Senior Manager / General Manager – REE Metallurgy

About us

Scimplify is a science-first manufacturing company for Advanced Materials: from specialty chemicals to the emerging building blocks of next-generation energy applications, life sciences, and crop sciences.

We scale process development and manufacturing as one continuous system, supported by world-class R&D infrastructure and executed across a global network of 500+ manufacturing partners and thousands of scientists and technical partners. The result: new materials go from molecule to commercial scale in months, not years. Scimplify operates offices and teams across 5 countries with 1,000+ innovator customers in 40+ countries.

We are backed by investors such as Accel, Bertelsmann, Omnivore, Hitachi Ventures and 3one4 Capital, having raised over $80M.

About the Role

We are looking for a seasoned technical leader to drive metallurgical process evaluation, technology assessment, and technical development for our Rare Earth Elements (REE) Business Unit. The role will focus on evaluating rare earth processing technologies, separation and recovery routes, assessing technical capabilities of potential partners and suppliers, and establishing product specifications and quality standards. The ideal candidate will bring deep technical expertise in rare earth elements, extractive metallurgy, or hydrometallurgy, along with the ability to translate complex metallurgical processes into commercially viable and scalable business opportunities.

Key responsibilities

• Technical Leadership: Serve as the technical lead for the REE Business Unit, guiding process evaluation, technology selection, technical strategy, and development initiatives.
• Process Evaluation: Evaluate metallurgical processes and technologies for the extraction, processing, separation, purification, and recovery of rare earth elements.
• Separation & Recovery Routes: Assess and recommend suitable separation and recovery methods, including hydrometallurgical processing, solvent extraction, ion exchange, precipitation, and other relevant technologies.
• Technical Due Diligence: Conduct technical assessments of potential technology partners, manufacturing facilities, suppliers, and processing partners, evaluating process maturity, operational capabilities, scalability, and technical risks.
• Technology & Partner Assessment: Review process flowsheets, technical reports, mass balances, material recovery rates, process yields, impurity profiles, and equipment requirements to support partner selection and investment decisions.
• Product Specifications: Define and validate product specifications, purity requirements, impurity limits, testing protocols, and quality standards for rare earth products and intermediates.
• Process Optimization: Identify opportunities to improve recovery rates, product purity, process efficiency, resource utilization, and overall operational performance.
• Technical Feasibility: Assess the technical feasibility and scalability of proposed processes, from laboratory and pilot-scale operations to commercial production.
• Supplier & Raw Material Evaluation: Evaluate rare earth-bearing feedstocks, concentrates, intermediates, and other raw materials based on composition, processability, recovery potential, and commercial suitability.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Work closely with Business Development, Sourcing, Operations, Quality, and leadership teams to assess opportunities and support commercial decision-making.
• Technical Documentation: Develop and review technical reports, process evaluation documents, specifications, feasibility assessments, and recommendations for management.
• External Collaboration: Engage with research institutions, technology providers, industry experts, and processing partners to identify emerging technologies and strengthen the REE technical ecosystem.

Required qualifications

• Ph.D. or M.Tech in Metallurgy, Extractive Metallurgy, Chemical Metallurgy, Hydrometallurgy, or a closely related discipline.
• 10+ years of relevant experience in metallurgy, mineral processing, hydrometallurgy, extractive metallurgy, or rare earth processing.
• Hands-on experience in rare earth elements (REE), extractive metallurgy, or hydrometallurgical processes is strongly preferred.
• Strong understanding of separation, extraction, purification, and recovery technologies.
• Experience evaluating metallurgical processes, technical flowsheets, process yields, recovery rates, and product purity.
• Proven ability to conduct technical due diligence on technology providers, suppliers, and processing or manufacturing partners.
• Experience defining product specifications, quality parameters, and technical acceptance criteria.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, technical evaluation, and report-writing skills.
• Ability to work across technical and commercial teams and translate technical findings into actionable business recommendations.

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