R&D Engineer - Pilot Plant Reinforcement Materials

Cabot Corporation (NYSE: CBT) is a leading global specialty chemicals and performance materials company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Our businesses deliver a broad range of products and solutions to customers in every corner of the globe, serving the transportation, infrastructure, environment and consumer industry sectors. We bring the power of innovative chemistry to solve customers' challenges today while preparing them to meet tomorrow’s needs. Our commitment to innovation is driven by a passion to advance our customers' businesses through our deep understanding of their applications and the global trends that impact their operations.

If you do not meet every requirement, or your experience is slightly different that what we have listed, we still encourage you to apply!

Your Role at Cabot:

Cabot has a challenging and interesting position for an R&D Engineer at our Pampa Development and Manufacturing Center (PDMC) pilot plant in Pampa, TX.

Our products include carbon black for rubber applications including tires and specialty products.  Carbon black production is a complex combustion process with many opportunities for innovative technology development to improve production efficiency, increase sustainability, and develop new products. 

In this hands-on position, you will work at the Pampa pilot site and collaborate with the R&D team based in Billerica, MA:

• Investigate and develop new process technologies, with a specific focus on reducing the cost and improving the sustainability of carbon black production. 
• Work closely with operators on pilot experimentation, equipment modifications, and troubleshooting to enable successful trial execution. 
• Support and lead projects, through the testing and developing of new concepts at our carbon black pilot plant, then partner with multidisciplinary and global teams to bring successful concepts to the full industrial scale at our manufacturing plants. 

This is a great opportunity to love your work and accelerate your learning and career.  We invite you to join our team.

How You’ll Make an Impact: 

We are working on projects to improve product yield, utilize sustainable raw materials, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  All are essential to meeting our goals of improved sustainability now and net zero emissions by 2050.  These are significant challenges, and you will be an integral part of Cabot’s sustainability journey.  Specific responsibilities of this role will include:

• Independently framing technical problems, connecting observations to first principles, and developing hypotheses and practical technical solutions.
• Analyzing new process concepts for carbon black production.
• Conducting experiments and investigations around the carbon black process, trying to understand the link between raw material properties, process conditions, and material properties. Planning and executing hands-on pilot trials in close collaboration with operators, including equipment modifications and troubleshooting.
•  Conduct advanced statistical analysis and interpret data to develop models, draw conclusions, advance hypotheses, and make actionable technical recommendations.
• Preparing reports and presentations that document work, results, and conclusions.  Presenting work to management, broad technical groups, and/or business partners. 
• Contributing to a strong culture of safety at Cabot by complying with SH&E procedures, standards and regulations, and constantly striving for Excellence in process safety.
• Identifying opportunities to capture intellectual property and supporting the preparation of patent applications.
• Planning and coordinating detailed phases of work for a part of a major project or managing projects of moderate scope to meet objectives and timeline. 
• Provide technical guidance and mentoring to junior team members and operators in relevant methods, processes, and safe work practices; when assigned project support, help plan activities, review work quality, and address day-to-day technical questions.
• Partner with technology management, manufacturing, and other business functions to establish project value proposition, risk and mitigation plan, and implement successful technical solutions.
• Develop, adapt, and improve experimental and analytical methods, including appropriate testing and validation, to advance process learning and project objectives.
• Create technical documentation and tools that strengthen safe operations; contribute to safety investigations using root-cause analysis; and participate in or lead safety reviews such as PHAs and PSSRs, as appropriate.
• Review relevant scientific and patent literature to inform hypotheses, technical approaches, freedom-to-operate awareness, and intellectual property opportunities.

What You’ll Bring to Cabot:

• Education/Experience:
  • Bachelor’s degree in a related discipline and generally 8+ years of related experience;
  • OR Master’s degree in a related technical discipline and generally 4+ years of related experience;
  • OR Ph.D. degree in a related technical discipline.
• Candidates may bring either a strong Ph.D. research background or an experienced industrial process development engineering background, with demonstrated ability to conduct independent technical investigations.
• Ideal candidates will have advanced knowledge and understanding of fundamental concepts and principles in chemical engineering, or a related engineering field with strong chemical engineering fundamentals.
• A hands-on approach and enthusiasm for pilot plant operations, equipment modifications, troubleshooting, and close collaboration with operators are essential.
• Carbon black/combustion experience and/or computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling experience are nice-to-have qualifications, secondary to the ability to thrive in a pilot plant environment and conduct independent research.
• Technical problem-solving skill.  Strong capabilities in experimental design, modeling, data management, and analysis.
• Working knowledge of project management, including defining objectives, planning resources and activities, managing risks, and delivering work to agreed timelines.
• Comfort working with uncertainty and an eagerness to explore new approaches, using sound technical judgment to create value.
• Ability to align technical work with business priorities and intellectual property strategy; align R&D pilot experiment scope and details with pilot engineers and operators; and translate experimental learning into actionable recommendations.

How We’ll Support Your Success:

• Dynamic, Flexible, Hard Working, Team Environment – We are busy, collaborative, growing, and we are doing meaningful work.
• Growth –Training, great peer coaching and support, and the ability to personally grow your influence, your position, and your compensation.
• Meaningful Work that is Valued – Customers are demanding sustainable solutions without compromising quality or performance. The work we do is visible, and is helping to create a more abundant, affordable, and cleaner future. It is an awesome feeling to know you’re making a living by making a positive impact in the world; and to be able to say, “I was a part of that.”
• Benefits, Vacation, Etc. – We offer a competitive package of benefits.
• Feedback – We are committed to giving and receiving feedback in a direct and open fashion.
• Support – You are part of a team and deserve to feel encouraged and supported. We have a global team of engineers that are willing to help. You will be part of a team that cares about you personally and professionally. Our success depends on your success.

#LI-ONSITE

At Cabot, we bring the power of innovative chemistry and a spirit of partnership with our customers to advance solutions that will enable a sustainable future. Our strength in research and development is a major reason why we have been an industry leader for more than 135 years in products such as reinforcing and specialty carbons, battery materials, aerogel, fumed metal oxides, inkjet colorants, masterbatches and conductive compounds.

Our employees around the world are united by our shared purpose: Creating materials that improve daily life and enable a more sustainable future. Through our corporate strategy, “Creating for Tomorrow,” we are focused on our core strengths to lead in performance and sustainability – today and into the future.

EEO/AA Employer/Vet/Disabled/RC14001
Realizing we function better together than individually, Cabot Corporation is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive culture that embraces our differences and to empower employees to achieve exceptional results, without consideration of sex, race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, marital or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other legally protected categories. This includes providing reasonable accommodation for employees’ and applicants’ disabilities or religious beliefs and practices, in accordance with applicable law.

Cabot is committed to supporting and maintaining a safe and environmentally focused working environment. All employees are expected to uphold this commitment in every position.

Nondiscrimination Policy with Respect to Discussion of Pay
This is to advise that it is the policy of Cabot Corporation not to discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because such employee or applicant has inquired about, discussed, or disclosed the compensation of the employee or applicant or another employee or applicant. This policy, however, shall not apply to instances in which an employee who has access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as part of that employee's essential job functions (such as in payroll or HR) discloses the compensation of such other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to such information, unless that disclosure is in response to a formal complaint or charge, in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing or other action, including an investigation conducted by Cabot, or otherwise as required by law.

Pre-Employment Drug Testing and Background Checks
Cabot is proud to operate as a drug-free workplace. All applicants conditionally offered a position must (a) complete and pass a background check and (b) complete a drug test and receive an acceptable test result. For certain manufacturing, quality and production positions, a pre-employment physical may be required.