Experimental Chemist (Founding Team)

About Riven

Our mission is to leverage fundamental science and the exponential growth of computational power to revolutionize industrial chemistry. We are integrating autonomous laboratories, computational modeling, and AI to systematize the design, de-risking, and deployment of new chemical capabilities. Our work is deeply interdisciplinary and closes the loop between fundamental physics and industrial deployment.

We are starting with critical minerals because they underpin virtually every facet of modern life—including energy infrastructure, compute architecture, and defense systems—and are at the heart of a generational effort to reindustrialize the west. We intend to dramatically reduce the time and cost required to scale new mineral processing capacity.

About the role

As an Experimental Chemist you will generate the data that everything else at Riven is built on. You will work closely with experts in thermodynamics, hydrometallurgy, process modeling, and autonomous experimentation to run a laboratory with unparalleled rigor, speed, and scale.

Riven is hiring a lean, interdisciplinary team and experience spanning multiple roles is welcome. Apply to whichever role is closest to your skillset.

Initial Responsibilities

• Own the analytical chain: designing experiments, running and troubleshooting the analytical tools, and generating and interpreting the data.
• Run, optimize, and expand the hardware capabilities of Riven's autonomous lab.
• Help establish a deep interface between experimental and computational capabilities, ensuring the constraints and richness of experimental reality are reflected by modeling.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in chemistry, chemical engineering, metallurgy, or a related field, or an M.S. with substantial industrial experience in hydrometallurgy or separations.
• Hands-on hydrometallurgical experience at the bench-scale.
• Practical trace-metal analytical competence, ideally ICP-OES, including calibration design and method troubleshooting.
• Careful, documented experimental practice and a desire to uphold rigorous technical standards.
• Excitement to work in a scrappy, interdisciplinary early-stage environment.
• Clear interdisciplinary communication and the curiosity to quickly learn and execute in new domains.
• Ability to prioritize, execute, and collaborate with a high degree of agency, a willingness to be wrong, and the ambition to build something that has never existed before.
• Trust, humor, rigor, and an excitement to work in a scrappy, interdisciplinary early-stage environment.

Bonus Points

• Ph.D. in chemistry, chemical engineering, metallurgy, or a related field, or an M.S. with substantial industrial experience in hydrometallurgy or separations.
• Hands-on hydrometallurgical experience at the bench-scale.
• Practical trace-metal analytical competence, ideally ICP-OES, including calibration design and method troubleshooting.
• Careful, documented experimental practice and a desire to uphold rigorous technical standards.
• A desire to build the future of laboratory science.
• Excitement to work in a scrappy, interdisciplinary early-stage environment.

Compensation

The base salary range for this role is $140,000 – $170,000 per year.

Compensation decisions are made based on track-record, seniority, and skill set. Additional consideration can be given to candidates with exceptional experience.

We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and consider qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or family status, veteran status, medical condition or disability.