Facet Amtech is developing a world-first clean ammonia process — producing ammonia directly from air and water, without the hydrogen infrastructure (SMR or electrolysers) that conventional grey, blue and green ammonia plants require.
Our process feeds air and water into a reactor where the catalyst simultaneously separates hydrogen from water and reduces nitrogen from the air, combining the two directly into ammonia.
This removes major plant infrastructure costs, improves energy efficiency by avoiding generated waste heat, and drives production costs below grey ammonia prices.
We are seeking an exceptional Process Engineer to take our world-first clean ammonia process from bench-scale discovery to industrially scalable technology.
Reporting to the CEO, you will design, build and operate the reactor systems in which our catalyst runs, and carry the process engineering discipline that ensures what works at gram scale can be defended at world scale.
This is a role for someone who wants to use their skills to bring cutting-edge research into the real world, contributing directly to global decarbonisation and sustainable industrial development.
As Facet Amtech grows, this role is expected to play a key part in building and leading the future of our process and pilot plant engineering capabilities.
Working with the science and engineering team, you will contribute across the design, construction and commissioning of bench-scale and continuous pilot-scale reactor systems; mass and energy balances, reaction engineering and process modelling; gas and liquid handling, instrumentation, control and data acquisition; and process safety, hazard identification and safe operating procedures.
The role is deliberately hands-on - in the near term you will be in the laboratory building, instrumenting and troubleshooting your own systems, working alongside the R&D; team on equipment that has never been built before, before transitioning into the design authority for our pilot and demonstration plants as the technology and company mature.
It's a unique chance to work on complex technical problems that demands a high level of attention to detail and the tenacity to identify and resolve unexpected system behaviours.
We're based in Newcastle, one of Australia's fastest-growing energy transition hubs, having recently moved into an independent facility to accelerate lab-based R&D;, catalyst manufacturing scale-up and pilot work.
The region combines a strong industrial and research base with a coastal lifestyle, easy access to the Hunter Valley, and a cost of living well below Australia's capital cities.
Key Responsibilities
Process and System Design
Develop process designs for experimental, pilot and demonstration scale systems, including process flow diagrams,



P&IDs;, equipment sizing and materials selection
Establish and maintain mass and energy balances for the process, and keep them current as experimental understanding evolves
Translate catalyst performance requirements into reactor geometry, operating conditions, feed conditioning and product recovery strategies
Specify instrumentation, control and data acquisition to ensure experiments produce data of sufficient quality to support engineering decisions
Select and procure equipment, and manage external fabricators, suppliers and contractors
Drive a culture of critical thinking, evidence-based decision making and engineering rigor across the technical team
Ensure designs comply with relevant Australian standards and workplace health and safety obligations
Undertake hazard identification, risk assessment and the development of safe operating and emergency procedures
Build, Commissioning and Operation
Build, assemble and commission bench-scale and continuous flow systems, including gas and liquid handling, heating, pressure control and sealing
Operate experimental systems and support the R&D; team in the execution of test programs
Diagnose and resolve unexpected system behaviours, distinguishing instrument artefacts and mechanical faults from genuine process phenomena
Develop reliable, repeatable operating procedures, commissioning protocols and quality control practices
Ensure designs, modifications, data and decisions are appropriately documented and traceable
Develop technical reports, design summaries and strategic recommendations for internal and investor audiences
Scale-up and Industrial Translation
Define and continually refine the scale-up pathway from laboratory apparatus to industrial plant, identifying the scaling risks that must be retired at each stage
Apply reaction engineering, thermodynamics, heat and mass transfer to understand which phenomena govern performance at each scale
Identify the engineering constraints that will ultimately determine commercial viability, and feed them back into experimental priorities early rather than late
Contribute to techno-economic analysis, utility and energy demand estimates, and equipment cost models
Contribute to intellectual property generation covering process and reactor innovations
Requirements
Essential Qualifications & Experience
Degree in Chemical Engineering,



Process Engineering or a closely related discipline
Demonstrated process design capability, including mass and energy balances, equipment sizing and selection, and materials of construction
Hands-on experience building, commissioning and troubleshooting experimental, prototype or pilot-scale systems
Strong grounding in thermodynamics, reaction engineering and heat and mass transfer, with the ability to reason from first principles in unfamiliar systems
Demonstrated ability to translate scientific results into engineering requirements, and engineering constraints back into experimental design
Sound process safety judgement and a rigorous approach to hazard identification
Comfort operating with ambiguity and incomplete information, where the underlying science is still being established
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Desirable Experience
PhD or postgraduate research training in chemical engineering, catalysis, materials science or a related discipline or equivalent industrial experience
Ammonia synthesis, nitrogen activation, hydrogen, Power-to-X, electrolysis or related energy transition technologies
Heterogeneous catalysis and catalytic reactor design, including fixed bed, fluidised bed, structured or membrane reactor configurations
Technology scale-up from laboratory to pilot, demonstration or full-scale operation
Process simulation and modelling packages
Kinetic model development and parameter estimation from experimental data
Programming for data analysis, automation and modelling
Instrumentation and control, sensor integration and automated data logging
Analytical instrumentation relevant to gas and liquid phase quantification, such as mass spectrometry, gas chromatography, ion-selective electrodes or colourimetric assays
Familiarity with Australian standards and regulatory frameworks relevant to pressure equipment, gas storage, hazardous areas and dangerous goods
Participation in or facilitation of HAZOP, LOPA or equivalent structured hazard studies
Techno-economic analysis, front-end engineering design or capital cost estimation
Industrial R&D;, technology development, start-up or scale-up environments where individuals carry broad scope
Experience contributing to intellectual property generation and patent development
Chartered qualified status or equivalent professional recognition
Benefits
Company ESOP (Stock Option Plan)
Superannuation
Training & Development
Hands-on engineering role on a genuinely novel, world-first clean technology
Newcastle location - coastal lifestyle, Hunter Valley access, cost of living below capital cities
Questions about this role?
Reach out to us at ******.

📌 Process Engineer - Catalytic Reactor Development (Newcastle)
🏢 Facet Amtech
📍 Newcastle