Senior Automation R&D Engineer, Reactor Testing Group - Union, NJ

BASF Catalysts•Union, NJ

18d•$115,000 - $140,000•Onsite

About The Position

Leveraging its deep expertise as the global leader in catalysis and precious metals, BASF Environmental Catalyst and Metal Solutions (ECMS) serves customers in many industries including automotive, aerospace, indoor air quality, semiconductors and hydrogen economy, and provides full loop services with its precious metals trading and recycling offering. With a focus on circular solutions and sustainability, ECMS is committed to helping our customers create a cleaner, more sustainable world. Protecting our elements of life is our purpose and this inspires us to ever-new solutions. ECMS operates globally in 15 countries with approximately 20 production sites and over 4,000 employees.

Requirements

Master's and 7+ years or PhD and 3+ years (Chemical, Mechanical Engineering or related) experience required
3+ years’ proven experience with complex reactor systems and reactor modifications required
Experience working with LabVIEW required
Ability to independently drive technical decisions and influence direction

Nice To Haves

Proficiency in PLC/Ignition preferred

Responsibilities

Leading the development, troubleshooting and maintenance of advanced automation systems using LabVIEW (complex, multi-module architecture), PLC systems (controls, interlocks, hardware integration) and Ignition platform (SCADA, visualization, data infrastructure)
Leading automation-driven reactor modifications and upgrades, improving throughput, reliability, and usability
Diagnosing and resolving issues across control systems hardware, instrumentation, control logic, and software layers
Managing operations of high-throughput laboratory reactor systems for catalyst evaluation.
Collaborate with reactor engineers to translate experimental needs into robust automated systems
Mentor less experienced team members in automation, controls, and system integration
Ensure strict adherence to safety standards and champion a zero-incident culture
Adhering to the ISO 9001/TS 16949 quality standard, you will perform and document calibration, verification, maintenance activities in various databases and be diligent about lab procedures and continuous improvement.
Being self-driven and working well both independently and as a team member, you will make technical decisions or proposals focused on achieving project or customer goals.