Scientist I/II, Adsorbent Chemistry

<div class="content-intro"><p><strong>About Alta</strong></p> <p>Alta Resource Technologies (Alta) is a next generation mining company that uses synthetic biology to separate critical minerals from conventional and unconventional resources, including e-waste. Founded in 2023, the company is expanding its team in Boulder, CO. The exponential growth of new tech industries, as well as the information technology sector, are driving historic growth in mineral demand and stressing existing supply streams. Meeting new demand, diversifying the supply chain, and producing minerals in a more sustainable manner requires the rapid development, deployment and scaling of new technologies. This mineral challenge represents a historic opportunity for technology development and value creation. Alta is proud to be at the vanguard of this mega trend. </p></div><p><strong>Location</strong>: Boulder, CO   ·   </p> <p><strong>Reports To</strong>: Principal Scientist / Group Lead — Adsorbent Chemistry</p> <h2><strong>Role Summary</strong></h2> <p>You’ll be joining a small R&D team working on the resins and sorbents at the center of Alta’s separation process. This role establishes in-house resin synthesis and functionalization capabilities, develops analytical methods to characterize resin properties and performance, and drives iterative improvements in adsorbent materials to meet process performance, reproducibility, and scale-up requirements.</p> <h2><strong>Key Technical Responsibilities</strong></h2> <ul> <li> <strong>Resin Synthesis & Functionalization: </strong>Develop and implement in-house methods for porous resin synthesis, surface functionalization, and ligand attachment to produce adsorbents with defined chemical and physical properties.</li> <li> <strong>Resin Characterization: </strong>Develop and qualify analytical methods for resin composition, functional group density, ligand loading, porosity, and particle properties — and know the limits of each method well enough to say when a result should not be trusted.</li> <li><strong>Performance Evaluation: </strong>Connect those material properties to process outcomes — protein immobilization, adsorption capacity, selectivity, stability, and separation performance — working alongside our protein chemistry and process engineering teams.</li> <li> <strong>Process Development: </strong>Establish reproducible synthesis and functionalization workflows at the bench, optimize reaction conditions, and identify the critical process parameters that govern resin quality.</li> <li><strong>Tech Transfer: </strong>Translate those workflows into process specifications that let others produce the same resin at larger scale, and support integration into Alta’s adsorbent manufacturing workflows.</li> </ul> <p><em>This is a bench-heavy role; expect roughly 70% hands-on laboratory work.</em></p> <h2><strong>Communication and Documentation</strong></h2> <ul> <li>Maintain rigorous experimental records, author SOPs and test methods, and analyze and interpret data.</li> <li>Communicate results, risks, and recommendations clearly to cross-functional R&D and process engineering teams, to executives, and to external stakeholders.</li> <li>Plan, document, and execute detailed experiments for projects related to sorbent synthesis and characterization, including troubleshooting and identifying next steps. </li> </ul> <h2><strong>Required Qualifications</strong></h2> <ul> <li>M.S. or Ph.D. in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, polymer science, or a closely related field, with hands-on laboratory experience at the following levels:</li> <ul> <li>Scientist I: M.S. plus 3–5 years, or Ph.D. plus 0–2 years. A record of strong technical expertise and independent contributions to research projects.</li> <li>Scientist II: M.S. plus 5+ years, or Ph.D. plus 2–5 years. Proven ability to lead projects, method development, and data analysis.</li> </ul> <li>Hands-on experience making or modifying materials, such as polymers, porous solids, inorganic or hybrid materials, surfaces and coatings, catalysts, membranes, or functionalized particles, and relating how they were made to the properties they ended up with.</li> <li>Experience characterizing materials with several complementary techniques (for example spectroscopy, thermal analysis, microscopy, surface or porosity analysis, titration, elemental analysis, or chromatography), and the judgment to recognize when a measurement is unreliable or outside its valid range.</li> <li>Solid practical wet chemistry skills: running reactions, handling reagents safely, and turning chemical outcomes into numbers through quantitative assays, titration, gravimetry, or instrumental analysis.</li> <li>Demonstrated ability to run structured experimental campaigns: isolating variables, designing around confounds, and drawing defensible conclusions from noisy data.</li> <li>Rigorous documentation habits, including detailed lab notebook or ELN records and written procedures that other people could reproduce.</li> <li>Comfort working with limited supervision amid shifting priorities in a fast-paced R&D environment.</li> </ul> <h2><strong>Preferred Qualifications</strong></h2> <ul> <li>Direct experience making cross-linked porous beads by suspension, emulsion, or dispersion polymerization using a porogen or diluent to drive pha