Membrane Application Development Manager

Overview of Role

ZwitterCo is seeking a proven technical leader to manage an R&D team dedicated to developing product designs and application expertise, documentation, and guidance for our growing portfolio of membrane products. Product design and application fitness are closely linked, and this leader will be charged with developing module designs and associated technical manuals to maximize the value of these products to our customers. This role will require coordinating a remote team working at several locations in the US.

About ZwitterCo

ZwitterCo has developed a breakthrough in materials science, a new class of zwitterionic membranes that are immune to fouling, making it practical and affordable to treat unconventional water and wastewater. Our mission is to provide industries with the tools to create clean water from every source, whether it involves accessing novel sources of water, shoring up distressed assets, or enabling onsite wastewater reuse. ZwitterCo was named Global Water Intelligence’s 2023 Breakthrough Water Technology Company of the year and has commercial operations in multiple food and beverage, agricultural, and industrial sectors. The company is rapidly growing its global footprint, as well as advancing its technology platform to develop new tools that unlock broader water and wastewater applications.

Responsibilities:

• Providing guidance, direction, and leadership to the Applications Development team; fostering a collaborative and productive work environment; and identifying professional development opportunities for team members
• Collaborating with cross functional teams to define overall strategy considering long-term goals and technological advancements
• Developing and evaluating module designs in terms of fitness for application, with particular emphasis on materials of construction, glue compatibility, and spacer selection
• Working closely with operations to optimize module designs for manufacturability and yield
• Planning and executing pilot and full-scale tests of prototype and production modules to gather performance data relevant to various use cases
• Working closely with our customer-facing Applications Engineering team and the Membrane Development group, author technical user manuals for new products
• Supporting the Applications Engineering team for first-in-kind applications, including internal testing and module prototyping, as needed
• Authoring technical papers and presenting at conferences and trade shows
• Developing internal and external tools for predicting membrane performance
• Keeping abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in the membrane industry
• 8 years of experience working with membrane processes such as reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration, and microfiltration.
• Detailed knowledge of spiral-wound membrane construction, including experience with membrane autopsies. Experience with other types of membrane configurations (hollow fiber, tubular, etc) is a plus.
• Proven leadership ability, as evidenced by project and/or group management in prior roles.
• Professional experience with the design or troubleshooting of industrial membrane processes and the integration of membrane systems with other unit operations is a plus.
• Familiarity and experience with the basic tools of project management: Gantt, Kanban, critical path analysis, etc.
• Comfortable using AutoCAD or equivalent to produce engineering drawings and diagrams.

Qualifications

Candidates must have a minimum of a relevant engineering degree (chemical, mechanical, or materials science preferred) or comparable experience in a previous role. Prior experience with membrane processes and spiral-wound membrane modules is required.

Ideal candidates will have 8 years of experience working with water or wastewater membrane processes and have intimate knowledge of spiral-wound membrane construction and failure modes.

For clarity, candidates do not need to be well-versed in membrane sheet fabrication, though a working knowledge of the basic principles by which membrane sheet is made is helpful.

Schedule, Travel, Compensation, and Location

This position can be a remote role. The nature of international work requires that some flexibility to accommodate time zones will be required. Remote candidates should expect to spend 4-8 weeks per year traveling to our Woburn, MA, headquarters. Additional travel for this role to support projects will vary, but 10-25% (6-12 weeks per year) is an approximate guide.

This role will initially report to the CTO, though evolution in our business could change this over time.

Compensation will be commensurate with experience and include equity and benefits.