary range is $125,000–$180,000, commensurate with experience, plus equity. Relocation assistance is provided. Because the role involves access to data and systems subject to U.S. export control regulations, candidates must meet the stated U.S. person eligibility requirements.

Requirements

PhD in organic or process chemistry with 3 or more years of experience beyond the degree, or a BS/MS with 8 or more years of industrial route development.
Hands-on depth in phenolic, aromatic, and heterocyclic synthesis, with a broad working repertoire of classical bond-forming reactions.
Experience with catalytic hydrogenation and pressure reactor operation.
Record of delivering 100 g of characterized material against a deadline, not only milligram-scale proof of reaction.
Experience modeling cost per kilogram at the route-selection stage, with a specific example to discuss.
Treat hazard as an input to route choice, rather than only as a downstream control problem.
Ability to interpret NMR, HPLC, GC, and MS data and stand behind the structural characterization of synthesized material.
Must be a U.S. citizen or national, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual as defined under 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3), due to export-control access requirements.
Able to work onsite at Ohr's laboratory in the Boulder/Lafayette, Colorado area five days per week.

Nice To Haves

Heterocyclic chemistry.
Condensation polymer chemistry and molecular weight control on a phenolic oligomer.
Metal extraction chemistry, such as chelating ligands, solvent extraction reagents, flotation collectors, or ion exchange resin synthesis.
Reaction calorimetry and runaway exotherm characterization.
Experience working within procurement controls, including documented explosives precursors.
Flow chemistry, particularly on exothermic or corrosive steps.

Responsibilities

Run synthesis campaigns sized to deliver 100 g of characterized material across heterocyclic, aromatic, chelating-ligand, and phenolic condensation chemistry.
Select and defend synthesis routes based on delivered cost per kilogram, including step count, step type, yield, and reagent choice.
Own route-related hazard assessment, including reaction calorimetry and thermal characterization, quench design, cooling and acid-gas handling, and handling cases for hazardous reagents used at scale.
Propose and triage new candidates on Ohr's platform chemistries, including screening candidates by modeled cost.
Assess the potential of binding chemistries for applications involving metal extraction and refining.
Sequence synthesis campaigns and defend campaign timing to the product lines that depend on them.
Operate and specify laboratory equipment, including jacketed reactors, a pressure and hydrogenation reactor, rotary evaporation, column chromatography, reaction calorimetry, and a dedicated hood for highly hazardous reagents.
Write process documentation that enables another chemist to repeat a campaign.
Deliver or substantiate the first campaign's material and organic-loading estimate, and deliver or evidence-based terminate the lead chelating-ligand campaign.
Enumerate, cost, and triage at least two new candidates on paper, with at least one ready as a backup candidate behind a product line that fails its 2027 kill test.