About Redwood Materials
Redwood Materials was founded in 2017 by JB Straubel, co-founder and former CTO of Tesla, on a simple but radical idea: the critical minerals powering the energy transition already exist. They just need to come back. Today Redwood is the largest lithium-ion battery recycler in North America — recovering, refining, and redeploying critical minerals from end-of-life batteries back into the supply chain. On the energy side, Redwood has deployed the largest second-life battery project in the world, delivering power to AI data centers in months rather than years using proprietary energy architecture engineered entirely in-house. The company is profitable, the market it operates in is projected to grow 20 to 50 times over the next decade, and Redwood is the only company with the supply chain, the technology, and the operational scale to lead it.
As a Staff Cathode Design Engineer, you will play a leading role in the development, scale-up, and manufacturing of Cathode Active Materials (CAM), including identifying, designing, and optimizing core production technologies. These technologies are critical to scaling cost-effective, high-performing processes that meet rigorous customer specifications and quality standards. In this role, you will lead complex technical initiatives, partner closely with cross-functional teams, and establish design parameters to drive the future of our CAM technology roadmap. Success in this position requires advanced technical expertise, strong project leadership, exceptional data analysis, and the ability to manage high-impact, competing priorities in a fast-paced environment while upholding strict quality and safety standards.
Essential Duties and ResponsibilitiesLead Process & Scale-Up Engineering: Provide senior-level technical expertise (including mass and energy balances, process flowsheets, and advanced process simulations) to identify, design, scale, and implement process technologies for CAM manufacturing.
Design & Execution of Experiments: Direct and conduct advanced Design of Experiments (DOE) to guide scale-up, define precise process parameter tolerances, enhance material performance, and lower manufacturing costs.
Vendor & Equipment Engineering: Lead interactions with equipment suppliers across conceptual design, system specs, detailed engineering, procurement, installation, and site acceptance testing.
Technology Roadmap & IP Creation: Drive the development of the technology roadmap to align with long-term business strategy and customer requirements. Generate intellectual property (IP) and collaborate with legal teams to draft and file patent applications.
Stakeholder & Business Leadership: Serve as a technical authority and advisor for commercial teams, business development, senior management, and key external partners.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Lead multi-disciplinary engineering and operations teams to solve complex, systemic process challenges and successfully translate lab/pilot findings to commercial scale.
Education: Advanced degree (MS or PHD) in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related engineering discipline.
Experience: 5+ years of industrial experience in process development, scale-up, process engineering, and technical management within chemical processing or inorganic materials.
Technical Mastery: Deep technical expertise in inorganic materials production, powder synthesis, and chemical engineering fundamentals.
Process Modeling: Proven ability to perform complex process design calculations, mass/energy balances, process flow diagram (PFD/P&ID) development, and process simulation modeling.
Leadership & Influence: Strong track record of leading cross-functional teams, driving high-impact technical projects, and building trust across internal stakeholders and external clients.
Data & Communication: Outstanding data analysis capabilities and superior written and technical presentation skills.
Adaptability & Drive: Demonstrated ability to manage and prioritize complex initiatives in a rapidly evolving, high-growth environment, paired with a passion for clean energy and sustainability.
The position is full-time. Compensation will be commensurate with experience.
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Skills Required
- Advanced degree in Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related engineering discipline
- At least 5 years of industrial experience in process development, scale-up, process engineering, and technical management within chemical processing or inorganic materials
- Deep expertise in inorganic materials production, powder synthesis, and chemical engineering fundamentals
- Ability to perform complex process design calculations, mass and energy balances, PFD/P&ID development, and process simulation modeling
- Experience leading cross-functional teams and high-impact technical projects
- Strong data analysis, written communication, and technical presentation skills
- Ability to manage and prioritize complex initiatives in a rapidly evolving environment
- Passion for clean energy and sustainability
Redwood Materials Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Redwood Materials and has not been reviewed or approved by Redwood Materials.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Pay is considered okay to good overall, often competitive for engineering and corporate roles while closer to local norms in hourly operations.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Stock options or equity are included in many offers, providing additional upside beyond base pay.
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Parental & Family Support — Parental leave is viewed positively, with maternity and paternity leave standing out within the package.
Redwood Materials Insights
What We Do
Redwood is developing a fully closed-loop, domestic supply chain for lithium-ion batteries. Our team manufactures critical battery components using as many recycled batteries as possible — localizing a 50,000-mile global supply battery chain on a single site.
