Catalyzing a cleaner future.

At ESS (NYSE: GWH), our mission is to accelerate global decarbonization by providing safe, sustainable, long-duration energy storage that powers people, communities, and businesses with clean, renewable energy anytime and anywhere it’s needed. As more renewable energy is added to the grid, long- duration battery energy storage systems (BESS) are essential to providing the reliability and resiliency we need when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing.

Our technology uses earth-abundant iron, salt, and water to deliver environmentally safe solutions capable of providing up to 12 hours of flexible energy capacity for commercial and utility-scale energy storage applications. Established in 2011, ESS Inc. enables project developers, independent power producers, utilities, and other large energy users to deploy reliable, sustainable long-duration energy storage solutions. For more information visit www.essinc.com.

We are seeking an experienced Electrochemical Engineer specializing in catalysts to join our team focused on advancing iron flow battery technology. The successful candidate will play a critical role in optimizing catalyst materials, enhancing reaction kinetics, and improving overall system efficiency. This role requires a strong background in electrochemistry, catalyst design, and energy storage systems, with an emphasis on flow battery applications.

Key Responsibilities:

• Catalyst Development: Design, synthesize, and test new catalytic materials for redox reactions within iron flow batteries, focusing on improving efficiency, durability, and performance.
• Electrochemical Testing: Conduct electrochemical analyses, including cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and galvanostatic/potentiostatic methods to evaluate catalyst performance.
• Reaction Kinetics Optimization: Investigate reaction mechanisms and optimize electrochemical reaction kinetics to enhance the energy density and efficiency of iron flow battery systems.
• Material Characterization: Use advanced characterization techniques (e.g., SEM, XRD, XPS, TEM) to analyze catalyst morphology, composition, and surface properties.
• Collaborative Research: Work closely with materials scientists, chemists, and process engineers to integrate new catalysts into the full-scale battery system and ensure scalability.
• Performance Monitoring: Develop testing protocols and benchmarks to assess the long-term stability and efficiency of catalysts under varying operational conditions.
• System Integration: Collaborate with engineering teams to ensure compatibility of catalysts with battery architecture and system components.
• Data Analysis and Reporting: Analyze experimental data, interpret results, and communicate findings through technical reports, presentations, and publications.

Additional Responsibilities you might have:

• Develop and validate low-cost bipolar plates and membranes for All-Iron Redox Flow Battery
• Optimize electrolyte chemistry for efficiency and durability.
• Assist in design validation of innovative electrolyte management subsystems
• Design, construct and perform reliability tests on various key system components
• Build and test flow batteries, and electrolyte management system, of various sizes and capacities using developed materials and chemicals
• Troubleshoot, collect, and analyze data and present test results to the engineering team
• Run design validation tests and perform analyses afterwards to guide design goals for improved battery performance and reliability
• Develop and optimize chemical processes for flow batteries of different scales
• Interact with manufacturing engineer to scale up production of the developed new generation membranes
• Safety and Compliance: Ensure all laboratory and testing procedures meet safety and environmental standards, particularly related to handling hazardous materials.

Qualifications:

• Education: PhD or Master’s degree in Electrochemical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field.
• Experience: 5+ years of experience in catalyst development for energy storage systems, with specific experience in iron flow or other redox flow batteries (preferred), fuel cells, or electrolyzers.
• Technical Skills:
  • Expertise in electrochemical techniques and catalyst testing.
  • Proficiency in materials characterization tools and analysis.
  • Strong knowledge of redox chemistry, reaction kinetics, and battery system design.
• Soft Skills:
  • Excellent problem-solving abilities and attention to detail.
  • Strong communication skills for cross-functional collaboration.
  • Ability to work in a fast-paced R&D environment.

Preferred:

• Experience with scale-up of catalyst production and integration into commercial systems.
• Knowledge of iron chemistry and redox flow battery operations.

Benefits of working at ESS.

In addition to the value of working with and helping grow a global reaching clean technology, ESS offers a Company assisted Health insurance, Approved PPE Reimbursement, Medical & Dental; Flex spending account; 8 paid holidays; 401K, and a competitive PTO accrual.

As an equal opportunity employer, we are open to considering every qualified candidate who is eligible and legally authorized to work in the United States on a full or part-time basis, without a need for sponsorship.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

#LI-RA1