Senior Chemist

TerraPower•Everett, WA

8d•$117,922 - $208,027•Onsite

About The Position

TerraPower is a nuclear technology company based in Bellevue, Washington. At its core, the company is working to raise living standards globally through a more affordable, secure and environmentally friendly form of nuclear energy along with innovations in medical isotopes to improve human health. In 2006, TerraPower originated with Bill Gates and a group of like-minded visionaries who evaluated the fundamental challenges to raising living standards around the world. They recognized energy access was crucial to the health and economic well-being of communities and decided that the private sector needed to take action and create energy sources that would advance global energy deployment. TerraPower’s mission is to be a world leader in new nuclear technologies, while developing innovators and future leaders in the nuclear field. As a result, the company’s activities in the fields of nuclear energy and related sciences are yielding significant innovations in the safety and economics of nuclear power, hybrid energy and medical applications – all for significant human health benefits. TerraPower is seeking highly motivated and forward-thinking professionals who are interested in focusing on advanced nuclear reactor research and development and influencing change within the nuclear power landscape and bringing forward the critical production of medical isotopes. TerraPower is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate in hiring on the basis of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religious creed, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected Veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. In addition, as a federal contractor, TerraPower has instituted an Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) in an effort to proactively recruit, hire, and promote women, minorities, disabled persons and veterans. Senior Chemist Reporting to the Natrium Equipment Testing Manager, the Senior Chemist, located onsite at the Everett Test Lab (EVL), is responsible for performing relevant tests associated with developing technology for the Natrium reactor, in addition to providing ad hoc support to the testing teams for experiment design, troubleshooting, and analysis.

Requirements

A doctoral level (PhD) degree with at least 1 year of post-doctoral or relevant industrial experience in radiochemistry, chemistry, or equivalent with significant demonstrated hands-on laboratory experience and expertise in chemistry, chemical separations, and analytical methods.
Proficient in activity, equilibrium, and kinetics calculations.
Expertise in analytical methods relevant to characterization including DSC, DSC-TGA, ICP-OES, ICP-MS, SEM, carbon/oxygen/nitrogen analysis with EMGA, and wet-chemistry techniques.
Experience working with and handling materials within gloveboxes, fume hoods, and laboratory benchtops.
Demonstrated experience coordinating and delivering on complex technical tasks requiring input from multiple stakeholders.
Experience leading the design of, and in executing complex experimental studies.
Ability to manage numerous competing priorities concurrently during a given work week and work with minimal direction to solve multi-disciplinary problems.
The successful candidate will possess a high degree of trust and integrity, communicate openly, and display respect and a desire to foster teamwork.

Nice To Haves

Experience with radioactive materials (depleted uranium) a plus.

Responsibilities

Propose, develop, and conduct chemistry experiments and lead research campaigns focused on sodium and molten salt chemistry and reaction kinetics.
Assist in chemistry laboratory and system development, including leading design efforts for flexible experimental chemistry capabilities to support TerraPower R&D activities.
Provide chemistry support for the design, scale-up, start-up and ongoing testing for the Natrium reactor project.
Maintain laboratory procedures (e.g., calibration, analytical methods, notebook results preparation, usage documentation).
Perform all work in compliance with site safety and radiation protection guidelines, including effective teamwork and communication with health physicists, authorized users and RSO.
Emphasize safety in new and existing design and safe practices in all experimental activities
Assist in the training, developing, and mentoring of employees.
Lead and assist in ensuring organization, housekeeping and effectiveness of TerraPower chemistry use areas and test facilities is always maintained at a high standard.
Perform other general duties associated with position as member of testing and chemistry team to ensure ongoing effectiveness and continuous improvement of Natrium testing efforts.
Recognize the need and recommend obtaining external subject matter experts and specialty resources.
Resolve priority conflicts in conjunction with team leadership when issues arise that compete for resources. Elevate those that cannot be resolved to the Manager or Senior Manager level.